LA Clippers: This Generation's 2002 Sacramento Kings?

[Andrew]

This is a comparison I came up while I was drafting this week's Friday Five. Are the current Los Angeles Clippers the Sacramento Kings (circa 2002) of this generation?

In terms of direct comparisons of players and style, not really. But the Clippers play an exciting brand of basketball, as did the Kings. More to the point, they're both teams that struggled mightily for most of the past 20-30 years, with the occasional season of mediocrity and a token Playoff appearance here and there, before finally having a good run as one of the top teams in the league.

However, like the 2002 Kings, it seems as though the Clippers are peaking at a time when another team has come into their own and have a firm grasp of the championship; the Warriors are to the Clippers what the Los Angeles Lakers were to those Kings teams. The Portland Trail Blazers of the late 80s/early 90s might also be another good example here, a team whose best window of opportunity unfortunately came during an era where there were stronger teams and it was clearly "their time".

The upside is that the Clippers' three best players still have quite a few good years of basketball left in them, at least on paper. It's possible that with the right moves and a little patience, their time could come. However, the door could just as easily slam shut on them, as it did with those Kings and Blazers teams.

[benji]

Also. A fantastic passing big who probably needs to be traded in order to get the pieces the team actually needs to win it all.