Column: Truly feel-superior Clippers story will not conclude in triumph without having Kawhi Leonard and Paul George

Ahead Nicolas Batum just can’t help but marvel: If the Clippers are taking part in this effectively devoid of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, how fantastic will they be when their two superstars return?

“It’s organic,” Batum claimed.

The Clippers are the much more likable of the city’s two NBA teams, a assortment of nameless overachievers who erase gargantuan deficits and are positioned to achieve the postseason.

They are a truly feel-fantastic tale — for now.

This fact will alter when Leonard, George and new trade acquisition Norman Powell come again from their respective accidents, whether or not it is this season or subsequent. The Clippers wouldn’t be seen as a plucky small group anymore. They would be contenders. They would be predicted to win.

Recognizing Steve Ballmer’s championship aspirations will call for the Clippers to steer clear of the exact complications they encountered the last time they ended up in this position.

They will have to do a greater job of integrating Leonard and George.

Leonard is recovering from knee operation, George is doing the job his way again from a damaged elbow ligament and mentor Tyronn Lue simply cannot, or won’t, offer timetables for both of their returns.

“I’m drained of hearing that s—,” Lue explained Wednesday after he was questioned for an update on Leonard and George. “When they are participating in, I’ll allow y’all know. I’m weary about talking about them each day.”

Lue’s annoyance in excess of the inquiries is misguided but understandable. The day the Clippers have their full group back jointly feels as if it’s someplace in the distant upcoming. George could rejoin the lineup in the next month and this could still be a missing time, in which case the quest for the elusive initially championship will carry more than to subsequent year.

Urgency will be heightened then because Leonard will be 31 next time and George 32. After next calendar year, the Clippers’ nucleus could get started searching outdated, the expected declines of Leonard and George coinciding with Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks coming into his primary. The young cores of the Memphis Grizzlies and Phoenix Suns should also be even more made.

There are putting similarities concerning the workforce the Clippers have on the court now and the group they fielded the period in advance of they acquired Leonard and George.

Personified by the tenacious Patrick Beverly and Montrezl Harrell, the 2018-19 Clippers created the playoffs as the eighth-place group in the Western Convention. Popular contemplating was that the Clippers had assembled a excellent supporting cast for a participant these kinds of as Leonard, who was an impending totally free agent at the time.

They succeeded in signing Leonard and investing for George the next offseason.

The end result in Leonard’s and George’s maiden year with the Clippers: a humiliating elimination in the Western Conference semifinals soon after blowing a 3-1 collection guide to the Denver Nuggets.

The approach of adding two franchise gamers to an set up locker home proved tricky, particularly in a time interrupted for 4 months by the COVID-19 pandemic and concluded in a bubble at Disney Planet.

Chemistry shouldn’t be a dilemma this time. Leonard and George have performed with most of these players and there is no dilemma whom this workforce was crafted all-around. As numerous touches as Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris Sr. are finding in Leonard’s and George’s absences, they know what their roles will be and why they are listed here.

“If they occur back again,” Batum stated of Leonard and George, “we’re likely to be ready for them.”

The two All-NBA performers have remained engaged by dispensing advice to the team’s youthful gamers.

“They’ve been good, just becoming around,” Lue said.

From purely a basketball standpoint, these Clippers also glimpse extra able of complementing Leonard and George.

They have a roster packed with gamers who can protect a number of positions, together with Powell, a trade deadline addition who is at present sidelined with a broken foot. They have a variety of shooters who can spread the ground, these types of as Batum, Morris and Luke Kennard. They have depth.

What they do not have is what they didn’t have when they collapsed in that collection from the Nuggets two several years in the past: a genuine point guard.

Leonard and George can be serviceable ballhandlers, but neither 1 is LeBron James.

Can a championship be won with a bunch of wing gamers and no all-natural distributor? The Clippers could be a scenario analyze.

Of course, none of this will subject if Leonard and George are not nutritious. Reintegrating them back into the team will call for them to be on the courtroom to start with.