Another Early Exit, Another Offseason of ‘What Now?’ for Clippers

For all the talent, all the star power, and all the regular-season noise, the Los Angeles Clippers’ season ended the way it so often does — quietly, and far too soon.

The latest letdown came in Saturday’s Game 7, when the Clippers were steamrolled by the Nuggets, 120–101, in Denver. It wasn’t close. It wasn’t competitive. And now, serious questions surround a core that includes Kawhi Leonard and James Harden.

“I felt like we could have given a better effort,” Leonard told reporters. “They’re not 30 points better than us.”

Effort or not, the result is the same: A first-round exit for a team that was, on paper, built to contend. The Clippers haven’t been out of the first round since 2021, and yet head coach Tyronn Lue still believes in the pairing of Leonard and Harden — if they can stay on the court.

“Those two together for a whole season, I think would be tremendous,” Lue said.

That’s a big if. Leonard was healthy this time, averaging 25 points on 53.7% shooting and playing his best ball since the bubble. But Harden’s looming $36.4 million player option and the franchise’s uncertain financial future under the new CBA make the idea of continuity more complicated than Lue’s optimism lets on.

Ivica Zubac didn’t sugarcoat anything.

“It was a good regular season,” the veteran center said. “But we don’t play for the regular season. We play for the playoffs. We play for the championship. We went out in the first round.”

And the Clippers didn’t just go out — they went out with their worst loss of the year. Leonard’s minus-33 in Game 7? The worst of his career. He gave the Nuggets credit, sure, but his tone made clear the frustration.

Meanwhile, Lue admitted his mind hadn’t gone to the offseason yet.

“To be honest, I was thinking about OKC,” he told reporters, referring to a potential second-round matchup that never came.

Now, instead of Oklahoma City, the Clippers face another long summer. And it basically comes down to whether or not this front office believes that “running it back” with Leonard and Harden is a path forward — or just more of the same.

Because whatever this version was, it wasn’t enough.