The OKC Thunder once again controls three first-round picks in the upcoming NBA Draft. While their own pick (lottery protected to the Atlanta Hawks) projects to be the most lucrative, the Thunder also have the Suns’ first-rounder (top-12 protected) and the Clippers unprotected first-round selection in 2022.
The NBA announced the 2021-22 NBA regular season schedule a week ago. Spoiler alert: Basketball will be back before you know it. One key note for OKC Thunder fans is not just the must-watch games of the 2021-22 season, but how the Clippers faired with their slate of games.
The Clippers got their first bit of bad news to kick off the offseason as Kawhi Leonard underwent surgery on a partially torn ACL. An injury that many expect to sideline him for the entire 2021-22 NBA season.
That leaves Paul George as the lone star in La La Land for the Clippers to navigate the team through an improved western conference.
While Paul George is capable of producing an MVP caliber season, as we saw first hand in Oklahoma City, the team is built with Kawhi in mind who inked a four-year extension this offseason to stay with the Clips.
The road never got easier for the Clippers this offseason, who not only will battle next year without Leonard but will take on one of the most difficult schedules in the NBA.
While the Clippers have the ninth toughest strength of schedule, the real bad news begins with the fact they will play 13 games at a rest disadvantage to just 11 rest advantage contests.
The hardest part of the Clipper’s schedule is the fact they play five stretches that feature five games in seven nights.
For comparison, the OKC Thunder only see one such stretch on the docket, while other teams have zero five games in seven days stints this season.
When you factor in the 14 back-to-back sets, the five stretches of five games in seven days, nine afternoon games which the Clippers routine underperform, and the expected load management of Paul George, things can get dicey in a hurry for L.A.
Of all the future unprotected draft picks the Clippers owe the Thunder, the 2022 selection could easily be the best value.