Last summer, Chris Paul, like many Southern Californians, was interested in the new Inglewood Arena, where the Los Angeles Clippers were only a few weeks away from the opening.
But unlike most locals, Paul was one of the best players in the NBA while playing for the Clippers in 2011-17. And he was about to play for the San Antonio Spurs, but he was still well aware that Steve Balmer, the owner of the new arena’s ultimate tour guide, Clippers, had shown point guard.
“I said, ‘Damn, what does the locker room look like?” Paul said.
A year later, Paul returned to the locker room as the Clippers’ latest offseason signature before Monday’s introduction, noting the differences between his two eras playing for the franchise. New Arena, new logo, and this: During his first stint, he found a team of young athletic startups challenging the league’s established title contenders. Next season, 40-year-old Paul and the Clippers will still pursue their first NBA championship, but this time they’re behind the desires that lie on the oldest NBA roster.
“There are so many things you can get to have the opportunity to play at this age,” Paul said.
The NBA has never been a league of young guys more than ever before. Last season, the average age was 26.3 years old, with the tired young feet pushing both Oklahoma City and Indiana to the NBA Finals in June. Oklahoma City played the finals at an average age of 25.6 years. This is the second youngest team to reach the championship round in the last 70 years. And when the Thunder won the championship, they were the youngest to do so since 1977.
After the Clippers’ season ended in the first round, the team’s top basketball executive Lawrence Frank described youth and athletic ability as a priority.
However, the Clippers have since shunned such young people and bet that the experience will give them a chance to punch.
The team is hoping to play a nine-man rotation, Frank said this month, but said it could be reliable and deep. The average age for these 11 years old is over 33, and Yahoo Sports has determined that they are a year older than the oldest pre-NBA roster.
“What is your age? That’s just a number, right?” Frank joked with a reporter earlier this month.
Paul, 40, may be an outlier as the NBA’s second-oldest active player behind LeBron James alone, but 37-year-old Center Brook Lopez has maintained 37-year-old do-everything, re-signing 36-year-old guard James Harden and signing 32-year-old All-Star Guard Bradley Beale. Of the 11 players on the team, primarily expected to earn regular playing time, three (Ivica Zubac, Derrick Jones Jr. and offseason acquisition John Collins) are under the age of 30.
“The goal is to get this team, no matter what age, as good as it can be, and everyone has the right to get the decision they want to make in the group,” Frank said last week after Paul signed. “We’re very excited about this group. I think it’s part of the concern that people are (and there) more to the increased chances of injury as they age. So we’re leaning into depth.”
The Clippers clearly see their experience as strength. However, there is only the 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks (31.6 years old) and the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls (32.1 years old) won the NBA titles at an average age of 31 and above. Deep playoff runs require skill. Season, or Kauhi Leonard, played 157.
However, when asked about the team’s age, Frank quickly recited that the oldest players of the Clippers, Paul and Lopez, had started a total of 162 of the 164 possible games last season.
“So, maybe these guys were productive three years ago, or four years ago, they were productive last year,” Frank said.
The Clippers are not the only candidates to believe they need more seasonings. Houston was one of the biggest success stories of last season, creating the second-best Western Conference record, with average age in just a few minutes of 25.2 despite owning the league’s ninth roster. However, after losing in the first round of the playoffs, Houston decided that Kevin Durant, 37, should make that possibility come true before the season begins.
Older in the league that distorted Young, it wasn’t the Clippers’ master plan. In the short term, Frank’s entry was not guaranteed to land Lopez as a free agent. The beer was not available initially – it didn’t become a free agent only after Phoenix bought the contract with a $96 million song. The Clippers ultimately made these moves because they were “disciplined by our plans” as they allowed their team to improve, regardless of age.
As rival executives have seen, its long-term plan has seen the team not wanting to extend their expensive contracts past 2026. In an attractive market like Los Angeles, it’s just a blank slate that might invite a disgruntled star seeking trade, or a well-known free agent.
Most teams clear books and transitions for the future by filling their teams with low-cost young players. However, the Clippers have not started moving young people for a variety of reasons. One is resources. The 2019 deal with Oklahoma City hamstrung the number of available first-round picks the Clippers could theoretically rebuild their roster through the draft. As a workaround, the Clippers have tried to give a second chance to a young talented player who was welcomed on their previous team on court or legal reasons, but no one has panned out.
Philosophy is also a key factor in why the Clippers own the league’s oldest roster for each of the last three seasons. Owner and former Microsoft CEO Ballmer doesn’t believe that building a roster to deliberately lose his way into a top draft pick is a good fit for business or to keep fans of cities already saturated by rivals.
“Every year we put the best teams possible, we’re going to be disciplined in our plans, give them teams, and provide the best possible experience possible for teams trying to compete at the highest level,” Frank said.
It was an attractive pitch for Paul, who wanted to pursue his first championship in his 21st season, but also wanted to do so while living in the same city as his wife and children for the first time since he last left the Clippers in 2017.
“Tell me the truth, my wife and my children are probably already tired of me,” Paul said.
Paul spoke with a broad smile all Monday afternoon as he spoke about his return to the franchise. But before he finished the reception to celebrate the reunion, one of the estimated 650 fans who packed their coats inside the Intuit Dome caught his attention.
Sitting in a row from the raised stage where Paul was sitting, fans told Paul what he had been told about his team’s offseason moves. He said the team’s roster includes so many older players over 30, known as “UNC” or uncles.
“I’m definitely ‘UNC’,” Paul said. “I think we got a great mix of young guys, older guys, and more. And it’s up to us to understand that.”
