Los Angeles Clippers
2017-18 record: 42-40
2017-18 season series: 2-0, Sixers
2018-19 advantage: Sixers
The Lob City era is officially over following the departure of DeAndre Jordan. Now the Clippers are caught in the grey area between a rebuild and competitiveness, lacking high-level talent but boasting enough quality pieces to win some games.
Tobias Harris will be looking for the max next summer. Lou Williams is a perennial Sixth Man of the Year favorite who’s coming off the best season of his career. Even with Jordan’s departure, Marcin Gortat will give Doc Rivers a viable stopgap in the middle.
At this point, it feels as though L.A. will wait out the Kawhi Leonard and Jimmy Butler sagas. If neither signs next offseason, it will be time for Steve Ballmer’s franchise to hit the reset button. Either way, their talent this season isn’t comparable to the Sixers.
Where Philly boasts an elite offense and defense, the Clippers are painfully average on both ends. An eighth seed isn’t impossible, but the Clippers seem to be trending toward another low-end lottery pick.