It was the best to be eliminated in the first round, but the sad thing is later!

The wonderful season process is the same familiar ending.

The Los Angeles Clippers performed strongly in the second half of the regular season schedule, entered the first round of the playoffs and fought with the Nuggets for seven games, playing a very exciting first-round series, satisfying the fans' viewing experience, but in the end, it unfortunately stopped in the first round and continued the previous round of games.

If you want to simply evaluate the Clippers this season, it is basically a mediocre and difficult season.

The special thing is that the Clippers play excellent content worthy of respect. Even in the third quarter of the tiebreak battle, the Nuggets were completely widened, and they were once behind by as many as 35 points, and finally ushered in the final finish of the season with the most dismal attitude. But it is undeniable that they still entered the playoffs as fifth in the West this season, without falling into the playoffs despite generally being unfavorable.

The seven bloody battles in the playoffs also competed with the Nuggets, and the strength of both sides was basically the same as each other. It is not surprising that who would enter the second round in the end. And at least this time, the Clippers entered the playoffs with all members' health, leaving no regrets of injury. Maybe they were just a little luck or lacked some fighting spirit, which eventually led to an elimination.

In addition, the Clippers also handed over a qualified report card in trading. After the Clippers gave up George in the offseason, the team maintained their playoff level competitiveness while maintaining their salary flexibility. They did not give up their operational space, leaving the team's total salary below the first tax line.

Judging from the season operation, the Clippers will deal with Mann, who performed poorly, in exchange for Bogdan, whose contract is shorter and is conducive to future trading, and will also get three additional second-round picks. Dunn, Jones Jr., and others who signed before the season also played key roles briefly in the playoffs. The team was able to effectively amplify the value of players, while reducing the pressure on negative assets, and sorted out a relatively healthy team salary structure.

However, even such a seemingly optimistic situation may still be difficult to heal the sequelae. Although this season is not the first time the Clippers have been eliminated in the first round, after this season, Leonard and Harden, who have obviously aging, have built a set of combat power ceilings with a low ceiling for the Clippers. Even though Leonard's singles offense is still of level, it is difficult to operate the entire team's system with a short-term battery life and a single combat mode.

As a system trader, Harden is gradually facing the aging dilemma of being unable to do anything after a hamstring injury. Although the playoffs should not be difficult, to return to the championship ranks, the Clippers obviously need the third star to support the decline trend of the two, and at the same time, they also need a more balanced role player with offense and defense to deepen the depth of the lineup rotation. However, they have used up all their assets and chips in the past few seasons. What chips can they give to fill these loopholes at present?

Referring to the previous report by Clippers' team reporter Law Murray, the Clippers plan to continue their existing strategies in the next two offseasons and continue to control their salary. The main reason is that the team is facing Harden's contract renewal, the Clippers have almost no possibility of stacking contracts upwards, and they still need to continue to control salary balance.

, and in the arms race between the Western teams, it is probably a bit unrealistic for the Clippers to increase their combat power with this small expense.

neither plays badly nor has draft picks, which means that the Clippers will find it difficult to win a high pick as the cornerstone of reconstruction. So how should they seek the next core? Perhaps their goal is to be on the free market in 2026 or 2027.

Considering that Leonard did not sign a maximum salary before, the Clippers still have some elastic space to rebuild the lineup, and the team's management is very cautious about the players' long contracts. In the 2026-27 season, the Clippers only had three guaranteed contracts, Leonard, Zubac and Jones Jr., and as long as Harden is willing to accept the contract renewal of the existing price, the team still has the opportunity to recruit another top star to take over the baseball team in 2026 or 2027.

It is just that with the new version of the labor-capital agreement affecting the offseason flow method, the Clippers can replicate the successful case of signing Leonard in 2019, and then give enough assets to get a second-in-command like George's level back then? These are key questions that management needs to answer.

In addition, the Clippers have an opportunity to accelerate the reconstruction process: choose to trade Leonard and Harden directly.

The general manager Frank, who has repeatedly emphasized that he will not show off his bad behavior, was the main driving force behind the Griffin transaction case that year.

As the team's self-selected No. 1 pick, Griffin is also the core player of the team's turnaround from a bad team for many years. His emotional status in the hearts of fans is far higher than that of Leonard and George who signed and joined the deal, but Frank did not choose to stop because of these factors.

During the negotiations with George, the Clippers insisted on not bowing their heads, which indirectly proved Frank's characteristic, which is a cold-blooded trader who is completely engaged in business and ignores the world. As long as the chips given by the opponent's team are reasonable enough, it is entirely possible that he will put all the team members on the trading shelves.