Why Are The Clippers Struggling With Harden?

___________________________

AJ Slusarczyk, Josephine Nguyen (ed.)

Entering the 2023 NBA season, the Clippers were viewed as one of the championship favorites. However, their early struggles may potentially lead to them missing out on the playoffs entirely. 

Just five games into the season, the long-anticipated trade for former MVP James Harden was finalized. The Clippers seemed to be the only team that had shown interest in trading for Harden. This is mainly due to his off-court antics. However, knowing the drama that Harden has brought to his past teams, the Clippers felt that it was necessary to gamble given that their championship window is quickly closing. 

Now faced with the challenge of integrating the diverse playstyles of their stars into one cohesive unit, their traditional offensive flow, especially for Westbrook, has been disrupted. 

The Clippers are now 0-4 since the acquisition of James Harden after the loss to the 1-8 Memphis Grizzlies. Through those four games, the Clippers have a plus-minus differential of -67 with Harden on the court and +24 with him on the bench. Though plus-minus doesn’t always tell the whole story, in this case it is a pretty good indicator of showing that Harden does not pair well with the rest of this Clippers offense.

Since James Harden’s trade on November sixth, the Clippers have had the lowest PPG average as a team in the entire league. To follow this, they rank fifth worst in defense. Harden has never been notable for his defense throughout his career and was acquired at the cost of two key perimeter defenders in Nick Batum and Robert Covington. This raises legitimate concerns about whether or not the Clippers will be able to patch the holes they have on defense moving forward.

Despite the early setback, Clippers fans can draw hope from Coach Tyronn Lue’s history. If you recall just a season ago when Westbrook first joined the Clippers, they also opened up with a 0-4 start with him. Then Tyronn Lue somehow found a way to incorporate him into the offense effectively. Westbrook transitioned from a ball-dominant point guard into a reliable off-ball aggressor.  Trusting Lue’s strategic brilliance, there’s potential for a similar transformation for Harden in the coming weeks.