Latest news with #TyronnLue
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Clippers Named Potential Trade Suitor for Celtics' Derrick White
Clippers Named Potential Trade Suitor for Celtics' Derrick White originally appeared on Athlon Sports. The Los Angeles Clippers have already been the subject of a report suggesting they would be interested in pursuing a guard from the Boston Celtics this offseason. Advertisement The guard in that report was Jrue Holiday, who could end up on the trade block as the Celtics try to reshape their roster for a season without Jayson Tatum. Now it seems there is another guard from the Celtics' roster who could also be of interested to the Clippers. Los Angeles Clippers coach Tyronn LueRobert Edwards-Imagn Images During a recent appearance on the Third Apron Podcast, CBS Sports' Sam Quinn said that the Clippers would make sense as a trade suitor for Celtics guard Derrick White. When the report came out about the Clippers being interested in Jrue Holiday, I wrote about why I didn't like that move. I would like this move a whole lot more for the Clippers. Advertisement While Holiday's talents mostly come on one end of the floor, White could help the Clippers on both ends. He is a strong defender, having earned All-Defensive honors in two of the last three seasons. He'd also give the Clippers another dependable option on offense. He averaged 16.4 points and 4.8 assists per game this past season. His three-point shooting would give the Clippers a boost in another area where they need it. He knocked down 3.5 threes per game this past season while shooting 38.4% from behind the arc. Meanwhile, the Clippers were near the bottom of the league in both three point attempts and made threes. Advertisement White wouldn't be a cheap option. He carries a $28.1 million cap hit into next season and it escalates each year after. He'd also require the Clippers to part with a decent amount of the little remaining draft capital they have available. Still, he'd be worth the price as a great fit to play alongside James Harden in the Clippers' backcourt. Related: Report: $70 Million Clippers Star Trending Towards Declining Player Option for 2025-26 Season Related: Report Reveals How Clippers are Planning to Use Mid-Level Exception This Offseason This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 5, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
NBA playoffs 2025: Vintage Kawhi Leonard outshines Nikola Jokić as Clippers tie series with Nuggets
DENVER — The Denver Nuggets are on notice. Vintage Kawhi Leonard is back. And he led the Los Angeles Clippers to a 105-102 Game 2 victory over the Nuggets on Monday to tie the first-round playoff series at 1-1. The Clippers surged into the No. 5 seed, thanks to an 18-3 finish in the regular season sparked by a resurgent Leonard, whose Clippers tenure is so far known more for his injuries than any winning of significance. Leonard turned it up another notch Monday night in a performance reminiscent of his 2019 playoff run with the Toronto Raptors that ended with an NBA championship and his second Finals MVP trophy. In a game featuring three-time MVP Nikola Jokić, Leonard was the best player on the floor. Leonard shot 9-of-10 from the field in a scorching first half that netted 21 points, including a 3-pointer to beat the second-quarter buzzer. He continued to give the Nuggets fits and finished the game with 39 points, three rebounds, five assists and two steals. He shot 15-of-19 from the field and 4-of-7 from 3. He hit a jumper that extended the Clippers' lead to the final margin in the final minute, then came up with a steal on Denver's next possession. The Nuggets threw multiple defenders at Leonard, including Jamal Murray, Christian Braun and Michael Porter Jr. None was able to slow the six-time All-Star who repeatedly scored at will from 3 and from midrange over helpless defenders. 'This is what Kawhi lives for," head coach Tyronn Lue said after the game. "He's gonna try to get to the point where he's healthy for the playoffs. We know if we've got healthy Kawhi, we can win the series. And it just shows you what he's capable of doing." Can healthy Kawhi deliver on his Clippers promise? Leonard joined the Clippers alongside Paul George in 2019 to much fanfare, fresh off his second NBA championship. Playing alongside another two-way All-Star in George, Leonard was expected to once and for all lift a Clippers team that's never been to the NBA Finals into championship contention. The Clippers advanced to the Western Conference finals in Leonard's second season in Los Angeles in 2021. But they haven't advanced out of the first round since. And Leonard was limited to just four games in the previous two postseasons due to multiple injuries. Leonard's career has been intertwined with significant injuries since his exit from the San Antonio Spurs. And fair or not, he and his injuries have been blamed for the Clippers' playoff failures since his arrival in Los Angeles. Lue painted a different picture Monday night, crediting Leonard's dedication to his health and his recovery in leading to his performance against the Nuggets. Kawhi Leonard put on a vintage performance to lead the Clippers past the Nuggets on Monday night. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) "He's a hard worker," Lue said. "He's dedicated, like I said, to keeping his body right. Sometimes a bunch of things happen. You can't control that. It's not from a lack of work. It's not from a lack of wanting to be here. "Sometimes some bad luck hits. But he's gonna keep coming back. He's gonna get to this point like he is right now. And that's why I'm just so happy for him." James Harden, who tallied 18 points and seven assists Monday, has played with Leonard for two seasons since joining the Clippers early in the 2023-24 campaign. He joined the Clippers on the heels of Leonard's meniscus tear that sidelined him two games into a 2023 first-round series against the Suns. He played alongside Leonard through another knee injury that limited Leonard to two games against the Mavericks last postseason. He's been around Leonard through his recent rehab and recovery process. He has no doubts about Leonard's dedication to the game. "Every single day," Harden said of Leonard's work. "It's like the preparation, it's the treatment. It's the strengthening of his body. It's the correctives and then it's going on the court and putting it all together. "It's consistently every single day. Luck hasn't been on his side. ... He loves to hoop. As you see, when he's on the court, he's a killer." As for Leonard himself? He was his usual understated self after his best playoff performance in years. "I'm just happy that I'm able to move," Leonard said when asked about how he felt. "I'm coming out of the game feeling well. That's what I'm taking my pride in. Just being healthy. "I've sat and watched these playoff games and series for the past years. Being able to be on the frontline out there, it just feels good for me, whichever way the game goes. That's what I'm taking pride in, just want to be out there play and be frontline for my team." Ivica Zubac continues to give Jokić problems While Leonard shined, Jokić struggled to produce early in a matchup that's given him fits all season. Clippers center Ivica Zubac, who stands at 7-feet and 240 pounds, defended Jokić as well as anybody during the regular season. He continued to limit Jokić on Monday while holding the MVP finalist to eight first-half points. Jokić attempted just six field goals before halftime — five of them from 3 and the other a dunk. He didn't shoot his first free throw until the third quarter. Jokić rallied to finish with a team-high 26 points and tallied a triple-double with 12 rebounds and 10 assists. But he finished 6-of-10 from the line and turned the ball over seven times. Will Jokić's supporting cast be enough moving forward? While Jokić was limited, the Nuggets leaned on his supporting cast, including Porter, who bounced back from a 3-point performance in 26 minutes in Denver's Game 1 overtime win. Porter started hot and had six points on four field-goal attempts before taking his first break on the bench. He finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds while shooting 6-of-11 from the field. He came up with multiple big buckets in the fourth quarter, including a put-back layup and a pull-up 3 that tied the game a 96-96. Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon, meanwhile, took on larger roles throughout the game as the Clippers made Jokić the center of their defensive attention. But in the end, Leonard's big night proved too much for the Nuggets to overcome. The Clippers, once an afterthought in the West, now have home-court advantage as the series shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Thursday.
New York Times
29-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Jeff Van Gundy has been the Clippers' not-so-secret weapon on defense all year long
The LA Clippers have been a winning program every regular season since the 2011 lockout ended. What they haven't always been is a top defense. The highest ranked defense of Vinny Del Negro's tenure was being No. 8 in 2012-13, which was his final season. In Doc Rivers' seven seasons as head coach, the Clippers only had three top-10 defenses, peaking at fifth in 2015-16 and Rivers' final season in 2019-20. Tyronn Lue's defense ranked eighth in 2021 and '22 but slipped to 17th in 2023 and 16th in '24. Advertisement The solution for Lue's 2024-25 Clippers? Jeff Van Gundy. He was hired as lead assistant coach and Lue's defensive coordinator after spending the 2023-24 season as a senior consultant with the NBA champion Boston Celtics. Before last season, Van Gundy was on ESPN's top broadcast team for 16 seasons after ending four years as head coach of the Houston Rockets in 2007. The last time Van Gundy was an assistant coach was in the 1995-96 season; he replaced Don Nelson as head coach of the New York Knicks in March of that season. Based on his history, it was clear where Van Gundy was likely to focus on improving the Clippers' defense. Van Gundy was an assistant before, during and after Pat Riley's time as head coach of the Knicks, the same Riley who once quipped, 'No rebounds, no rings.' Van Gundy, who won nearly 60 percent of his games in Houston and New York, always had a top-10 defense as a head coach, and all but one of his teams had a top-10 ranking in defensive rebound percentage while taking away the paint and fast-break points. This season, only the Oklahoma City Thunder and Orlando Magic were better defensively than the Clippers, and no team was better on the defensive glass despite the Clippers finishing 24th in that category a year ago. Van Gundy was the catalyst for that. 'Every year, we kind of mentioned that we're a bad defensive transition team, a bad defensive rebounding team,' said center Ivica Zubac, who was the only player in the NBA this season to grab at least 1,000 rebounds and finished seventh in defensive rebounds per game (8.9). 'That was something I wanted to get better at, something I can directly control. And JVG, beginning of the season, pushed me a lot, pushed the whole team a lot. Gotta be better in those two areas.' LA Clippers defensive rebound % rank under Tyronn Lue 2021: 5th 2022: 27th 2023: 7th 2024: 24th 2025: 1st ⚠️ Asked Ivica Zubac about leading the Clippers on the glass this season for the 2nd-best defense in the league — Law Murray 💭🚫 (@LawMurrayTheNU) April 9, 2025 Zubac said that Van Gundy was 'treating every game like it's playoffs.' And this season, the Clippers weren't just good overall defensively; they were consistent. In the first quarter of the season, the Clippers had the fifth-best defense in the league. From Dec. 6 to Jan. 24, the Clippers had the second-best defense. The Clippers slipped from Jan. 25 to March 9, ranking 16th. But from March 10 through the end of the regular season, the Clippers had the NBA's third-best defense. Advertisement Now that it's the playoffs, Zubac said that Van Gundy 'went to the next level of locked in.' Perhaps that was on display when Van Gundy and longtime Clippers trainer Jasen Powell were wrestling for the ball with Denver center Nikola Jokić late in the fourth quarter of Game 1 of the Clippers-Nuggets first-round series. 'I saw some memes out there with JVG,' said Lue, who claims not to be active on social media. 'But I mean, the ball came to him. He didn't take it from Joker. The ball came to him, he was going to give it to the referee. When you're competitive and somebody tries to snatch the ball from you, you've got to hold on to it, so I guess that's what JVG did.' As locked in as Van Gundy has been on the bench, that's how locked in Clippers defenders have been when they have played their best in April. During the regular season, two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year Kawhi Leonard remarked in his first game back that Van Gundy told players, 'Nobody watches this s— more than me.' In the playoffs, Leonard has been motivated by his team's renewed defensive spirit. 'I have to give credit to my coaching staff, starting with JVG, just being focused on that end,' Leonard said last week. 'Coming in with a passionate, aggressive mindset for us all. And it kind of (trickles) down to us. And then from there, there's guys on the floor that want to guard. They're not just pointing at me and telling me to take them. 'These guys are looking an opponent in the eyes and saying, 'I want him.' They motivate me defensively, especially Kris Dunn, just seeing how he plays every game. With Derrick Jones Jr. coming in and Zu being that back line, and how they just want to play. They motivate me to play, you know what I mean?' No sound on this one, and I didn't focus on it, but I thought this was a cool moment of James Harden and Jeff Van Gundy before practice during Tyronn Lue media — Law Murray 💭🚫 (@LawMurrayTheNU) April 18, 2025 It's not just the stars whom Van Gundy is tasked with putting in position to help the Clippers defensively. Before the start of the playoffs, Lue said that backup center Ben Simmons and two-way contract power forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. were serving as the scout team's Jokić in preparation for the three-time MVP. Simmons later said that wasn't the case, but in speaking to The Athletic after Game 4, Baldwin described his role while getting coached by Van Gundy. Advertisement 'These past two weeks, you kind of put on your acting cap and study his mannerisms and how he carries himself,' said Baldwin, a 6-foot-9, 2022 first-round pick who was tasked with being the scout team's Keegan Murray during the Golden State Warriors' 2023 series against the Sacramento Kings. 'Just try to envision yourself as that player, just to give these guys the best look possible. Because obviously, I'm not on the playoff roster. 'But this is, even for a playoff run like this, guys that aren't playing have roles. You gotta be there for support. When Van Gundy says, 'Hey, you're Jokić,' that's my role. In practice and scouting sessions.' Lue has always leaned on his coaches for more than just strategic support; they are his support system. When Van Gundy was head coach of the Rockets, Lue played 21 games to begin the 2004-2005 season in Houston. The two grew closer when they were on the staff of the U.S. men's basketball national team. 'Just getting him to laugh, you know, just getting him to enjoy the game, enjoy life,' Lue said of his growing relationship with Van Gundy this season. 'When I played for him in 2004, he was just straight ahead. He would get on the elevator, he might not speak. … 'People that don't know him, when you see him from the outside looking in, you don't know he has a great personality, and he's funny as hell. … The relationship we had when I was a player to now is … different.' That connection has made an impression on players as well. This is the first top-five defense that James Harden, a 16-year veteran and future Hall-of-Famer who has been to the postseason every season of his career, has been a part of. After Game 3 at Intuit Dome, which featured multiple performances by the Ying Yang Twins, Harden was asked about what makes Lue and Van Gundy so effective as a pairing. 'It's like the perfect relationship,' Harden said. 'They just know what the hell they're doing, you know what I mean? Seriously, like, they're always on the same page. They don't overstep each other's toes. They tell us what we need to do on both ends of the ball, and we go out there and do it. But it's just like, they're yin and yang. Literally, the Ying Yang Twins.' Advertisement With the success that Van Gundy has had, the question now is, could he be a head coach again for the first time since 2007? There are only four head coaching spots either vacant or occupied on an interim basis right now, all in the Western Conference: Denver, Memphis, Sacramento and Phoenix. When Van Gundy was hired, Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said that Van Gundy 'is such a coaching and basketball purist that he'd only want to go somewhere where the head coach has unbelievable security and faith.' It remains to be seen if those openings or any others pique Van Gundy's interest, but Lue knows his assistant is 'definitely a head coach.' 'We've seen his work before, in New York, in Houston,' Lue said. 'It all depends on if he wants to do it or not. I would hate to lose him, but he's the most qualified. Like I said, it's all up to JVG if he wants to coach and be a head coach again. … (He) changed our defense and our program defensively and brought us some things that we haven't been accustomed to that's worked. … He's great for us. He'd be a great head coach again as well.'
USA Today
17-04-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Tyronn Lue had nothing nice to say about the Nuggets' defense, so he said nothing at all
Tyronn Lue had nothing nice to say about the Nuggets' defense, so he said nothing at all With three-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic at the center of their operation, the Denver Nuggets will likely always be a top-flight offensive team. That's the sort of dimension Jokic's unique passing and three-level scoring provides. Denver's defense, especially without any particularly elite point-of-attack defenders on paper at the moment, is a different story. The Nuggets were a bottom-10 defense in the league this year. While they have good individual defenders like Aaron Gordon, Christian Braun, and Peyton Watson, the sum of their defensive parts hasn't always come together perfectly this season. Those defensive struggles are also partly why the young and bright David Adelman is now Denver's interim head coach. The Nuggets' up-and-down defense is naturally one of the bigger questions in a first-round playoff matchup with the red-hot Los Angeles Clippers. If the Clippers can find a way to consistently cut up Denver on this end of the court, they'll have a solid chance of advancing to the second round of the postseason. Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue definitely understands this dynamic. But when asked about the "strengths" of the Nuggets' defense on Tuesday, he curiously couldn't say anything nice. Because, you know, does a bottom-10 defense really have any strengths? Think about it. So, in turn, Lue danced around the question and kinda said nothing at all instead: Listen, Lue knows what happened here and how his answer came across. It's actually not asking a lot of a coach to pay customary respects to the opposing team by complimenting players and such by default. You don't have to give away any sort of strategy or game plan when you do that. But Lue was almost certainly caught off guard by this question, so he wasn't prepared to offer up the standard cookie-cutter stuff we hear at most preview press conferences. We'll see how this rings true for Nuggets-Clippers, arguably the best first-round series this postseason. And whether the Nuggets use it as some sort of bulletin-board material.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'We are here': Tyronn Lue knew the Clippers could exceed expectations
'We are here': Tyronn Lue knew the Clippers could exceed expectations Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, talking with coach Tyronn Lue, is again healthy and playing well heading into the playoffs. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times) Tyronn Lue glided into the Clippers' postgame interview room on Sunday afternoon and clapped and clapped and clapped and clapped and clapped again. He beamed as his head bobbed up and down. His Clippers squad had just qualified for the Western Conference playoffs, doing so in the last regular-season game with a win over the Golden State Warriors, who were also seeking a playoff berth while playing at home in the Chase Center. Advertisement The Clippers had defied the preseason odds of being a playoff participant. Lue refused during the season to let his group think otherwise and now they will face the Denver Nuggets in the first round starting Saturday at Ball Arena. 'They counted me out. They counted us out,' Lue said. 'I know they did. I know it. But we are here.' In that moment, there was a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction from Lue and the Clippers because they had exceeded expectations and finished in the fifth spot in the NBA's competitive Western Conference. At best, the Clippers were viewed by the critics when the season started as a possible play-in team and even then likely fighting for a nine or 10 spot. Advertisement Read more: How do the Clippers match up against the Nuggets entering their playoff series? They were not going to have Kawhi Leonard to start the season because he was recovering from a right knee injury that eventually led the former All-Star forward to miss the first 34 games. They were not going to have former All-Star forward Paul George anymore because he took the money from the 76ers and bolted to Philadelphia. They were the Clippers' best players, and with Leonard injured and George gone, many were skeptical about this team. But the Clippers finished tied with the Lakers and Nuggets at 50-32, a record few could have predicted. Advertisement 'I think our group has been playing with a chip on its shoulders all year because of that,' Lue said. 'We just found ways to win. We just found ways to win. No matter whose night it was, we just kind of featured that guy, played hard defensively and competed and we played together. … Being counted out and staying the course and playing with that chip on your shoulder all year long.' Inside the Clippers' locker room after the win in San Francisco, Leonard and All-Star guard James Harden were two of the last players to leave the shower. The team's two stars and leaders stood side-by-side talking, smiling and looking at their teammates knowingly. On one side of the locker room, center Ivica Zubac and guard Bogdan Bogdanovic sat next to each other watching the Masters golf tournament on TV while drinking a beer. On another side, guard Norman Powell and defensive ace Kris Dunn talked about the Clippers reaching this point and what it took. Norman Powell, stealing the ball from Grizzlies guard Luke Kennard, was the Clippers' second-leading scorer with a career-high average of 21.8 points a game this season. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times) But of them all, Leonard had come the farthest. Advertisement He played in just 37 games and just one set of back-to-back games. But as the season progressed, Leonard got stronger and stronger. It all culminated over the weekend, when Leonard played 42 minutes against the Kings in Sacramento on Friday night and then a season-high 47 minutes against the Warriors on Sunday. He tied his season high in points with 33 against the Warriors. His knee injury no longer is a subject. 'I'm happy that I have a great organization behind me to allow me to get healthy and know exactly what I need to do,' Leonard said. 'Them letting me reach out to outside sources and combining them together and collaborating. Like I said, it's not over yet. We still got a playoff series to try to win and just want to keep going from there. Like I said, have a good playoffs and a healthy offseason and just keep going.' Advertisement Even Lue missed games because of back pain, but the Clippers went 4-1 during his absence, the coaching staff led by assistant coach Brian Shaw keeping the train moving. The Clippers saw Harden shine by averaging 22.8 points and 8.7 assists, the latter statistic fifth best in the NBA. Powell averaged a career-best 21.8 points per game while Zubac averaged career highs in points (16.8), rebounds (12.6) and assists (2.7). So the Clippers have found solace in proving their doubters wrong. 'We're human. We know what's being said about us, what's being put out there,' Powell said. 'TLue, he's been through it, the ups and downs. People not wanting him here. People upset with what he was doing. Not being able to have a full healthy roster the previous seasons and not having big aspirations of winning a championship. Advertisement "Especially this year, nobody had us having 50 wins, being top five right now going to the playoffs. So, to knock that off and have people kind of backtrack and figure out what this team is all about now, it's a lot of fun. We're super-competitive. It's happening. Fifty wins is big-time.' Sign up for the L.A. Times SoCal high school sports newsletter to get scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
