California dreamin’
Now that the NBA playoffs are in the second round, not a single California team remains standing. Golden State was knocked out by Sacramento in a play-in game where Klay Thompson went scoreless. The Warriors missed the playoffs for the third time in the last five seasons and a major personnel revamp is expected particularly as the team leads the league in highest payroll at $209 million. Paying salaries to millionaires who don’t deliver is an issue that will be addressed in the offeseason for sure.
Sacramento also didn’t make it out of the play-in gates despite Domas Sabonis leading the league in double-doubles and triple-doubles. After disposing of Golden State, the Kings were bundled out by New Orleans. In an affront to Sacramento, the Pelicans didn’t win a single game in an Oklahoma City sweep in the first round of the playoffs. If New Orleans was that bad, Sacramento had to be worse.
The two Los Angeles squads advanced to the playoffs but neither made a dent. The Lakers were crushed by Denver in five games despite playing a healthy LeBron James and Anthony Davis. The Clippers took two decisions from Dallas but fell in six just the same. The Mavericks were No. 5 and the Clippers, No. 4 in the West so the outcome was a mild upset. The Clippers lost Kawhi Leonard in the last eight games of the regular season and he sat out four of the six meetings against Dallas. In the two playoff games where Leonard played, the Clippers lost. Paul George and James Harden will be free agents this summer but not Leonard who signed a three-year, $152 million contract extension last January.
The Clippers will leave Crypto.com Arena to move to the Intuit Dome in Inglewood before the start of next season. For 25 years, the Lakers and Clippers shared Crypto.com Arena, formerly Staples Center, as their home. The transfer to Inglewood may not spark a fan exodus from Crypto.com Arena unless changes are made. As for the Lakers, coach Darvin Ham has been fired and rumored replacement candidates are Mike Budenholzer, Kenny Atkinson, JJ Redick and Clippers’ coach Ty Lue. LeBron has a player option to remain with the Lakers next season for $51.4 million or could renegotiate for an extension of two or three more years. He’d like to play with his son Bronny who’s among 78 players invited to the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago on May 12-19 but the problem is the 19-year-old, 6-4 Junior isn’t anywhere close to being at his father’s skill level. This season, Bronny averaged 4.8 points and 19.4 minutes in 25 games, including six starts, with the University of Southern California varsity. Wherever LeBron decides to play next season, expect his team to draft Bronny for sentimental reasons. Unfortunately, father and son won’t make a winning combination.
At the moment, it’s California dreamin’ in the NBA, taking off from the popular 1963 song by Barry McGuire, Mamas and the Papas, America, Beach Boys and Jose Feliciano. Golden State, Sacramento, Clippers and Lakers are dreaming what they could’ve done to avert a disastrous season.