We started becoming fans around the same time for this team. And I’m already intimately familiar with the whole narrative around this franchise, around Ballmer’s arrival and the front office’s transition, and up to today’s events. The highs so far have been the highs you stated and the lows were as they are now.

But what are not trading Paul George or Kawhi Leonard. There is no starting over. We gave up the assets we did to ride-and-die with these two dudes. Everyone needs to accept that. I think our Front Office wants to maintain the best relationships possible with our all-star players because I think PG and Kawhi both retire as Clippers. And they’ll end up having to take lesser pay when their contracts are up due to an inability to stay on the floor/it having been years since they made all-nba teams.

And as they transition from the 1-2 combo punch to our veteran cast, we will have to go out and recruit Giannis in 2025/26. Beyond that, if we do blow it up, it will absolutely be pennies on the dollar and we’ll be back in the basement for years. I can’t imagine Ballmer wants to do that.