OKC Thunder: TI editor power rankings week 17 – At last, the break

Okay, so I theorized I’d be moving up the Clippers this week but instead they remain status quo. Still, this ranking has far more to do with what the Clippers did in preparation for the summer than how they’ll perform this season.

It behooves the Clippers to miss the playoffs as making the cut means they’ll lose their draft pick to the Celtics (as if Danny Ainge needs any further draft pick padding) whereas missing the cut will give Jerry West and Co. yet another draft pick to dangle as part of a package to land Anthony Davis.

Thank Rich Paul of Klutch Sports for the moves the Clippers made. That’s because of the planted spin-doctoring story which floated them out as one of four franchises on Davis’ short list. West smartly decided to make a few moves in order to create more versatility just in case this yarn bore any truth. In reality, it was probably more about the Davis Camp saving some face for how the entire situation was handled.

Yet, the more the group tired to spin gold the more mired they became in quicksand.

Instead of garnering Anthony Davis a reprieve all it did is reinforce the belief his management group (and their friends) were trying to manage the entire situation.

Jerry West ranks among the smartest assessors of talent and one of the best closers in recruitment, so either way the Clippers will be a player this offseason in several free agent and trade discussions.

Meanwhile, those pesky Clippers keep winning in spite of themselves.

Offensive Rating: 11th (110.7 )
Defensive Rating: 19th (110.0 )
Net Differential: 14th ( +0.7 )

Points per game: 113.8 (tied 6th)
Offensive field goal efficiency: 46.0 percent (10th)
3-Point percent: 38.6% (tied 2nd)

Opponent points per game: 113.6 (24th)
Opponent field goal efficiency: 45.5 percent (tied 10th)
Opponent 3-point percent: 34.2% (tied 5th)

Record: 8th in WC
Home:  15-12 | Road: 16-14 | Back to back sets: 10
Versus the West: 19-17 | Versus the East: 12-9

Week 17,  2-1:  Win @Hornets, @Celtics, lost @Pacers
On tap for week 18: @Timberwolves, Suns