The Clippers are bad, expensive and owe their first-round pick to the Thunder: Now what?

Amid all the drama in the Western Conference — the gambling scandal rocking the Blazers, the Mavericks firing their general manager, a disgruntled Ja Morant on the Grizzlies, the Pelicans cutting their coach and another atrocious start for the Kings — the under-investigation Clippers started the season 4-10.

They’re bad, tied for the 11th best record in the West, owners of a -4.6 net rating that keeps them on pace for a 29-win season. They are one of the most expensive rosters in the NBA and its oldest team by a fairly wide margin. And they owe their first-round pick – a potential lottery pick – to, of all teams, the Thunder.

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So where do the Clippers go from here? (On the basketball court, we mean. They have separate matters off the court, where the league is currently investigating them, mostly for alleged salary cap evasion.)

They can count on the fact that, in the final six weeks of last regular season, they were arguably the best team in the conference, posting the best results in the league with an 18-3 record and a +13.3 net rating – tied dead even with the eventual champion Thunder in that span. In the first round of the playoffs, they lost a seven-game series to the Nuggets, who held Oklahoma City to seven games. The clips were right there.

And they theoretically improved over the summer, trading Norman Powell in a move that made way for a trade for John Collins and the signings of former All-Stars Bradley Beal and Brook Lopez. They were solid decisions, assuming Beal could replace some level of Powell’s production and adding some frontcourt versatility around Ivica Zubac. The Clippers were even deeper, at least on paper.

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Then, Beal fractured his hip, not that he was much of a shaker to begin with. Lopez, a 7-foot-3 37-year-old, looked very much his age. And Collins was who he was for nine seasons, never settling into the role of a more traditional power forward. They haven’t spaced out as much as they need, shooting 33.3% on 2.6 3-point attempts per game, and can’t keep up with the athletic wings on defense.

Collins, like the Clippers, is better in theory than in reality. They play as a team of individuals, as a team that was bought and paid for by Steve Ballmer, one of the richest men in the world, and as a team that is more interested in the familiarity of the names on its roster than whether or not they fit together.

They play like a team led by a 36-year-old James Harden, who still functions as if he’s a perennial MVP candidate. Few regulars have a higher usage rate than Harden’s 30.4%, and few teams have an assist rate as low as the Clippers’ 60.7%. No team runs a greater percentage of its plays in isolation.

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This is not a fun way to play. Not when Harden isn’t able to carry the load he did when he was a top-three MVP finisher for four straight seasons from 2017-20. Not when it’s a bigger defensive responsibility than ever. And not when a quarter of the league throws 300 passes per game.

The Clippers are easy to fix. Handle Harden and they will crumble. It’s a recipe that has worked every year in the playoffs. And it’s easier to handle Harden, in his advanced age, than at any other time.

It doesn’t help that Kawhi Leonard is injured again. He is nursing an ankle and foot injury that sidelined him for the past eight games, when the Clippers were 1-7. His return from the injury, which coach Tyronn Lue called “nothing major,” should stabilize an offense ranked 21st and an even worse defense.

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But how long will the Clippers be able to bet on Leonard’s health? It’s the same old Clippers existence they’ve experienced since Leonard has been on the roster. And we’ve been going for seven years now.

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Every year we think it’s time to write off the Clippers, and every year they bring us back in. As we said, they finished last season on an 18-3 stretch that convinced us they might be headed to another conference finals, where they peaked as a franchise in 2021. At least we pictured them as fringe contenders every year.

This year looks different, and not just because they endured their worst start of the Leonard era. It’s impossible to think that, as Harden approaches his 37th birthday and Leonard is 34 years old, they can together find the magic needed to win four rounds of the playoffs. Remember, this is James Harden, who, with two chances to defeat the 76ers on the final possession of Monday’s game, missed twice twice.

No, this is a team that’s going nowhere. Fast. Or slow. It took a while to get here, but we’re definitely here: the Clippers are no longer contenders. I’m firmly in the pretender class.

And it’s not like they can finish at the bottom of the league, as they don’t control their first-round pick for the next four years, owing the next two to Oklahoma City and two more to Philadelphia.

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This lack of draft resources also makes it impossible for the Clippers to enter into any serious trade conversations for a superstar. Despite all the talent the Clippers have, the Bucks have no intention of accepting Los Angeles’ inflated salaries, without big compensation, in exchange for Giannis Antetokounmpo.

More likely, the Clippers would have to take some risks to make improvements by shouldering another team’s woes. The oft-injured Anthony Davis could soon become available in Dallas. Morant is unhappy in Memphis. Atlanta is playing terribly well without Trae Young. The Kings could have a fire sale. And Zion Williamson is floating out there in New Orleans. There is talent to be had if the Clips take a turn.

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But any of these names inspire confidence that they could fix what ails these Clippers, given how much they would have to give up – likely in a three-team deal – just to acquire any available star player.

No, the Clippers are stuck. And we just mentioned the salary cap cheating allegations against them, for which they are currently being investigated by the league. This is but one of their problems now. The Clips are the Clips again, their standings prospects as dire as they come for the future.