Starting with the Clippers’ thunder, today’s Western Conference is experiencing the backlash of the “arms race”

But looking at the Western Conference rankings, we are actually only one and a half games away from the 10th-place Jazz (5 wins and 9). The Jazz will play the Lakers, Warriors, Thunder, and Rockets in succession next, and they are destined to win less and lose more.

As long as the Clippers can improve slightly, there is still hope for the play-offs.

This is the Western Conference this year. Less than a month after the start of the game, in fact, the Clippers are not the only ones who have problems. The Grizzlies, Kings, Mavericks, plus the Pelicans who can't support the wall, there are already five teams lying there.

‌Compared with previous years, the Hell-like cruelty of the 46-win Warriors, who were only tenth in the Western Conference and were embarrassed to even advance to the play-offs without a 50% winning rate, has been greatly reduced.

The truly terrifying competition has actually moved to the upper half. Except for the Thunder's one-man show, there is only one and a half games between the second-place Nuggets (11-3) and the sixth-place Timberwolves.

No one among the Nuggets, Rockets, Lakers, Spurs, and Timberwolves dares to lose one more game. If they make a mistake, they will not only be further away from the Thunder, but also likely to be squeezed into the bottom half of the four-way field by other opponents.

This year's polarization in the West came earlier than in the East. The Bucks, ranked 11th in the East, are currently 8-8 and more than halfway through their career.

The Clippers are so bad in the Western Conference. Looking up, they can even chase the Trail Blazers, who are in ninth place.

In fact, the main reason for the early decline of the West this year is the backlash after the "arms race" in previous years.

The year 2019 is a watershed. The god of death traveled eastward and the warriors disintegrated.

The first cup bonus belongs to the Lakers. They quickly got the big eyebrows in the offseason and grabbed the tail of Lao Zhan's peak to win 17 championships.

The Clippers also made a big deal, investing the team's draft picks for the next seven years + Alexander acquired Leonard and Paul George.

In addition, the first round of 2027 was given to the Thunder in exchange in 2023, and the first round of 2028 and the first round of 29 were given to the 76ers due to the Harden trade.

In order to compete for the so-called "stuck pepper" championship window, the Clippers used up their first-round picks from 2020 to 2029 for the arms race, but in the end it was all in vain.

Without a first-round pick, for an NBA team it not only means that it cannot directly sign new players for a year.

And as hard currency in the trading market, not having a first-round pick almost determines that you cannot make any blockbuster transactions.

At the same time, they also lose the opportunity to recruit high-level rookies in the league every year. Look at the current Clippers rookies. Xiao Ke (16th pick in the second round), Niederhauser (30th pick in the first round), Kobe Brown (30th pick in the first round), and Sanders (20th pick in the second round) are all leftovers from other teams.

Unless you have the vision and luck of the Spurs and Nuggets to select Manu and Jokic in the second round, their ceiling is destined to be a starting rotation level at best.

You blame Director Lu for not using newcomers, but newcomers are divided into three, six, and nine grades.

This is the real embarrassment of the Clippers now.

After the veterans acquired through draft picks and various transactions in the past few years have either aged out or left the team, the team will have to make do with the rest, and there will only be newcomers with average talent.

Or you can use premium contracts to try your luck in signing old mercenaries in the free agent market. Why are the Clippers so bad this year?

Leonard's injury is actually normal. The real injury is that after sending away Powell, the Collins obtained is not very useful. The signed veterans Paul, Bill, and Luo, let alone surprises, can't even live up to their respective performances last season.

How many nails can Harden alone make?

The Western Conference was too busy in the past few years. Too many teams made leveraged transactions and over-invested. However, there is only one championship, and only 16 teams can enter the playoffs every year. Some people are destined to be happy and some are sad.

For example, the current success of the Thunder relies largely on the generosity of the Clippers. Another example is the current re-emergence of the Lakers, which is due to the Mavericks sending their own "inner magic" Doncic. ‌

The Mavericks are in a similar situation. Even though they are currently third from the bottom with 4 wins and 12 losses, the team structure is actually quite good. This was also the championship team built around Doncic that year.

However, now that my muscles and bones are in full swing, I suddenly find that my brain is gone.

Now we have to either re-research and develop Flagg, or find a way to replace him with another one. However, the core ball-carrying core is the scarcest resource in the trading market, unless you are willing to accept monsters with their own shortcomings such as Three Balls, Trae Young, and Morant.

In the final analysis, Doncic was sold too cheaply. Just imagine, if Reeves had been added to the trade at that time, Harrison would probably be sitting on the sidelines proudly giving guidance now.

The same problem also occurs with grizzly bears.

This team rose in just three years after acquiring Morant in 2019, reaching the top three in the Western Conference for two consecutive years, and surpassing the now-famous Thunder with 73 points in a single game.

But this young team quickly suffered a backlash after the rookie bonus disappeared. Neither Morant nor Triple J performed to match their worth. On this basis, several consecutive failed transactions put this team in a dilemma.

Sending away Dillon for nothing, getting Smart in three first rounds (it took two to bring in, one to send away), and getting rid of Morant's best pick-and-roll partner, Adams, etc., etc., all caused this team with high hopes to have huge problems in both the on-court record and the internal atmosphere. ‌

Now it seems that tearing down and rebuilding completely is the best option. (Sending Bane away in exchange for five first-rounders this offseason actually flipped the switch).

As for the Pelicans and Kings, they have never really gotten up. If they are in better shape this year and have fewer player injuries, maybe their results will be passable and they can enjoy themselves in the play-offs.

As long as there is some cerebral congestion or a little storm, he will immediately lie down and assume the most familiar reconstruction posture.

For example, the Kings can field a lineup of "pseudo-stars" such as Westbrook, DeRozan, LaVine and Sasha. If you don't lose, who will lose?

‌There are currently five teams in the Western Conference: the Pelicans, Kings, Mavericks, Clippers, and Grizzlies. The Trail Blazers (6-9) and Jazz (5-9) should soon follow the rest of the group.

This will also lead to a situation where the lower half of the Western Conference will be collectively defeated this year, and the upper half will be even more life-and-death.

Not only does the Thunder have the opportunity to impact the Warriors' 73 wins that year, but even the following teams will have exaggerated regular season records in fierce competition.

For example, how many people remember the Spurs in the 15-16 season, which actually had the best 67 wins in team history? That year, there were three teams in the Western Conference with more than 55 wins, and now they all have a chance to compete for the division championship.