With JaMychal Green on his way to the Golden State Warriors, Clippers fans will be reminded of a bad time for the franchise…
So we’re now into the deepest depths of the NBA offseason. Free agency has all but seen its biggest moves done and Summer League has passed. Now begins the longest barren spell of our summers until opening night. For the Los Angeles Clippers in particular, it feels like there isn’t much left to organize before the new campaign.
Their deals are seemingly done with John Wall signed and Moses Brown looking likely to fill the 15th roster spot as a low-risk, high-reward option for the team. Despite that, there are still some moves that will catch our eyes and maybe even remind us of times gone by.
With that being said, it looks like JaMychal Green will be a Warrior once he clears waivers after negotiating a buyout with the Oklahoma City Thunder – who he was traded to by the Denver Nuggets for the pick that became Peyton Watson out of UCLA. It’s an acquisition that has already been lauded by Clipper Nation, knowing the upside that J-Myke can bring to a franchise.
It’s a shame that the squad he’ll be supplementing will be a direct title rival — the top two favorites to come out of the West according to Vegas — but it’s also symbolic of the progress made by the Clippers. Because while Green was such a valued member of the 213, his peak performance came during one of the most disappointing seasons in recent history — the NBA Bubble of 2020.
As per Forbes’s Shane Young, the now 32-year-old was shooting 65% from the field and 43% from 3-point range — he could and should have been the perfect tonic to draw Nikola Jokic out of his comfort zone. Yet Doc Rivers persisted with big Montrezl Harrell minutes, the Serbian center got it all his own way in those minutes, and the Clippers blew another 3-1 lead in the second round having gone into the season as one of the favorites for the championship. After that, JaMychal signed for Denver, Doc was fired and the rest is history.
Guy was shooting 65% from two and 43% from deep to at least counter the Jokić attack & stretch them out, but hey Trezz … come on down!
— Shane Young (@YoungNBA) July 19, 2022
The Clippers wouldn’t look back and have since managed to reach a first Western Conference finals, and the feeling remains that if they found themselves in the same position — up 3-1 in a second round series — they’d be much more clinical this time around. JaMychal may have to find that out the hard way again, though this time it will be because he’s among the opposition.
He’ll still be a thorn in our side though, as Golden State Warriors fans will come to realize. Green embodied the hustle that the 2018-19 squad became known for, as Steve Kerr and company found out in their infamously tough first-round matchup, but beyond that he was really solid on both ends of the floor.
He’ll be really solid in Golden State too and Clipper Nation will always have his back until he comes up against us. He’s a reminder of a bad time for the franchise, but in the most positive sense. Things got better for us from there, but there’s still another step to take. JaMychal may be standing in our way now.