Lead the team to get out of the playoffs unexpectedly! A salary of 100 million in two years. As the boss of the team, you should leave too

The first round of the playoffs has entered the final stage, and the top four of the Eastern Conference regular season have successfully advanced, while the third-seeded Lakers in the West have been eliminated due to the lack of an inside line and the Timberwolves' mercury-like attack. In the Nuggets and Clippers series, the Nuggets won seven games in the final. Harden only scored 7 points and 13 assists in the G7 game. He once again refused to be interviewed after the game, ending the journey of this season. Over the years, Harden has never disappointed people at critical moments. It is not that he has poor strength, but that his mentality is indeed not good. In this round of series, Harden made fewer than 11 games in a single game, with the Clippers 0 wins and 3 losses. Obviously, as the second leader of the team, if you score 7 points, 11 points, and 15 points in one game, you cannot help the team win, and Harden should bear the responsibility. After the Clippers were eliminated, Murray, a team reporter, revealed that the management is focused on keeping the salary below the first tycoon line in the next two offseasons and maintaining flexibility in salary space. In the previous four seasons, the Clippers paid $370 million in luxury tax, but got nothing. This season only requires 6 million luxury tax, from being predicted to be 12th in the Western Conference at the beginning of the season to finally being fifth in the regular season, and being eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. To be honest, this performance is pretty good. But there is a problem that needs to be solved urgently. First, where is the future direction of the Clippers? Should we continue to strengthen around Ka and Harden, or should we turn the bow to prepare for reconstruction? Of course, the team owner Ballmer is not short of money, and the US media also gave a plan to trade Antetokounmpo or even Durant in the Clippers, but can we still win the championship around Kawhi and Harden?

The Clippers were eliminated, and many people ignored Leonard, who is the boss of the team. In this round of the series, Leonard averaged 25 points, 7.6 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game, with a shooting percentage of 53% + 40% in both events. He is very efficient, but the data is average. Leonard really broke out in G2, scoring 39 points, and other games were between 20-27 points. When Leonard scored less than 25 points, the Clippers won 1 win and 4 losses. Many people put all the blame for the Clippers' elimination on Harden. Although Harden is indeed wrong and cannot be trusted in the playoffs, it should be emphasized that Leonard is the boss of this Clippers! I list two data. In the regular season, Leonard On-Off value is +11.5, and when he is on the court, the team's offensive efficiency is 122.2 and defensive efficiency is 109.6. But in the playoffs, Leonard On-Off value is -5.3!

When Leonard is present, the Clippers lose 0.2 points in 100 rounds; when Leonard is not present, the Clippers win 5.1 points in 100 rounds (all data can be checked in "BR")! Although the Clippers were eliminated, the total net win points in this round of the series was +4 and the Nuggets were -4. The question is, why would Leonard lose points on the court? This is definitely not a waste of Harden. Harden's performance in the past seven years of playoffs has been vain. Just discussing Leonard's loss on the court, there are three points worth thinking about. First, Leonard said in the offseason last year that he did not want to play in the fourth position. The Clippers management did not satisfy him. To be precise, the team only has Batum as a substitute. The transaction deadline also made a subtraction in order to avoid taxes! In the playoffs, it was Harden, Dunn and even Derek Jones who really reached the fourth position.

Leonard was protected, but Harden's defensive consumption was indeed very large, and the offense would definitely be affected. Second, in a horizontal comparison, in the first round series of the Suns in the summer of 23, Xiao Ka only played 2 games, averaging 34.5 points per game, and his performance was tougher than Durant. If he was not injured, the Clippers really had hope that year. In just 2 years, Xiaoka's average score per game dropped by 10 points! The efficiency has not decreased, but the action has been reduced a lot. It is sometimes a good thing to not compete or compete, but it is definitely a bad thing in the playoffs. Finally, Leonard played only 37 games in the regular season this season, playing in a full season for the first time in the past five years. Harden has a bottom-up in the regular season. In the playoffs, is Leonard averaging 25 points enough? Is Gordon and Porter's defense too hard, or is Leonard himself not aggressive enough?

Leonard renewed his contract with the Clippers, and he still received a contract with an average salary of 50 million yuan, and there is still 100 million US dollars in the next two years! When he led the Raptors to win the championship, Leonard averaged 31 points per game in the playoffs. In the first two years of his arrival at the Clippers, he also averaged 29 points per game in the playoffs. This is based on the secret seizing power by the Clippers veterans. In other words, it is obvious that Leonard's regression is, or that he will never return to his status two years ago. In order to allocate Leonard the championship lineup, the Clippers spent $370 million on luxury tax alone in the past four years, but Leonard was injured every year. This year is a good opportunity to win the championship. Harden has already placed the team at the highest position. If he still expects Harden to perform stably in the playoffs, would he be a little harsh on him? It is true that Harden is disappointing in the playoffs, and it is also true that Leonard is no longer enough to be the core boss of the team winning the championship. According to salary experts, neither the Clippers nor Harden have many other options this summer. Harden's core playing style of playing with the ball does not need the championship team, nor does young teams need it. The Clippers sent Harden away is equivalent to taking the initiative to play badly. After all, Harden still has the guaranteed attributes of the regular season, and the two sides can still pass it. But what about Leonard? In the words of "FW", it is not ruled out that the Clippers actively trade Leonard during the offseason, which is better than waiting two years later until Leonard is 36 years old and no one cares about it. Harden is still the same Harden, but Leonard is no longer the Leonard.