Steve Ballmer Made It Clear He Hates The Process, But Maybe He Shouldn't

The Clippers are in an interesting spot there’s no question. Every single major member of Lob City is now gone, and last year they didn’t really sniff the final 8th playoff spot, ending the year 42-40 and 5 full games out. They are now tasked with the challenge of rebuilding within the tough as hell Western Conference and getting back to the postseason. I know the Clippers are mostly a joke, but this past season ended a 6 year run where the Clippers made the second season. Granted they never made it past the second round, but that’s a whole different topic for a different blog. Knowing what a long road back it’s going to be, seeing that quote from Ballmer was a bit interesting. It seems as though he is certainly no fan of The Process and how the Sixers took their time to stink out loud in order to get high lottery assets. I’m sure that was a tough time for the fans, but I think for the most part they build in on the propaganda being spewed by the team, and while they may not be all the way back just yet, it’s safe to say The Process for the most part has been successful. If the goal was to stink in order to get generational talent, they’ve achieved that. Now the league is obviously trying everything they can to reform the Lottery and prevent other teams from repeating that tactic, but that’s not completely solved just yet. Which is why if I’m Ballmer, I’m not so sure I thumb my nose up at what went down in Philly, because honestly the Clippers should be doing the exact same thing.

For example, this upcoming summer the Clippers do not own their first round pick if it lands 1-14, and if it does they do not own their 2020 first round pick if it falls between 1-14 as well. If that happens in both of those years, then the pick becomes a 2022 2nd rounder. The owner of this pick incase you didn’t know is Danny Ainge that beautiful bastard. So what I don’t understand is why is Ballmer so focused on NOT being terrible? Wouldn’t you want to do everything you can to secure the highest pick possible to ensure you actually get to keep it? If I’m the Clippers, I try and be real bad for at least the next two seasons just so prevent the Celtics from getting anything of value. Then you look at their roster and it’s basically the one place you do not want to be as an NBA franchise right now. They are in basketball purgatory. There’s enough talent to live around .500, but then also a couple new young rookies who are obviously projected to lead that next wave. It’s basically a franchise that can’t make up it’s mind as to what it wants to be, which is how you get lonnnnng as playoff droughts. As of now their best overall player in Tobias Harris rejected his extension and is in the last year of his deal at $14.8M. He’s only 26 but is certainly no lock to stay in LA. Their 27 year old SG in Avery Bradley is in the same sort of contract situation where he just has 1 more guaranteed year left. Gallinari is 30 and has 2 years left as well, so as you can see this team could look drastically different before you know it, and would be a prime candidate to tank for a short period of time in order to speed up their rebuild.

The thing with LA is it’s not Philly. People will want to come and play in that market. We already know that Kawhi has been involved in discussions as LAC being a potential landing spot for him, and if the Clippers are able to pull that off I say why not do what the Lakers are currently doing with LeBron. Tell Kawhi that hey maybe we suck for a year or whatever, but then we’ll be able to reload much quicker and bring in that elite talent around you with cap space. Where I disagree with Ballmer is that the Clippers do not really have high expectations in my mind. I mean after all, they’re the Clippers. There is not 1 All Star on this entire roster, so it’s not exactly the same thing as the Lob City version. Fans understand that in today’s NBA, you either are contending, or you have to really really suck in order to contend. Unless he plans on ripping off some sort of team like BKN as a way to speed up his rebuild, Ballmer shouldn’t be so anti-Process in my mind. All signs point to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jerome Robinson turning out to be pretty damn good, so if you’re able to throw a couple more high lottery picks into the mix and maybe one or two big time FAs, well now you’re cooking and are going to be back into the Top 8 in the West.

Instead, it looks like Ballmer would rather avoid the bad press of openly tanking and live in NBA purgatory, because as constructed that’s where they are going to stay. In order to make major moves in this league, you have to commit to being really bad before you get really good. That’s just how it works. If it were me, I say embrace it and pray there’s an Embiid/Simmons/Fultz type talent in your future. If you’re a Clippers fan I’d be curious to see what you’d prefer, and in the meantime as always try and find the positives.