The penalties are in, the Kawhi Leonard era is over, and the people running the Clippers still believe this roster belongs in the playoffs.
Most franchises that went through the month the Los Angeles Clippers just did would be preaching patience and talking about the draft.
The Clippers are doing the opposite.
Even after the league handed down its penalties and forward Kawhi Leonard was sent to Toronto, the word coming out of the organization is that this team intends to compete for a playoff spot right away, and the roster they kept is a big reason they feel that way.
A Month Unlike Any Other
The backdrop is brutal.
The NBA's investigation into Leonard's off-court endorsement deals ended with the Clippers losing five future first-round picks and paying a $30 million fine, while owner Steve Ballmer was suspended for a year and president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank was suspended for six months.
Twelve days later, the long-delayed trade with Toronto finally closed, sending Leonard out for a package built around forward Brandon Ingram and guard Gradey Dick.
It was a two-week stretch that usually ends with a franchise wondering whether its championship window slammed shut, and plenty of people around the league assumed exactly that.
What Fischer Is Hearing
The front office does not see it that way.
Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer, reporting from this week's Board of Governors meeting, said general manager Trent Redden is now running basketball operations while the team works through naming an interim governor, and that Redden is the one who got back on the phone with Toronto to finish the trade as originally built.
"The Clippers are getting an All-Star back in Brandon Ingram, and they do have some level of playoff aspirations in that front office," Fischer said.
That is a meaningful signal, because a front office chasing a playoff berth behaves very differently at the margins of the roster than one quietly starting over.
The Roster Is Better Than the Headlines
The case is not crazy.
One September projection of the starting five has point guard Darius Garland running the offense next to guard Kris Dunn, with Ingram on the wing, forward Rui Hachimura beside him and center Brook Lopez protecting the rim, while guard Bradley Beal returns on a two-year deal.
Ingram gives them a legitimate first option if his health holds, and there is enough shooting and defense around him to stay competitive without Leonard.
The honest take is that a top-six seed in the Western Conference is a stretch for this group, because the conference is loaded and the margin for injury is thin.
A play-in berth is a very reachable goal, though, and with the future picks gone there is no prize for being bad anyway.
Nobody is going to pick this team in the preseason polls, which is fine, because expectations were never going to be part of the sales pitch this season.
What the front office is selling instead is competence, a rotation that makes sense on paper, and a nightly product that gives fans a reason to keep showing up after the ugliest stretch in franchise memory.
The Clippers have every reason to chase wins this season, and for once the incentives and the roster point in the same direction.
