Expectations are lower than they have been in years, the Kawhi Leonard era is all but over, and three of the team's most important players have real work to do.
Nobody is picking the Los Angeles Clippers to come out of the Western Conference this season, a strange feeling for a franchise that lived in the title conversation.
The roster was rebuilt over the summer around depth and shooting instead of star power, and that only works if the players already in the building get better.
The frozen trade sending Leonard to Toronto is expected to become official within days, according to ESPN's Shams Charania, and whether the Leonard years should be remembered as a failure is a debate fans can have all winter.
The coaching staff has a more pressing problem, because somebody has to pick up the slack and it starts with three players.
Darius Garland Must Run the Show
Los Angeles gave up James Harden to get Garland from Cleveland in February, and Garland showed flashes right away by averaging 19.9 points in his 19 games after the deal.
The trouble was getting him on the floor, because a toe injury had him sidelined at the time of the trade and he finished with only 45 games.
He has a real path into the All-Star conversation, and he sounded ready for the job in February.
"I hope T-Lue uses me like he did Kyrie in that championship run they had. But whatever T-Lue wants me to be, whatever position he wants me to be in, I'm going to do that. I'm here to win games," Garland said after the trade.
Nice words, but he has to back them up over a full season, because there is no Harden to lean on anymore and another 45-game year would sink this offense.
Bradley Beal Has to Stay on the Floor
Beal re-signed in August on a reported two-year, $13.2 million deal, and nobody signs a career 21.4-point scorer for that money unless the health questions are real.
He played just six games last season before a fractured hip ended his year in November, and he averaged 8.2 points in those six games.
His agent said the surgery would allow a full recovery, and the Clippers are betting on that, because they need him upright and scoring in whatever role Tyronn Lue hands him, and upright is the part in doubt.
Rui Hachimura Needs to Offer More Than Shooting
Hachimura left the Lakers in July on a two-year, $28 million deal, and the shooting comes with him, since he hit 44.3 percent from three last season.
The worry is everything else, because he averaged 11.5 points and 3.3 rebounds in 68 games a year ago, and 3.3 rebounds is thin for a forward with a starting job to win.
He has already given this team reasons to believe in the move, and playing next to Brook Lopez should create room, but the Clippers need the version who attacks the glass and finishes inside, because a spot-up shooter grabbing three boards a night will not hold a starting spot for long.
None of this is asking for miracles.
Garland running the show for 70 games, Beal staying in uniform and Hachimura becoming a true two-way starter would put this group in the fight for a playoff spot, and Lue is going to spend the whole year finding out which of the three he can actually count on.
