Lue says Clips' aim unchanged despite roster upheaval: 'We're playing to win' - ESPN

LOS ANGELES — The LA Clippers might look drastically different than the team that came into the season with lofty aspirations, but Clippers coach Tyronn Lue made it clear Friday that the organization's goals remain the same.

«Man, we're playing to win,» Lue said before a game against the Los Angeles Lakers. «I don't care if it's young, old, toddlers… whoever's on the floor, we're trying to win. I mean, we're trying to win. There's no other reason to play.»

The Clippers started the season 6-21 and were a team in turmoil, with Bradley Beal suffering a season-ending hip injury, Chris Paul being ex-communicated by the franchise and Kawhi Leonard — already being investigated by the NBA for an Aspiration endorsement deal that allegedly involved salary cap circumvention by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer — missing significant time because of a sprained ankle.

Back in December, when his team was 15 games under .500 and preparing to play the crosstown Lakers, Lue used the occasion to dig in and publicly challenge his group to finish the season 35-20 or better to at least assure a 41-41 record.

The team took off from there, going 21-7 leading up to Friday's Lakers game, coming in with a 27-28 mark.

«I didn't think it would be this fast, but I thought we had opportunity,» Lue said when asked about the Clippers being on the cusp of .500. «Once we were able to get [Leonard] healthy and play more minutes and feel good, that's when we were able to take off and start stacking wins, which has been good for us.»

But along the way, the Clippers completely restructured the roster, trading perennial All-Star James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers for guard Darius Garland, who is yet to suit up for L.A. and big man Ivica Zubac for the Indiana