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The Clippers are a mess. This is typically an evergreen statement. There have been moments and stretches where things have gone better than, but invariably those fade and the Clippers return to their natural default position of being the Clippers.

Even by Clippers standards, this bunch is really straining the limits of maximum Clippersness this season. We've reached dangerous levels and we're barely a quarter of the way into the season. 

The Clippers are 19th in offensive rating and 25th in defensive rating. They have an average point differential of minus-5.2, the eighth worst mark in the league. They have lost eight of their last 10 games, with one of their two victories coming courtesy of the Charlotte Hornets, who somehow have a better record. The Clippers are 6-18. Only the Pacers, Wizards and Pelicans have fewer wins. It's L.A.'s worst start to a season since 2010-11. That team finished 32-50. This team isn't very good, either -- but being bad at basketball might be the highlight of the season. 

The Clippers are still being investigated by the NBA for possible salary cap circumvention related to Kawhi Leonard's alleged no-show endorsement gig with Aspiration. No one knows how hard Commissioner Adam Silver might come down on the franchise -- or even if the league's investigation will be as thorough as the Pablo Torre reports that prompted it in the first place -- but operating with a disciplinary anvil hovering over their heads can't be pleasant. 

Then, last week, the Clippers made life for themselves harder than it needed to be with a series of comical unforced PR errors regarding Chris Paul. The night after a blowout loss to the Heat in Miami, Paul posted on social media "just found out I'm being sent home." It was 2:40 a.m. ET at the time of his dispatch, which came with the team in Atlanta on a road trip. In a statement later that morning Clippers president Lawrence Frank said the team was "parting ways" with Paul and that "no one is blaming Chris for our underperformance." Blame game aside, when you "part ways" with anyone -- be it a future Hall of Famer or a significant other -- while you're in an Atlanta hotel together in the wee hours of the morning, things have gotten messy. 

The Clippers did Chris Paul dirty: 'Legendary Clipper' sent packing in the middle of the night
James Herbert
The Clippers did Chris Paul dirty: 'Legendary Clipper' sent packing in the middle of the night

The parting of ways came just a few days after the Clippers put together a snazzy little tribute video for Paul that proclaimed "CP3 will end his Hall of Fame career at home," complete with a little heart emoji for good measure. The community notes on that one were fun after the early morning surprise divorce. 

Spoiler: He will not end his Hall of Fame career at home, or as a Clipper. Things had evidently deteriorated to the point that Paul and head coach Ty Lue were reportedly not on speaking terms for several weeks. In an interview separate from the initial statement, Frank alluded to some friction between the player and the organization and said "it just wasn't the right fit." He made sure to add "we are not scapegoating Chris" and "we have great respect for Chris."

Paul has long been a divisive figure and his tough-love, unvarnished speak-hard-truths style of leadership is an acquired taste that countless teammates, coaches, and executives famously never developed a palate for. Even so, it takes some moxie to fire someone on a road trip while the sun still isn't up and then later that day talk about having respect for that very same person. This is perhaps why former long-time Clipper Lou Williams blanched at the situation. 

"For a player who's going to be a Hall of Famer, for someone who's possibly going to be the first person to have his jersey retired in the rafters of the Intuit Dome and be the first to represent Lob City and the first to represent the Clippers in that manner, this is just a sour way to go out," Williams said on "Run it Back." "It looks bad on the Clippers' part to do this in the late-night hours. It looks bad for Chris Paul. It looks bad for all parties involved."

That it does. To hear Williams tell it, from what he heard, Paul was basically being Paul by "holding players and coaches accountable" for the team's ugly start. According to Williams, that accountability also included Paul being "critical of the front office," which Lou Will figured was "the straw that broke the camel's back."

Whatever anyone might think of Paul's methods, it's hard to argue with his displeasure about the Clippers underperformance -- particularly as it relates to the team assembled by Frank and the front office. Conventional wisdom about the Clips coming into the season was that if Leonard was healthy, they ought to be in the Western Conference mix. Despite playing just 37 games during the regular season, the Clippers finished fifth a year ago and took the Nuggets to seven games in the first round. 

And yet this season the Clippers are going nowhere fast even though Leonard is averaging 25.4 points per game. (the most he's put up in five seasons). The rest of his stats are pretty much in line with his career averages, and he's already played in 14 of the team's 24 games. He's played well. So has James Harden. They aren't the problem. Which might make the team's record more concerning, not less. When the two best players are doing what's expected and you're still 12 games under .500, what then?

There aren't a lot of good options here. The Clippers started the season with the oldest roster in the NBA, an average age that only got a little younger by jettisoning Paul and losing Bradley Beal to a season-ending hip injury. Brook Lopez, 37, was brought in to back up Ivica Zubac and bolster the bench. Instead, he's averaging 14 minutes and caught six straight DNP-CDs before playing 10 minutes in a loss to the Wolves over the weekend. John Collins is just 28, but he's another offseason addition that hasn't worked out to date. He came off the bench for the first nine games and his numbers took a dip from what he posted last season in Utah. Lue inserted him into the starting lineup for the last 15 games, only for his points per game, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and usage all to go down even as his minutes went up. 

The roster as currently constructed doesn't work, but overhauling it won't be easy. The Clippers are one of several teams that have an eye on clearing maximum cap space for the 2027 offseason when several notable free agents might be available. With Collins set to be a free agent this coming summer, and Lopez, Bogdan Bogdanovic and Nicolas Batum all having team options, the Clippers could free up something approaching $50 million this offseason. But they still owe Leonard $50.3 million next season, and Harden has a player option for $42.3 million that he'll almost certainly pick up. Shuffling the deck becomes harder when factoring in their lack of draft assets. The Clippers owe an unprotected first-round pick to the Thunder in the 2026 Draft. OKC also has swap rights in 2027. 

Not controlling their pick removes the Clippers' incentive to tank. Maybe they do nothing and hope the supporting cast snaps out of it and plays better. Maybe they explore what they could get for Kawhi and Harden. Or maybe they make a desperate dash for the Play-In Tournament and turn some of those expiring contracts into someone who could help them now and doesn't require a long-term commitment. Anyone interested in Zach LaVine (player option next year at $48.9 mil) or DeMar DeRozan ($25.7 mil next season before also becoming a free agent)? That's a grim path to ponder. But so are all the others.

And now on top of it all, this Paul business. Williams wasn't the only former Clipper who recoiled at how that was handled. Blake Griffin said he was "disappointed in the Clippers organization" for the lack of communication between Lue and Paul, as well as between Paul and owner Steve Ballmer. 

Griffin would know something about being disappointed in the franchise. Back in 2017 the Clippers put together a two-hour production designed to hard-sell him on inking a new deal with the organization. He did, signing a five-year, $173 million contract. At the time, Frank -- then the team's executive vice president -- said "Blake is in a position where we look at him as Clipper royalty, and it hasn't changed. So we are going to do everything we can to keep Blake a Clipper." Six months later Griffin was traded to Detroit.

"This organization's been through a lot," Griffin said after Paul was released. "You can build a new arena, you can be at games, you can cheer on the team, you're gonna have all this high energy but at the end of the day an organization is built on a foundation of respect and it's built on how you treat people, and I don't think that in this situation Chris was treated right. I'm sorta at a loss for words a little bit."

The Clippers are known to have that effect.