Go the other way! The Clippers have become an NBA nursing home: Can you reduce the risk of injury by signing more veterans?

On July 23, NBA commentator Perkins called the Clippers a "care home" and was not optimistic about their prospects in the playoffs. The well-known American media CBS also discussed the Clippers' age topic. The following is a CBS interpretation - 40-year-old Paul will reunite with the Clippers, and he is just another veteran free agent to join the team's "retro party". Last week, the Clippers successfully recruited 32-year-old defender Bill, who had just reached a buyout agreement with the Suns; at the beginning of the offseason, they also signed 37-year-old center Brooke Lopez.

For most of NBA history, such a series of signings are just routine operations for a "immediate team" built around a 34-year-old wing (Leonard) and a master controller (Harden) who will be 36 years old before the start of the season.

22 years ago, the Lakers held a press conference to introduce Carl Malone and Gary Payton - two Hall of Famers, who were about to turn 40 and 35 respectively. Four years ago, the Nets who Harden played for included 36-year-old Aldridge, 36-year-old Millsap and 32-year-old Griffin (Aldridge and Griffin were both bought out by their former clubs).

However, there are no old players in the 2025 Thunder's roster who have won the championship, and 33-year-old Pacers guard McConnell is already the oldest player in the rotation of the East and West Championship teams. In recent years, with the changes in the league's playing style and penalty rules, the NBA's requirements for players' mobility and intensity of confrontation have reached unprecedented levels.

"Compared to 10 years ago, our game is almost equivalent to playing two games, and the physical participation of players is completely different," Thunder general manager Presti said at a press conference after the end of the season.

Warriors head coach Cole also mentioned that young players are more likely to stay in shape throughout the season. Against this background, the decision of the Clippers to choose to bet on experience seems to be "the opposite way." The entire league is trying to catch up with the Thunder, and can a team dominated by players in their 30s keep up with the pace of competition?

Clippers president Frank told reporters that management has been trying to "bring in the best players", and these players happen to be veterans. "What is age? It's just a number, right?" Collins, the big man obtained by trading Powell, is about to enter his ninth season of his career. He will be 28 at the beginning of the season and is the youngest player in the Clippers' expected rotation. Frank pointed out that Bill is "strictly speaking" younger than the shooting guard (Powell) he will roughly replace - he was born 34 days later than Powell; he also described Lopez as "not looking old."

"37 is like 17," Frank said. "Because I need Brooke to stay young, so I can feel younger, after all, I coached him when he was a rookie." Perhaps it is quite ironic: a year ago, the Clippers let him leave because they were reluctant to offer a four-year contract to 34-year-old star Paul George, but now there are four older players on the team - Harden, Lopez, Paul, and forward Batum, who will turn 37 in December. However, "young players are important" is not the only lesson learned in the 2024-25 season. In this league that increasingly values lineup depth, size and flexibility, the Clippers' offseason operations (except for the age of players being introduced) are actually in line with the trend.

It was not easy to watch George leave, but management never thought it was "let him go away for nothing". The Clippers are given flexibility. By keeping salary below the second rich line, the Clippers were able to sign Batum with a biennial exception last summer, sign Derek Jones Jr. with a middle-class exception, get Chris Dunn by signing first and then trade it, and then get Bogdan Bogdanovic in the mid-season trade.

To some extent, trading Powell with Collins (which cannot be completed if the salary exceeds the second rich line), rather than providing Powell with a generous contract extension, is exactly the same as their decision toward George: it is actually turning a player into multiple players and retaining future capacities.

This does not mean that the Clippers plan to allocate the 2025 middle class special cases to Bill and Lopez in 2024. “We never thought Bill would be bought out,” Frank said, but they put themselves in a position to provide free agents with over-the-base salary contracts, which allowed them to build a team that was extremely threatening, varied roster and excellent depth. Before signing Paul, Frank had accurately stated that there were 10 players in the team's lineup who were "proven to enter the NBA rotation." He said that at the beginning of the offseason, they wanted to give coach Tyron Lu "different tools and personnel to try", hoping to enrich the frontcourt configuration, improve the roster size, increase organization and shooting ability - they did all of this.

In recent years, the Clippers have always been able to set up a small lineup as needed. Now, with Collins and Lopez, they can try another style. With Zubac and Lopez, who have 48 minutes of rim protection, Lou can even get both of them to play at the same time, just like the Houston Rockets use Shinkyung and Adams (but the Clippers have better space). Collins can pick-and-roll, launch hand-passing balls, support low-posts in the penalty area, and can also open up space. Lopez is the space-type No. 5 that this team has been looking for.

Frank said Lu wanted the team to move more in the half-court offense, so Bill's shooting ability and ability to use screens to launch an offense will come in handy. With Bill, Paul, and Leonard who is in a healthier state (ideally), Harden's burden will be reduced in the 2025-26 season. With Dunn, Jones and Batum still on the team, the Clippers can continue to reduce the time Leonard can defend against opponent stars in the regular season..

To be fair, the Clippers certainly hoped to be younger - something Frank admitted after losing to the Nuggets in the playoffs tiebreak. But their first priority in the offseason is to improve the team's strength, at least on paper, they did it. Although betting on players over 35 years old is always risky to stay healthy, signing multiple such players at the same time may reduce this risk. Lopez played 2456 minutes last season, the highest since 2011, but unless there is a serious problem, they don't need him to play so much time next season. Paul played 2,292 minutes last season, the highest record since 2016 - so is the case.

Last season, despite Leonard's long absence, the Clippers' performance exceeded everyone's expectations; and with the addition of new players, they are now more capable of dealing with injuries. “We’ve addressed the needs of the team,” Frank said. If that means they appear to be “aging” compared to the defending champions, that’s OK.