Entering the 2022-23 NBA regular season, there were plenty of folks who believed Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and the Los Angeles Clippers had a legitimate chance to win the 2023 NBA championship. After all, the Clippers had a star-studded and one of the deepest benches in the entire league. But fast forward to the current day, and it's clear that the Clippers fell painfully short of these championship contender expectations.

Kawhi Leonard and Paul George got hit by the injury bug once again. Leonard missed 30 games due to injuries during the regular season, and George missed 26. As a result, the Clippers ended the 2022-23 regular season with an unspectacular 44-38 record, the fifth-best in the Western Conference, and barely escaped the play-in tournament. And the Clippers' postseason run was extremely short-lived, as Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and the Phoenix Suns beat the Clippers in five games in the opening round of the Western Conference Playoffs.

The Clippers' 2022-23 season was undoubtedly a disappointment, but a solid offseason period could have helped fans forget about the season that was. Fortunately, the Clippers have had a productive offseason.

The Clippers re-signed Russell Westbrook and Mason Plumlee in free agency, traded for former Houston Rockets power forward KJ Martin, and drafted Missouri guard Kobe Brown with the 30th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft. The only notable player that the Clippers have lost this summer is Eric Gordon, who is teaming up with Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Bradley Beal in Phoenix, as he signed a two-year, $6 million dollar deal with the Phoenix Suns in free agency.

Even after all of the moves that the Clippers have made so far this summer, though, they are still short on players with one very important skill. With all of that said, let's look at the Los Angeles Clippers' biggest roster concern deep into 2023 NBA free agency:

Clippers' biggest roster concern deep into 2023 NBA free agency

Lack of elite playmakers on the roster

It seems like ever since Kawhi Leonard and Paul George teamed up on the Clippers, the team has been looking high and low for the right playmaking point guard to complement them. Most recently, the team traded for Russell Westbrook back in February, who played well in a starting role with the team. But Westbrook is arguably better suited for a bench role at this point in his career, and he's no longer the elite playmaker he once was.

To be clear, Westbrook is still certainly an above-average facilitator. After all, he averaged 7.6 assists per game with the Clippers during the 2022-23 regular season. But this number becomes less impressive when factoring in his high turnover rate. Westbrook turned the ball over an average of 3.4 times per contest with the Clippers, which means his assist-to-turnover ratio was just barely better than 2:1.

At this juncture, only time will tell if the Los Angeles Clippers will stand pat with their current roster or decide to add more players to the team via trade or free agency. But what's already abundantly clear is that the Clippers should try to add a great playmaker to their roster before the beginning of the 2023-24 NBA regular season. Ideally, James Harden, as he reportedly wants a trade out of Philadelphia. Harden led the entire NBA in assists per game during the 2022-23 regular season, as he dished out a whopping 10.7 per contest.