Joseph Filler

ESPN SoCal

8-28-23

Mar 2, 2023; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers small forward Paul George (13) passes the ball to small forward Kawhi Leonard (2) during the second quarter against the Golden State Warriors at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are two of the biggest assets to the Los Angeles Clippers - and there soon could be a third one to help them out. 

According to Vincent Goodwill of Yahoo Sports, on a "Ball Don't Lie" podcast with Law Murray, the Clippers' duo has reportedly been in talks with James Harden, SG for the Philadelphia 76ers, to come and play with them. 

Harden requested a trade following the 2022-2023 NBA season, even going as far as calling the Sixers President Daryl Morey "A liar and I will never be a part of an organization that he's a part of", while on tour in China during an Adidas event, to which he is signed to. 

"What I've heard is that hey, James has been in conversation with Paul and Kawhi, and they're all kind of on the same page," Goodwill said.

For the Clippers, a positive note for Harden would be the fact that not only would he be on a team with two other superstars, but he also would be reunited for the third time with Russell Westbrook, in which they were teammates back on the Oklahoma City Thunder between 2009 and 2012, and the the Houston Rockets between 2019 and 2020.  

The 76ers have made it very clear that they are uninterested in trading with the Clippers for Harden, yet they are willing to bring Harden into their training camp with the high possibility of him skipping it entirely. The Clippers, on the other hand, are still open to offers and are optimistic that there could be a potential trade for Harden in the future. 

Things are subject to change before the regular season, but no agreements have been set in stone yet. 

Joseph Filler

ESPN SoCal

8-23-23

The Los Angeles Clippers made an important announcement on Wednesday morning. In addition to releasing their 2023 Preseason Schedule, which includes a training camp and game in Hawaii, the organization will be donating all proceeds from a future October 8 Preseason Game against the Utah Jazz to the Hawaii Community Foundation's Maui Strong Fund, to aid relief from the 2023 Maui Wildfires. 

In an official statement released by the Clippers' Organization, they stated:

"The LA Clippers have announced that the team will return to Hawaii to tip off the 2023-24 season, in partnership with The Hawaiian Islands. Following Media Day on Mon., Oct. 2 in Los Angeles, the Clippers will travel to Hawaii for training camp, which will be held from Tues., Oct. 3 through Mon., Oct. 9 at the Stan Sheriff Center on the campus of the University of Hawaii at Mänoa. In addition, the Clippers will host a preseason game against the Utah Jazz on Sun., Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. HT at SimpliFi Arena. The Clippers and Jazz will donate all proceeds from the game to the Hawaii Community Foundation's Maui Strong Fund to benefit wildfire relief in Lahaina, Maui."

The 2023 Maui Wildfires have ravaged the state of Hawaii since the beginning of August, accounting for the deaths of over 115 people and over 1,000 people who have gone missing.

This will the 4th time since 2017 that the Clippers will go to Hawaii for their training camp and preseason games. 

In this photo from March 5, 2023, Kawhi Leonard's dunk in the fourth quarter gave the Clippers a 122-121 lead over the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. (Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

Andrew Greif
Los Angeles Times
(TNS)

LOS ANGELES — The Clippers open their 2023-24 NBA season Oct. 25 at home against Portland, and then proceed to largely stay in Los Angeles for the following week.

Four of their first five games will be played at Crypto.com Arena — including a Nov. 1 matchup against the Lakers, a Clippers road game. The home stretch begins, and sets the tone for, a regular-season schedule that could be seen as more forgiving than recent seasons.

The schedule reflects matchups for 80 of their 82 games because their performance in the NBA's inaugural in-season tournament will determine whether those dates are played as part of the knockout round, or filled against two opponents who also failed to advance out of group play.

Some early impressions of the potentially good, bad and challenging of the Clippers' 2023-24 schedule, their last as co-tenants of Crypto.com Arena.

A more evenly spaced schedule

Each of the last two seasons featured punishing schedules as the Clippers played a league-high 61 games before February's All-Star break. Last season, it had a dual effect of also leaving the Clippers only 21 games in which to mesh their new additions from the trade deadline after the break.

This season, they will receive more time to catch their breath during a schedule that appears more evenly spaced. They will play 53 games before the All-Star break — 54, should they advance to the in-season tournament championship — and 29 after. That seemingly would be a development the Clippers will welcome for a roster with ongoing concerns about fatigue because its core remains one of the league's oldest, and considering the team could again be active at the trade deadline.

The schedule features several reprieves for rest. After their fifth game, Nov. 1 against the Lakers, the Clippers will have four days off before a Nov. 6 road game in New York against the Knicks. In January, the Clippers will be home from Jan. 15-25 — a stretch that immediately precedes, and somewhat offsets, their longest road trip — and play only three games in that span.

Last season, 51 games were played on one day of rest; this season, that is reduced to 48. Spacing games earlier in the season will mean that the six weeks leading into the postseason will be packed with games, however. From March until the April 14 regular-season finale, the Clippers play 25 games, and only two will come after more than one day of rest.

Clippers vs. Lakers matchups

Clippers coach Tyronn Lue remains undefeated against the Lakers in his three seasons in Los Angeles. After the season's first Lakers-Clippers matchup on Nov. 1, the teams will meet again Jan. 7 (a Lakers home game), Jan. 23 (Clippers home game) and Feb. 28 (Clippers home game).

All but the Jan. 7 matchup currently are scheduled to be broadcast nationally. National TV schedules can change during the season — and how far they advance in the in-season tournament also will have an effect — but for now the Clippers are slated to be on national broadcasts 22 times, on either ESPN, NBA TV or Turner Sports.

How much will Leonard and George play?

From Lue to president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank, the Clippers have vowed to take this regular season more seriously. The key to making that promise come true is how often Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, their often-injured foundational pieces, play.

Traditionally, they rarely have done so on consecutive days. This season, the Clippers will play 15 sets of games on back-to-back days, an amount unchanged from last season.

Difficult stretches

On the topic of back-to-backs: Five of the 15 will be played with both ends in Los Angeles. From Jan. 26 to March 4, the Clippers will play four back-to-backs all on the road, which could make for a difficult stretch. Back-to-backs could also make it harder to judge how the Clippers compare with a particular East power — both of their games against the Milwaukee Bucks will come on the second night of a back-to-back (March 4 and March 10).

One more Grammy trip

Because the Clippers will trade in their downtown arena for their new, Steve Ballmer-constructed Inglewood arena following this season, this marks the last year of their annual Grammy road trip, during which both the Lakers and Clippers depart in late January for their season's longest road trip to allow the arena time to transform into the host of the music awards show. (Could Intuit Dome one day host the Grammy Awards, necessitating another such long Clippers road trip in the future? Never say never — but that's a question for another day.)

This season's Clippers' Grammy road trip covers seven games, including two sets of back-to-backs, from Jan. 26 through Feb. 5.

Those matchups: Jan. 26 at Toronto, Jan. 27 at Boston, Jan. 29 at Cleveland, Jan. 31 at Washington, Feb. 2 at Detroit, Feb. 4 at Miami and Feb. 5 in Atlanta.

Conversely, the Clippers' longest homestand includes only four games but lasts through the holidays. Beginning with a Dec. 23 home game against Boston, the Clippers won't leave home again until Jan. 2, with games Dec. 26 against Charlotte, Dec. 29 against Memphis and Jan. 1 against Miami.

In-season tournament

The Clippers' four-game, in-season tournament group-play schedule was already announced this week, but now we see how they fit into the rest of their schedule. Three of the games will be played on one day of rest, and the last —Nov. 17 vs. Houston — will come after two days off. But the final group-play game, Nov. 24 against New Orleans at home, will be first night of a back-to-back, with the Clippers hosting Dallas the very next day.

©2023 Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC