快船队把他们所有的筹码都推到了桌子中间，以得到卡希·伦纳德和保罗·乔治。
洛杉矶交易了他们自己在2022年、2024年和2026年的第一轮选秀权，这两个属于迈阿密的首轮选秀权（2021年和2023年），并同意与俄克拉荷马城2023年和2025年进行互换。这是很多，但这让他们在伦纳德的巅峰时期获得了两次总决赛MVP，在乔治身上又获得了NBA前10/15球员。
它给快船带来了两年的纸上竞争对手。伦纳德和乔治都有两年的合同，然后都可以走了。
尽管洛杉矶快船队在系列赛中以3比1领先，并且在所有三场终场比赛中都有令人满意的领先优势，但第一年在丹佛掘金队的第二轮比赛中令人失望和尴尬。这是浪费了两年中的一年。
除非你问乔治。
乔治说：“事实是，我们没有达到（冠军）的期望。”。“但我认为从内部来看，我们一直觉得，今年对我们来说不是冠军或失败的一年。你知道，我们在一起的时间越长，我们在一起的时间越长，我们的关系就越密切。团队的化学反应越多越好。我想这就是本季磁带的故事。
“我们只是没有足够的时间在一起。”
这是快船赛后评论中的一个主题——他们需要更多的时间来建立化学反应。保罗·乔治、卡希·伦纳德和整个球队都需要更多的上场时间，这是他们本赛季没有得到的，因为伤病、负荷管理和冠状病毒颠覆了这个赛季。
“我认为我们遇到的很多问题，人才救了我们，化学却没有，”劳威廉姆斯说。“在这个系列中，我们失败了。我们知道这是我们在一起的第一年。我们是一个很有才华的团队，但我们的成绩很差。化学是你必须建立起来的东西。你可以随着时间的推移而构建它。连续性非常重要，所以我们马上就回来。”
“你知道，老实说，我以为你能看出两队的不同，”教练里弗斯赛后说。“那支（丹佛）球队一直在一起，我们没有，你可以在比赛进行中看到这一点。他们只是很了解对方。”
里弗斯还多次提出团队训练。快船队在第四节被罚下，你可以从他们整个下半场的投篮33分中看到这一点，上半场命中率28.5%，18投3中。
里弗斯说：“我想，我们一直要把那些人带出去，因为他们太累了。”。“你知道，我们进入了季后赛，你必须这么做。有人要求出来。所以你必须这么做，你知道。但这在第七场比赛中并不常见，但确实如此。你必须这么做。我觉得这有时会伤害我们的轮换。”
在接下来的几天里，人们对快船的损失反应过度。有人说要解雇里弗斯医生，但这并没有发生。伦纳德来洛杉矶的部分原因是为了和里弗斯玩。任何球员名单上的变动都要和莱昂纳德协商，因为快船希望他和乔治在下个赛季之后留下。
快船队应该做出什么改变？
“没有。“没有，”乔治说。“在一起的第一年。你甚至不能说我们想改变我们的名册。我们喜欢我们得到的。我是说，我们说了一年了。只是化学反应，在一起。我们能在一起的越多，我们就越好。今年是第一年。我们有很多事情要反思。还有很多值得期待的事情要做，也需要做得更好。”
快船队不认为他们的缺点是天赋问题，这是一个化学问题。
威廉姆斯说：“简单地说，我们已经和队友们进行了一次谈话，我们很快就有了转机。”。“我们知道这将是一个快速的淡季，让我们回去工作，继续建设。
“你知道，我们确实有冠军的期望。我们有这个天赋。我不认为我们有化学反应去做这件事，结果证明了。我们在防守和进攻上都有失误，我认为那些在体系中打球的人在进攻的时候应该会在某些位置，很多不同的球员都做出了调整。你知道，它显示了。”
原标题：
Paul George: “This is not a championship-or-bust year for us”
原文：
The Clippers pushed all their chips into the middle of the table to get Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Los Angeles traded Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, their own first-round picks in 2022, 2024, and 2026, two other first-round picks belonging to Miami (2021 and 2023), and agreed to pick-swaps with Oklahoma City 2023 and 2025. It was a lot, but it got them a two-time Finals MVP in his prime in Leonard and another top 10/15 player in the NBA in George.
It bought the Clippers a contender on paper â for two years. Leonard and George both have two years on their contracts and then both could walk.
Year one ended in a disappointing and embarrassing second-round at the hands of the Denver Nuggets, despite the Los Angeles Clippers being up 3-1 in the series and having comfortable leads in all three close-out games. It was one year of the two wasted.
Except if you ask George.
“Fact of the matter is, we didn’t live up to that [championship] expectation,” George said. “But I think internally, we’ve always felt, this is not a championship-or-bust year for us. You know, we can only get better the longer we stay together and the more we’re around each other. More chemistry for the group, the better. I think that’s really the tale of the tape of this season.
“We just didn’t have enough time together.”
That was a running theme in the Clippers’ postgame comments â they needed more time to build chemistry. Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and the entire team needed more time on the court, something they didn’t get this season due to injury, load management, and the coronavirus upending the season.
“I think a lot of the issues that we ran into, talent bailed us out; chemistry it didn’t,” Lou Williams said. “In this series, it failed us. We know this is our first year together. We are a highly talented group and we came up short. Chemistry is something that you’ve got to build. You build it over timeâ¦. Continuity is very important, so we’ll be right back.”
“You know, honestly, I thought just you could see the difference in the two teams,” coach Doc Rivers said postgame. “That [Denver] team has been together, we haven’t, and you could see it as the games went on. They just knew each other so well.”
Rivers also brought up team conditioning multiple times. The Clippers were gassed in the fourth quarter and you could see it in their shooting â 33 points the entire second half, shooting 28.5% for the half and 3-of-18 from three.
“I thought conditioning, we kept having to take guys out because they were tired,” Rivers said. “You know, we’re in the playoffs,and you had to do it. Guys were asking to come out. So you had to do it, you know. But that’s not typical for Game 7, but it is what it is. You had to do it. I thought it hurt our rotations at times.”
Online â and for the next few days â the reaction to the Clippers’ loss was overreaction. There was talk of firing Doc Rivers, which is not happening â Leonard came to L.A. in part to play with Rivers. Any roster changes that are made will be done in consultation with Leonard because the Clippers want to keep him and George beyond next season.
What changes should the Clippers make?
“None. None,” George said. “First year together. You can’t even say we want to change our roster. We like what we got. I mean, we been saying it all year. Just chemistry, being together. The more we can be together, the better we’ll be. It’s year one. We’ve got a lot to reflect on. A lot to look at going forward and to get better with.”
The Clippers didn’t see their shortcomings as a talent issue, it was a chemistry issue.
“Just briefly, we had a conversation already amongst guys that we’ve got a quick turnaround,” Williams said. “We understand this is going to be a quick off-season and let’s get back to work and continue to build.
“You know, we did have championship expectations. We had the talent to do it. I don’t think we had the chemistry to do it and it showed. We had lapses on defense and offense where I think guys that played in systems where they were expected guys to be in certain spots offensively, a lot of different guys made adjustments. You know, it showed.”
