Clippers’ Early Season Letdown: The Biggest Disappointment of 2024-25

Under head coach Tyronn Lue, the Los Angeles Clippers have established themselves as a team that is going to overachieve in the midst of adversity. The Clippers certainly were staring adversity in the face coming into the 2024-25 season with the departure of Paul George in free agency and the injury absence to Kawhi Leonard.  The Clippers have managed to stay afloat, albeit a few big disappointments.

It would be easy to list Kawhi Leonard as the Clippers’ big disappointment this season. Leonard is out indefinitely due to ongoing knee issues and there is no current timetable for his potential return to the lineup.

It’s an injury though and injuries are a part of the game. They can happen unexpectedly and at any time. It’s not fair to list Leonard as the Clippers’ big disappointment this season. Instead, that label can be given to Kevin Porter Jr, who has had an inconsistent start to the year, to say the least.

Kevin Porter Jr.’s inconsistent year for the Clippers

When the Clippers signed Porter this offseason, he had been out of the NBA for a year amid domestic violence charges. He was playing in Greece during the 2023-24 season and apparently had multiple NBA suitors before opting to sign with the Clippers.

Putting his off the court issues aside, there’s never been a question about Porter’s talent. He was a lottery caliber player even as he was drafted with the final pick (No. 30) of the 2019 NBA Draft.

Looking at Porter strictly through a basketball lens, he would have been a prime candidate to help replace some of the offensive production they lost with the departure of George and Leonard’s absence.

But he hasn’t been able to make a consistent impact in games despite being a regular in the Clippers’ rotation. He’ll pop up with a game like he did against the Toronto Raptors back on Nov. 9 when he dropped 15 points, six rebounds and five assists while shooting 5-of-9 from the field in a win.

Then he’ll follow it up with a few clunkers like his past two games when he shot a combined 4-0f-17 from the field and 0-of-4 from three-point range.

On the season, Porter is averaging 8.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and and 2.8 assists with splits of 40.3 percent shooting from the field, 17 percent shooting from the three-point line and 60 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

Those shooting percentages are actually career-lows for Porter. His free-throw attempts are down as well at 1.5  compared to the nearly four attempts he’s averaged for his career. He’s also averaging around 2.2 turnovers per game.

The Clippers are currently 12-8 and fighting for early positioning in the Western Conference standings. Porter is one of eight players on the roster who have appeared in all 20 games this season. He’s one of the top players off the bench in playing time at a little over 18 minutes per game.

Simply put, the Clippers are going to need consistent production from Porter on a game to game basis. He brings a unique skill-set to the team in that he can be both a facilitator/playmaker and a scoring threat. He’s a combo guard of sorts who should be an anchor for the Clippers’ second unit this season.

There is still time for him to put it all together and be a legitimate threat off the bench. But until then, he’s just been a big disappointment overall for the Clippers.