Doc Rivers Is Out With The Clippers And This Could Mean They're Buying Into Playoff P

Doc Rivers is officially leaving the Los Angeles Clippers and this should explain their future plans with Paul George. Self claimed "Playoff P" was a laughable nickname, but allowing Rivers to walk creates this illusion that he was the problem. This also means coaches like Tyronn Lue, Mark Jackson, and Mike D'Antoni could be headed for L.A.

Here's the trade Clippers star Kawhi Leonard signed off on to pair himself with Paul George:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and the Clippers' first-round draft picks in 2022, 2024 and 2026, two first-round choices via Miami in 2021 and 2023, and the right to swap first-round picks in 2023 and 2025

When Doc Rivers was handed the keys to the Kawhi-PG13 duo, he was expected to mesh the talents like Phil Jackson. Reality is starting to set in that Rivers never coached at a level to accomplish this type of greatness. Steve Ballmer and th Clippers can't allow a deal of that magnitude to go down and bail on the player. L.A. opted to bail on the one part of their team they didn't have an investment in: Doc Rivers.

There may be members in the Clippers organization that want to sell on PG, but now isn't the time. If Kawhi or Jerry West wanted to facilitate a deal to get Kawhi a REAL running mate, his value couldn't be lower than it is now. Any trade of George this offseason would essentially be giving him up for free.

Pressure punted to next season

This move makes the team seem like they believe Doc Rivers was the problem when Paul George couldn't hit a shot all playoffs. He suddenly earned the nickname Pandemic P, then we shift the blame to the head coach out the blue? Doc Rivers will certainly find a new job and Philadelphia could be looking at the partnership. We also never know what Houston thinks about bringing a defensive coach in behind James Harden and whoever they can get in a trade for Westbrook.

Doc Rivers made a statement via Twitter:

The NBA is going full WWE and we're just waiting to see how all these storylines play out.