LOS ANGELES — What was supposed to be a trade deadline that would better equip the Los Angeles Clippers for the postseason quickly turned into a conflict of differing ideas and strategy. Now, a large, Russell Westbrook-sized cloud hangs over the franchise's head as the All-Star break nears, with star Paul George seemingly contradicting Lawrence Frank and the front office's decisions.

Thursday began with a trade deadline that saw the Clippers trade away Reggie Jackson, John Wall, and Luke Kennard while acquiring Bones Hyland, Eric Gordon, and Mason Plumlee. The deadline essentially traded away the Clippers' only two point guards, but it meant ridding the roster of positional redundancy and liabilities for the sake of upgrading other positions.

Desperately needing a jolt of energy and defense after losing six straight games, Terance Mann was inserted into the starting lineup on Jan. 8 and has started 18 consecutive games for the Clippers at point guard. While not a ‘traditional' or ‘pure' point guard, Mann has brought exactly what the Clippers needed to the starting unit, especially while the team was still dealing with injuries.

The Clippers used the trade deadline to upgrade the roster as a whole, not just one specific position. While their pursuit started out with eyeing point guards, the overall goal by the front office felt accomplished.

Tyronn Lue, however, clearly prefers to play a ‘traditional' point guard, whether he's starting or off the bench.

“I prefer to keep one of [Reggie Jackson or John Wall] in,” Lue said before a Jan. 10 game when asked if he could abandon playing a point guard entirely. “I was a point guard, so I got a soft spot for point guards. And I know y’all love wings. But it’s just – they’re all very good players. The thing for us is we’re so small that it hurts us defensively. And it hurts us as far as rebounding the basketball.”

Watching the Clippers through the first 50-plus games of the season, it was clear that they couldn't play more than one point guard nightly, and even that seemed to be questionable on a night-to-night basis. Not for lack of effort, but Reggie Jackson and John Wall were liabilities on the defensive end. Pair that with their ball-stopping nature as well as their knack for ill-timed shots, and watching the Clippers play became a chore.

With so many players deserving of minutes, the Clippers regularly went small with their second unit, playing two-guard and sometimes three-guard lineups with any trio of Jackson, Wall, Norman Powell, and Luke Kennard. Needless to say those lineups were disastrous and often cost the Clippers games.

And so, Clippers president Lawrence Frank led the front office into the trade deadline with the goal of improving the roster.

“We obviously were having conversations with ‘true point guards,'” said Frank before the Clippers took on the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday night. “Who is the point guard for the Bucks? Well, you would say Jrue Holiday. For years people said Jrue Holiday is an All-Star, but is he a point guard? You look at the Warriors. Who’s the point guard for the Warriors. Is it Steph Curry or is it Draymond Green? For the Celtics, Marcus Smart is the point guard.

“So, I think my point is you play through your best players. If there was a point guard who could be in our top eight or nine [of the rotation], you know we looked at those guys. Invariably what’s important is whether they're a point guard or not.”

So the Clippers went out and got Eric Gordon, a big 2-guard who can defend a position up while providing a downhill attack that no one outside of Norman Powell and Terance Mann has on this team. Not a point guard, but someone who can playmake for himself, defend, and hit the open 3-ball.

The team also grew enamored with Bones Hyland during the 2021 NBA Draft process, but was ultimately unable to trade up to select him. Now a Clipper, he's much more of a scoring point guard, but is still too young to become a fixture in the Clippers' rotation.

Eric Gordon, Mason Plumlee, Bones Hyland, Clippers, nba trade deadline, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George

Mason Plumlee is a solid all-around big man who will defend and playmake similar to the way Isaiah Hartenstein did last season. But again, not a point guard.

“We needed someone that won’t be played off the floor defensively,” explained Lawrence Frank. “Someone who can share the ball responsibilities, but not yet be so ball-dominant. You know the ball is going to be in Kawhi and PG’s hands about 60 percent of the time, so it's a delicate balance. So, I think with it, regardless of ‘point guard' or not, they got to be able to shoot because you know in the playoffs, the stars, they're not going to have all that type of space so we wanted to check that box off with Eric. The ability to drive a close out because you're going to see a lot of rotations when people put two on the ball. And then on the other end, can you guard multiple positions?

“So, I think point guard or not point guard, we want to get a player like that because if we didn’t get a player like that, whether it was a ‘pure point' or a guard, we would’ve stayed status quo.”

Head coach Tyronn Lue stepped up to the podium for his pregame press conference minutes later.

“I think Lawrence [Frank], [Michael] Winger, and those guys did a great job, just trying to put together pieces that fit our team and fit around our two best players,” Lue stated. “And so with the range shooting with Eric Gordon, I think getting a traditional big with Plumlee was great. And then Bones, I think, energetic, a guy who could score off the bench.”

When the topic of the so-called ‘traditional' point guard came up, Lue remarked, “It is what it is.”

“It’s my job to make sure I put it together the right way so it works. L and those guys did the best they could to try to figure it out. It didn’t happen and that’s no excuse. So now we just got to make sure we put it together the right way, and that’s on me. So we’re going to get that done.

“And now it’s our job, it’s to put this team together. It’s going to take some time just to figure out rotations. Who is going to start, who plays well with who, and what these guys actually bring to our team and fit into our system on both sides of the ball. So I’m excited for that. But it’s going to take a little time.”

And with that, the smoke around ‘Russell Westbrook to the Clippers' quickly seemed to dissipate. That's when Paul George decided to make his feelings very clearly known.

“I mean if there's somebody out there — Russell — if it makes sense and, obviously it goes with our team, we're all for it,” Paul George said postgame with a smile, referring to former Thunder teammate Russell Westbrook. “You know, we need a point guard. But in the same, I think we're good as well. If nothing happens, I think we got enough in this locker room to be able to make it work, but it would definitely improve our team if we had that traditional point guard to kind of get us in things and make the game easy. So hopefully Russell sees this and we figure something out.”

Paul George, Russell Westbrook, Los Angeles Clippers
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And with one quote, Paul George seemed to completely contradict what Lawrence Frank said just four hours earlier.

And it's important to note that Westbrook, who was traded from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Utah Jazz, is still under contract and has not agreed to a contract buyout as of Sunday.

Pressed further on the idea of Russell Westbrook joining the Clippers, Paul George said he believes Westbrook would fit better with the Clippers than his previous stops.

“I just think we in particular, we got enough shooting to surround Russ where Russ can be Russ, and I think the floor will be open for him, spacing will be there for him,” Paul George added. “I'm a big believer in and fan of what Russ's work is, having one of my best seasons in my career alongside of him. I've seen what he can do, night in, night out and I think he's still got a lot of game there. I'm biased when it comes to Russ and I really think he can improve the team. He's such a big talent. He rebounds, he finds guys, he makes the game easy for everyone and, I mean, I think he'll come and he'll mesh. I think he'll come and he'll mesh and he'll figure out how we play and he'll adjust to it.

“No knock on the Lakers and his fit there, obviously LeBron can shoot the sh*t out of it. There's guys that obviously can shoot with the Lakers as well, but I think we're a little younger. We can run with him and that's kind of our game is spacing the floor. I know that's my game, spacing the floor for being a shooter on the perimeter and then just running with him in transition — I think that's what we can complement him [with]. We got a bunch of guys that fit that play style as well for myself, Kawhi, Norm, T-Mann and quite honestly we need somebody — it sucked that John didn’t work — but what John brought is what we need: A guy that can get up and down the floor and get us some easy baskets in transition.”

Paul George added that the dialogue between himself, Kawhi Leonard, and the front office is very open, expressing gratitude that conversations can be had and recommendations taken seriously. After doubling and tripling down on wanting Westbrook, Marcus Morris also stated his support for adding the guard. Kawhi Leonard, who missed the game due to knee management, was not available to speak with members of the media.

As a whole, Friday night appeared to be a major conflict of opinions and play style through the media. Lawrence Frank listed things that the Clippers were looking for, and all of them were things Westbrook struggles with: be able to shoot the ball, be versatile defensively, not be ball-dominant, not be played off the floor defensively.

Wanting Russell Westbrook is completely contradictory to what the front office did at the deadline, what they said Friday night, and what they want to do moving forward.

Russell Westbrook

There's reported interest in Westbrook from the Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Bulls, and Miami Heat, but nothing written in stone as of Sunday. ClutchPoints reported just hours after he was traded that multiple players in the Clippers' locker room would welcome Russell Westbrook should he secure a buyout with the Jazz.

Furthermore, there's a strong belief that Westbrook was mis-utilized with the Lakers and will be a much better fit alongside Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

Russell Westbrook is still considering his future, with a contract buyout his most likely option. The Clippers, Bulls and Heat are the reported frontrunners to land Westbrook. The Clippers can offer him the chance to stay home with guys he's familiar with and sell him on a team that fits his play style better than his previous stops.

The Bulls boast DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Lonzo Ball, all of whom went to college in Los Angeles. More importantly, Chicago can also offer Westbrook a starting point guard spot with Lonzo Ball out indefinitely due to a mysterious knee injury. That's something Westbrook is said to covet as a path to recouping his value, which undeniably tanked after a disastrous tenure with the Lakers.

The Clippers have one roster spot open right now, and the front office wants to run this new-look team out a few games before deciding what they may or may not need. The deadline for players to be bought out/waived and still be eligible for the playoffs is March 1. If waived by the deadline, players can sign with teams as late as the final day of the regular season and still be playoff-eligible.

“I’ll sit down with Ty [Lue] and just evaluate where we are at,” said Lawrence Frank on the open roster spot. “My instinct is to let’s kind of let’s see what this looks like and see how this fits. We only have maybe five, six games until the buyout market when guys have to be bought out or waived prior to March 1. But I would like to let this marinate for a minute, but I’ll sit with Ty and see what he thinks and we will kind of proceed from there.”

Lawrence Frank mentioned looking around the league at other championship contenders and how their offenses are run. Well, start with the team they played Friday night in the Milwaukee Bucks. Jrue Holiday is the starting point guard, but that offense is run almost entirely through Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Steph Curry is the Golden State Warriors' superstar they cannot win without, but the significant facilitator that the Warriors play through most of the time is Draymond Green. Since Steve Kerr took over the team (excluding the three seasons with Kevin Durant), the Warriors are 22-17 (.564) in games where Steph Curry plays without Draymond Green, but are 219-71 (.755) in games where both of them play, per PBP stats.

The Boston Celtics run their offense through two forwards in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, not Marcus Smart.

The Philadelphia 76ers may have a terrific point guard in James Harden, but their offense still runs through Joel Embiid.

The Los Angeles Lakers won a championship with two forwards leading the charge in LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

At the end of the day, the Clippers will only go as far as Kawhi Leonard and Paul George take them. It'll ultimately be on those two stars to carry the heavy offensive workload. When the game slows down in the playoffs and transition opportunities are rare, they'll be relied upon to step into the spotlight, get to their spots, and score or create for themselves or others. And if they can't, the Clippers will lose. Russell Westbrook is not changing that, nor is any other buyout market point guard.

If he did sign with them, the Clippers plan to use Westbrook mainly as a transition guy putting pressure on the rim or as the screener rolling to the basket to find teammates for open looks or finish himself. The Clippers successfully used Luke Kennard and Terance Mann in similar roles as the short-roller, but rarely in the postseason. Point guards that can't shoot, however, simply haven't worked. Rajon Rondo didn't work, John Wall didn't work, and it's tough to see Russell Westbrook working out.

What Westbrook can bring is his availability, his energy, and his leadership. Those are attributes the Clippers have lacked this season, primarily the latter.

There are certainly teams who successfully run their system through point guards, but the Clippers don't have that, and that shouldn't be an excuse for their lack of playoff success. If the Clippers are internally relying on Russell Westbrook, their season is already over. Paul George did say he believes the Clippers can compete as is, but outwardly calling for a player who is still under contract to join your team as strongly as he did isn't a good sign. Add in the fact that it completely contradicts what Lawrence Frank says, and we may have a problem.

If the front office agrees to sign Russell Westbrook, there could be a lot of erratic play on the way. His play-style doesn't necessarily help a team like this, but it can definitely worsen it. While the thought process may be, ‘we can make Westbrook fit in our system,' he's also been a liability on both ends for every one of the three teams he played for since leaving the Thunder. There's also little confidence in making this work because the Clippers often fall into stagnant offensive possessions and isolation basketball.

He can still get to the rim and finishing is average, but is shooting 31.4 percent outside of five feet this season, 33.6 percent outside of five feet last season, and 35.4 percent outside of five feet in 2020-21. Teams are going to bait Westbrook into ill-advised shots just like they did John Wall and he's going to take them. If Westbrook can significantly reel in the attempts from outside of the paint, pay attention defensively, and be used the way the Clippers want to use him — either in transition or as the short-roller — then there's a chance to make this work.

If the front office declines to sign Russell Westbrook and the team doesn't win the NBA championship, that could viewed negatively by the players and even coaches who currently want him. Assuming they decline their player options to sign likely their last big deal of their careers, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are set to become free agents in the summer of 2024. Can you afford not to keep your players as pleased as possible, especially with as close as Westbrook and George are?

There's no easy answer on the horizon.

The Clippers have 21 games after the All-Star break and only 18 following the March 1 playoff eligibility deadline. 13 of the 21 post-All-Star games will be at home, and four of the seven road games will be in San Francisco, Sacramento, Portland, and Phoenix.