Next Level: Sports Empowering Athletes and Journalist to Change the World
What’s Next for the Clippers?
By Mykell Mathieu
The Clippers are entering a new era of basketball with fresh faces on the roster and a brand new $2 billion arena. This season's lineup looks significantly different from what many anticipated just a year ago.
James Harden and Kawhi Leonard are returning, but the loss of Paul George to the Philadelphia 7ers and Russell Westbrook to the Denver Nuggets has caused a stir. Especially since this was the roster the Clippers sold as the true team in Los Angeles and championship contenders.
Losing Westbrook, and even more so George, has changed the entire outlook of the team. With their “Big 4,” many expected the Clippers to possibly carry over a championship to their new arena. But it didn’t happen. At the very least, most expected the four native Southern Californians to stay home to try to bring a title to the Intuit Dome. But that didn’t happen either. If there is any team that needs a restart to push things forward. It would be no other than the Los Angeles Clippers.
This season, the Clippers will be led by Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, both of whom have struggled with injuries in recent years. Leonard, who withdrew from Team USA before the Olympics due to knee issues, managed to play 68 games last season—the first time he's reached 65 games since the 2016-2017 season. While that could be seen as a step in the right direction, Leonard wasn't able to stay healthy enough to make a significant impact in the playoffs.
Harden, now 35, has logged over 37,000 minutes on the court, not counting nearly 6,000 minutes from playoff appearances. While the guard has shown flashes of his old self, reminiscent of his unstoppable days in Houston, his production has also seen some decline. With Paul George no longer on the roster, Harden is expected to shoulder a heavier offensive load in the regular season than he did last year—something he may struggle to maintain at an elite level.
With the West being as stacked as it is, I am not expecting a great season from LA’s “other” team. Even though games have to be played, as Kevin Garnett said many years ago, “anything is possible!”. I still don’t see that being the case for the Clippers. All eyes for this organization should be on the offseason and what’s next.
Some things will be tough as the organization is not in control of their first-round draft pick until 2030 due to trades made for George and Harden. The big question becomes, if the season goes as terribly bad as I suspect, what moves can the Clippers make to build a champion for their new arena in Inglewood? Do you continue to build around aging superstars? Or, do you possibly trade Leonard and Harden if there is any market for them next offseason?
I believe it's time for the Clippers to blow up the team and rebuild after this season. If they don't, the team risks setting itself back for years, especially with the influx of young talent across the Western Conference.
With any luck, their new arena can attract a new wave of superstar talent, similar to Leonard and George, eager to seize the opportunity to lead the Clippers to their first championship in franchise history.
Los Angeles Sparks: Rebuilding for a Bright Future
By Jackie Rae
The last time the Los Angeles Sparks hoisted the championship trophy was in 2016. With a roster that featured Candace Parker, Chelsea Gray, and Nneka Ogwumike, the Sparks were a force to be reckoned with. In 2017, the team made another strong run to the Finals but fell just short, losing 3-2 to the Minnesota Lynx. By 2018, things had started to unravel. After a disappointing early exit in the first round of the playoffs, the Sparks decided it was time for a change. They parted ways with head coach Brian Agler and brought in Derek Fisher for the 2019 season.
Under Fisher, the Sparks reached the semifinals in 2019 but were unable to advance further. The inability to make another Finals appearance led to a bit of panic within the organization. In a controversial move, Fisher and the Sparks’ front office did not make a concerted effort to re-sign Parker or Gray during free agency. Both players went on to have great success elsewhere—Parker won another championship with the Chicago Sky, and Gray became a key contributor for the Las Vegas Aces. Meanwhile, the Sparks have been trying to rebuild ever since.
At the onset of the season, the Sparks were predicted to finish in 10th place. While they were determined to prove the naysayers wrong, they are holding up the buttom sitting in last place. But there is still a ray of hope.
The unfortunate ACL injury to Cameron Brink early in the season could have been devastating, but it forced head coach Curt Miller to give more playing time to Rickea Jackson. Jackson has since emerged as a key offensive piece, showing flashes of brilliance and proving she is capable of being a cornerstone for the team’s future.
Dearica Hamby has also stepped up in a big way. The veteran has taken on a leadership role, delivered an All-Star season, and recently returned home with a bronze medal from the Paris Olympics. While the Sparks’ record might not reflect it, the future looks promising if the team can make the right moves.
One critical area that needs addressing is the point guard position. With a constantly changing lineup, it's been hard for the Sparks to find consistency, especially in facilitating the game. Julie Allemand is set to earn $85,000 next season, according to Spotrac, but she hasn’t played for the Sparks due to a full-season suspension because of injury. While there’s always hope that a player can return from injury and make an impact, Allemand’s style of play may not align with the Sparks’ new identity. She should be on the short list of assets in a trade to help the team acquire a guard who better fits their system.
In an August post-game interview, coach Curt Miller mentioned that he gets the most trade calls about Li Yueru. The 6’7” Chinese center has shown tremendous growth since joining the Sparks and had a strong showing at the Olympics. Yueru’s potential makes her a valuable asset for the future, and the Sparks should do everything they can to keep her on their roster.
On the other hand, the situation with Zia Cooke is less clear. Cooke has immense potential and could bring great value to any team, but she hasn’t been given enough playing time to show that she fits into Miller’s system. If the Sparks can leverage Cooke, possibly in a trade involving veteran guard Layshia Clarendon and Allemand, they might find the missing piece they need to complete their roster.
Moving forward, the Sparks must focus on making strategic moves to ensure their young, talented roster has the best chance to succeed. Building around players like Jackson, Hamby, and Yueru while finding the right point guard could set the team up for future success. The Los Angeles Sparks have the potential to rise again, but it will take smart decisions and bold moves to return to championship contention.
Get Davante Adams Off the Sinking Ship
By: Eric Lambkins II
The Las Vegas Raiders, a team teeming with confidence, have always bragged about its work ethic. Still, that commitment has been a blind one, year after year, stubbornly denying their pathetic present reality: their once silver-and-black armor now has all the resonance of the bygone golden era. The Raiders have always been synonymous with this aspect of the NFL game––their commitment to excellence has been a case study in futility. They are a team that struggles to muster to defy the odds at times––or sometimes ever. The Raiders, for all their lore, swagger, and ineffectiveness, lies a man at the heart of this conundrum, too brilliant for the chaos swirling around him—Davante Adams.
There are few players in the world that one would describe as a franchise “Golden Child.” Davante Adams brought Alvin Ailey-like elegance and grace to the Green Bay Packers for almost a decade with Aaron Rodgers. Together, they composed concertos on the football field, systematically dismantling defenses. Adams didn’t just excel—he was “heem.”
The guy who made the spectacular seem pedestrian, who toyed with defenders in the same manner children play with their vegetables. His name deserved bright lights; his talent was a perpetual display of highlight reels. And for a while, it looked as if nothing could derail his march toward the Football Hall of Fame.
However, the NFL is a fickle beast, a temperamental world with ever-present winds of change. Adam's subsequent trade from Green Bay to Las Vegas was supposed to fulfill a dream–to play with his close friend, Derek Carr. As is often the case, though, in fine Raider fashion–or, more appropriately, worst–that dream was quickly crushed. Carr found himself subsequently traded to New Orleans, and Adams was beside himself, holding on to a molded dream.
Last season, Adams somehow still managed moments of sheer brilliance, slightly obscured by Jimmy Garoppolo’s mediocrity. The days of making magic with Rodgers were gone, and Adams was in an ill-equipped system to maximize his talents. The Raiders are treading water, and Adams, still at his physical and mental prime, is left twiddling his thumbs on a middling club circling the drain.
However, as the Raiders stand, with Garoppolo jettisoned out of the picture and the horizon hazy at best, Las Vegas is at a crossroads. Aidan O’Connell or Gardner Minshew may soon be calling signals in the offense, and neither of them evokes championship confidence. A behemoth lurks in the AFC West, the back-to-back champions, the Kansas City Chiefs, led by the electrifying Patrick Mahomes. The Los Angeles Chargers, with an ascending star in Justin Herbert, may quickly find themselves contending for the division with Jim Harbaugh at the helm. The painful truth is that the assembled Raiders will not compete for a championship. Raiders are not progressing and may even be regressing, so the question arises: What should Las Vegas do with a player like Adams?
At 31 years old, he remains elite, but for how long? The NFL is a young man’s game, and while Adams can still dominate, he won’t be able to defy Father Time forever. His contract, which stands at $17 million this year and balloons to $36.25 million next season, is a significant financial burden for a team in dire need of a rebuild.
So, can the Raiders afford to keep him?
The question is not one of finance; it’s about legacy. Adams arrived in Las Vegas hoping to live out the dream of bringing a title to the team he rooted for in his childhood beside his college quarterback. But that dream has become a nightmare of broken promises and squandered potential. The Raiders must ask themselves some hard questions and tell some problematic truths: Is it fair to waste Adams’ remaining years playing for a club that may not even make the playoffs for the next few seasons? Or would trading him fill their coffers with the assets they currently lack to compete in a division of teams closer to championship contention?
The answer seems apparent. If the Raiders are to rebuild with purpose and a plan, then the Raiders, albeit challenging, must decide to trade Adams while his value commands a king’s ransom. Trading him isn’t about giving up on a player or acquiescing in their commitment to excellence. Las Vegas cannot accept mediocrity. It is about recognizing that the pursuit of excellence may reside in the distant future––far beyond when Adams’ athleticism begins to wane.
That is not to say that trading Adams is just a rational decision; emotion riddles the decision. It’s coming to terms with the fact that what you aspired to will never come to fruition; it was a plan that failed, a stillborn dream. However, the Raiders’ pursuit of such a market could lead to something new and, maybe for the first time in a long while, something better: a future erected on the bedrock of youth and talents and on something that has been sorely lacking in Las Vegas for years––hope.
The silver and black may never capture the mystique and lore they once had, but if they’re willing to make prudent decisions, they can at least create something good to believe in. And for Davante Adams, a player who deserves more than the mediocrity of a moribund franchise, a trade is not the end but the start of something greater. The time has come for the Raiders to let Adams go. Not out of resignation but for legacies––theirs and his.