In this week's nine things I liked and disliked, the James Harden trade has opened the LA Clippers' championship window (again), Luka Doncic playing ... defense(!) and why the Sacramento Kings aren't interested in trading second-year forward Keegan Murray.
Jump to Lowe's Things:
Clippers are contenders again | Keegan has arrived
Coby's breakthrough | Sengun's All-Star case
Hartenstein's revelation | Charlotte's non-rotations
Blazers doing too much on TV? | Luka playing D! | NBA players are just like us
1. The LA Clippers' defense, and are you ready to love again?
When the Clippers made their last big all-in move for James Harden, the most skeptical analysts questioned if the trade put them on level with the Denver Nuggets. That was the wrong framing. If you're judging every trade that way, there won't be many trades.
The Harden deal unquestionably made the Clippers better. They went from "no chance" to "some chance." The right standard was whether the Clippers could gel into a team that made you believe -- a team with fight and cohesion, one in which the stars sacrificed and lifted each other up. That team could still lose -- maybe even in the first round. The health risks with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will always be there. Harden has petered out in too many mega games.
But a team with that spirit can be worth it even in defeat. Two months after bottoming out at 3-7 in a humiliating loss to the Nuggets' backups -- including ghosts of Clippers past -- the Clippers look like that kind of team. They are 21-6 since, with the league's No. 4 scoring margin.
The eye test is even more convincing. You know a serious team when you see it, and this is a serious team. As with most superstar conglomerates, it has been natural to focus on the offense: How would the Clippers split up touches? Would the stars diminish each other? Would Russell Westbrook accept a bench role (again)? Would all these players accustomed to dribbling and jab-stepping actually take catch-and-shoot 3s?
The Clippers have answered a lot of those questions. But their work on defense might be more telling. They are up to 11th in points allowed per possession. That's not incredible, no. These are not the Kevin Garnett Boston Celtics. There are off nights.