NBA Offseason Guide 2022 - How the LA Clippers should approach the 2022 offseason

Losing two play-in games, including one at home, is a disappointment — even if the LA Clippers were without their best player (Kawhi Leonard) for both and their second-best player (Paul George) for the second one.

But it was never about this season for the Clippers.

Their dreams of a championship ended in the playoffs last year when their franchise player was injured. This season was a bridge to 2022-23, when Leonard will return to the court. The goal this season was to tread water, place a priority on player development and, of course, compete for a playoff spot.

All three of those objectives were achieved without Leonard for the entire year, and without George for most of it.

Entering next season, the Clippers' play-in label will get changed to a team with a title-level roster.

MORE: Clippers rank sixth in Future Power Rankings

Roster status: From play-in to a championship-ready

It would have been easy for the Clippers to feel sorry for themselves after Paul George was lost with a right elbow injury in early December.

After all, they were already without Kawhi Leonard and the George injury should have positioned the Clippers at the bottom of the Western Conference standings. Before the George injury, the Clippers were two games above .500.

«Our system was built around two players, around PG and Kawhi, and when they both go down, now you got to be able to shift and now build around the team that you have,» head coach Tyronn Lue told Marc Spears of Andscape.

The Clippers offense rightfully struggled in the time without George, ranking 26th in efficiency, but what held this team together was Lue (and his coaching staff) and a resilient group of players.

«It's really by committee, everybody, coaches, players, veterans,