On September 25th, Beijing time, the Clippers held a media day today, as the new season approaches, everyone now has a lot of expectations for the new season of the Clippers, because the team's president Frank and coach Tyronn Lue were interviewed, and they also talked about a lot of issues that everyone is more concerned about, such as Leonard's injury, how the Clippers arrange the current starters, and Harden's team positioning in the new season, etc., let's take a look.
New news on small card injuries
In this summer, Leonard had thought about participating in the Olympics, but was finally stopped by the team and the dream team, although I don't know what the reason, but was abandoned by the dream team, then it can only mean that Leonard's condition is not up to standard, his injury may still exist, and today Clippers president Frank talked about Leonard's problem, he said: Xiaoka's knee swelling and inflammation problems have been reduced, but not completely subsided, he is now more focused on strength training.
Later, the reporter asked Frank about whether the new season will play in the regular season opener, Frank said: The specific comeback time depends on his knee recovery, the current situation is good, but considering that when you are healthy, you will not set a specific time frame for it, we will be patient with this, he wants to play, but we want him to be able to recover to 100%, and then we will also specify some management plans for back-to-back games.
Frank added: "I think Leonard can play well this season and as long as he's fit, he's one of the best players in the world. And after Frank's interview, Shams reported that, according to sources, Leonard underwent knee surgery in the offseason. Previously, the barbecue sister had published a puzzling dynamic, and the outside world thought that Xiaoka was injured, but the result was really true.
Leonard's knee has not known how many surgeries, when he was kicked by Pachuria, it can be said that it affected Leonard's entire career, before Pierce's suggestion, I think Leonard may really think about it, if it continues like this, it may have a serious impact on his life after retirement, if it doesn't work, just retire, his knee is no longer able to support him for a long time to play high-intensity games.
The team's starting position is undecided
Tyronn Lue spoke about the team's potential starters in an interview today, saying: Even with four starters returning this season, there is still a lot of competition within the team for starting spots, and while Mann has performed well, it is not yet certain whether he will start with Harden. Of the Clippers' starting five last season, only George left, and Harden, Mann, Leonard and Zubac were all on the team.
And Harden, Leonard and Zubac will definitely have a starting position, as for the other two positions the competition will indeed be fierce, there is Mann, Dunn, Kevin Porter Jr. to compete at the No. 2 position, and Derrick Jones Jr. and Batum at the No. 3 position to compete, Batum may play 4, let Leonard play 3, although his athleticism and scoring ability are not as good as Jones, but Batum's strategy and ball quotient are very good, and Tyronn Lue also likes to use Batum very much.
In addition, the president of the team also talked about Mann, saying that we have a lot of expectations for Mann, we value him very much, the team wants him to be with the Clippers for a long time, and we want to make a deal. Mann now has the ability to reach a 4-year, 81 million contract extension with the team, I don't know if the Clippers will give it, if he is given this contract, then Mann will be the team's fourth core in addition to Leonard, Harden and Zubac.
Harden's role in the new season
Tyronn Lue also talked about Harden's role in the new season in an interview, he said: After the team has a major player leaving the team in the offseason, James Harden needs to take on more responsibilities in the new season, he needs to have more blocks and more points and more shots. The meaning is very clear, that is, Harden needs to take on more tasks on the offensive end, and Harden is going to return to the rhythm of the big core play with the ball, after all, Xiaoka doesn't know when he will be able to return, and Harden must play better to win more games.
This can't help but remind people of Harden's situation during the Nets period, I have to say that Harden's life is really hard, with the salary of the team's second leader, but he has to do the work of a big boss, this is the case during the Nets period, Durant and Irving are often injured, he came to huddle, and as a result, he became the team's thigh, and because he was killed, he lost his peak due to a leg injury, and the operation of the Clippers in this offseason is also obvious, they just want to build a team around Harden, they introduced Jones Jr., Bamba and Batum, These are all pie-eating players.
Speaking of which, what do you have to say about the Clippers right now? Welcome to leave a message to discuss.