Season Wrap: The 2024-25 LA Clippers

  • By Yoel Abulaf

    Last Updated on June 14, 2025 9:13 pm by Mike Passador | Published: June 14, 2025

    The Clippers broke in their brand new home without the services of Paul George, opting to let one half of their original star duo (now one third of the trio) head for greener pastures and a bigger contract without recouping anything in return. It was going to be on Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and a deeper, more versatile supporting cast to get the job done.

    How’d It Go?

    The Clippers entered the season with cautious optimism after Paul George’s departure, and while there were questions about the ceiling of an aging core, they quietly pieced together a 50-win campaign and finished fifth in the Western Conference. That marked their third straight 50-win season, yet once again, the postseason story was the same. Despite having both Kawhi Leonard and James Harden healthy at season’s end, they were bounced in the first round by the Nuggets in seven games.

    For all the talk of “addition by subtraction” with George gone, the Clippers only dropped one win from the previous year’s total — but didn’t get any further. Still, there were positives. Ivica Zubac broke out in a major way, Norman Powell had the best season of his career, and Harden proved he still had plenty left in the tank. The Clippers also made a few mid-year additions that helped out with Bogdan Bogdanovic and Ben Simmons contributing in reserve roles, and reallocating George’s money to guys like Derrick Jones Jr. and Kris Dunn made the roster much less top-heavy.

    Leonard returned late and played well when available, but the core is aging fast, and their window looks slimmer by the day. The Clippers aren’t shy about spending but this season showed real restraint from ownership in remaking the roster without just throwing cash at problems. That’s a good sign in the bigger picture but the Clippers still ended up short of expectations. Another year, another early exit.

    Coaching

    Tyronn Lue has now guided the Clippers to five straight playoff appearances, but the postseason results are hard to ignore. Three consecutive first-round exits and just one series win since the 2020–21 campaign have left many wondering if this group can reach a higher level under his leadership.

    To Lue’s credit, he showed more consistency with rotations this season. He finally committed to Zubac as a full-time starter, leaned on Powell in a lead scoring role for much of the year, and found steady contributions from depth pieces like Derrick Jones Jr. and Kris Dunn. Defensively, they were elite — ranking top three in defensive rating — but their middling offensive efficiency and slow pace showed again in the playoffs. If the front office does run it back, Lue will return, but the expectations are growing heavier.

    The Players

    James Harden
    SG, Los Angeles Clippers
    SeasonTeamGPGSMPG FGMFGAFG% FTMFTAFT% 3PTM3PTA3PT% PTSREBAST STLBLKTO
    24-25 LAC 79 79 35.3 6.7 16.4 41.0 6.4 7.3 87.4 3.0 8.5 35.2 22.8 5.8 8.7 1.5 0.7 4.3
    23-24 LAC 72 72 34.3 4.9 11.4 42.8 4.2 4.8 87.8 2.6 6.8 38.1 16.6 5.1 8.5 1.1 0.8 2.6
    22-23 PHI 58 58 36.8 6.4 14.5 44.1 5.4 6.2 86.7 2.8 7.2 38.5 21.0 6.1 10.7 1.2 0.5 3.4

    ADP: 15.9/28.8 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 3/5 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 6/15 (8/9-cat)

    When it broke that Kawhi Leonard would need to miss time at the start of the season, Harden’s draft stock surged. With Leonard on the shelf and Paul George in Philadelphia, Harden would have a chance to run his own team like the good old days. He largely delivered on that promise and was was brilliant in the regular season. After a disappointing 2023–24 debut, he bounced back with averages of 22.8 points, 8.7 assists, 5.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals, and 3.0 triples while finishing 15th in 9-cat value. Harden added over six points per game to his stat line this season, as well as posting his most steals (1.5 per game) and 3-pointers (3.0) since the 2019-20 season. He even logged 79 games — his most since 2018–19. Fantasy managers had to eat the poor field goal percentage (41.0%) and high turnover rate (4.3), but he was a staple in every build besides punt FG%.

    Harden struggled in the playoffs yet again, but from a fantasy lens, he remained a high-end contributor all season. The Clippers may be starting to wonder if they can really bake Harden into the core given his extremely hot-and-cold postseasons, but he was fabulous in getting the team through the regular slate.

    Kawhi Leonard
    SF, Los Angeles Clippers
    SeasonTeamGPGSMPG FGMFGAFG% FTMFTAFT% 3PTM3PTA3PT% PTSREBAST STLBLKTO
    24-25 LAC 37 37 31.9 8.4 16.8 49.8 2.6 3.3 81.0 2.1 5.1 41.1 21.5 5.9 3.1 1.6 0.5 1.9
    23-24 LAC 68 68 34.3 9.0 17.1 52.5 3.7 4.2 88.5 2.1 4.9 41.7 23.7 6.1 3.6 1.6 0.9 1.8
    22-23 LAC 52 50 33.6 8.6 16.8 51.2 4.7 5.4 87.1 2.0 4.8 41.6 23.8 6.5 3.9 1.4 0.5 1.7

    ADP: 51.0/65.9 (Yahoo/ESPN) | Total Value: 167/158 (8/9-cat) | Per-Game Value: 33/25 (8/9-cat)

    Leonard was a dicey draft pick when it was announced that he wouldn’t be ready for the start of the season after withdrawing from Team USA, but he ended up providing top-30 per-game value and was dominant down the stretch as a top-10 player after the All-Star break. If you were able to tread water while he missed the first 33 games of the season with knee troubles, odds are you had a pretty successful stretch run.

    Despite the great finish, the problem, as always, was availability. He missed the first three months of the season and played in only 37 games overall, with his chronic knee issue still a concern going forward. He’ll be 34 next season, and while the upside is undeniable, managers know the risk by now. That Leonard was electrifying in crunch time may only give the Clippers more incentive to take it easy on him; he wasn’t around for much in the regular season but they actually had him near peak form in the playoffs, which is really what matters at this point.

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    June 14, 2025, 9:13 pm