Is the Clipper's Core Gone Next Season?

The Clipper Curse seems to only get worse

Every year heading to the playoffs, the Clippers seem to be legitimate title contenders and every year they fall short for one reason or another. The so-called "Clipper Curse" seems to be real and this may lead to the departure of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. It is getting late in CP3's career and his championship hopes are almost out the door.

Doc Rivers is the current head coach and President of Basketball Operations for the Clippers and is in charge of his roster. While he has complied a championship caliber team when healthy, it may be time now to look for the future. There are many big-name free-agents this off-season, but they would be better off by trading one or all the star players.

For Chris Paul, he is still a superstar in this league and is well-known for being the best leader in all of basketball. Early in his career, we compared him to the ranks of Magic Johnson and John Stockton, and now is one of the very few pure point guards left. I think he is looking to be moved this off-season for the betterment of the Clippers and Paul.

Their have been talks of Paul, LeBron, Melo, and Wade teaming up in the future and I believe that heading to Cleveland will be a good option for CP3. With Paul and LeBron together, they will be inevitably the best team in the NBA. This also means Kyrie has to leave and I also think this will happen in the off-season.

While Kyrie isn't a free-agent this off-season, he could be traded for Kyrie, a team he would've been on if the Cavs and Clippers didn't make a trade for the first pick. He could thrive in Los Angeles and would be the main scoring option, considering Blake gone.

As for Griffin, trade talks could be sprouting with the Clippers trying to move on. Some possible trade scenarios include a trade for Carmelo Anthony of the Knicks, with the Timberwolves for Wiggins and Pekovic, and some other teams. This would benefit the Clippers more than the opposing team, and they should be looking for draft picks to build for the future.

And finally, DeAndre Jordan. Jordan has had a monstrous season even with Griffin's absence finishing second in RPG and BPG as well as leading the league in FG Percentage. While he is often criticized for only being an inside scorer, he has a great defensive game and is a key piece to any teams success. He has just signed a massive contract, so the Clippers would probably not look to move him and maybe they could build around him.