Ultimate 5: The best Clippers lineup since '95
While hoops remain on hiatus, theScore's NBA editors will be compiling ultimate starting lineups for each team in the association. The catch: Only players who have been in the league since the 1995-96 season can be included.
The Los Angeles Clippers were once among the NBA's laughingstocks with 24 losing seasons and just one playoff series win during their first 27 years in Hollywood. However, a blockbuster trade for Chris Paul in 2011 - at the expense of the Lakers - changed the trajectory of the franchise.
Paul's addition launched the infamous "Lob City" era, which yielded a franchise-record six consecutive postseason appearances. It's only fitting members from that prolonged period of success were well-represented in the ultimate starting five.
Guard
Chris Paul
Paul was the perfect floor general for the club's up-tempo brand of basketball. His alley-oop connections with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan became a staple on nightly highlight reels.
The future Hall of Famer was an All-Star in all but one of his six seasons with the Clippers. Paul also led the Association in steals on three occasions and captured the assists crown twice.
To top it all off, the former Rookie of the Year earned All-NBA Defensive first-team honors six times and three All-NBA first-team selections.
Forwards
Kawhi Leonard
The reigning Finals MVP picked up right where he left off last season, recording career highs in points (26.9 per game) and assists (five) in his fewest minutes per game since the 2014-15 campaign. Leonard's expanded playmaking has provided head coach Doc Rivers with more ways to unleash his two-way superstar.
Leonard is undoubtedly one of the NBA's top players when healthy. During the Toronto Raptors' title run, the All-Star forward demonstrated he still has the clutch gene and there are few players better in such situations.
Blake Griffin
No player electrified the Clippers' fan base like Griffin. The former No. 1 overall pick personified "Lob City" with his extreme athleticism and regular aerial assaults on the rim. But there was more to the six-time All-Star than his jaw-dropping dunks.
During Griffin's Rookie of the Year campaign in 2010-11, he recorded a Clippers record 27 consecutive double-doubles. The Oklahoma product evolved into the prototypical "point forward," finishing in at least the 96th percentile among bigs in assist percentage during each of his eight seasons in L.A., according to Cleaning the Glass.
Griffin's 10,683 points trail only Randy Smith on the team's all-time scoring list.
Bigs
Elton Brand
The Clippers were getting a proven commodity when they acquired Brand from the Chicago Bulls in exchange for Brian Skinner and No. 2 overall pick Tyson Chandler. The Duke product was the 2000 NBA Co-Rookie of the Year and had already produced a pair of 20-point, 10-rebound campaigns.
Brand immediately delivered for his new club, earning All-Star honors during his debut season in 2002. Four years later, he led the Clippers to their first postseason series victory since 1976. Brand became a stabilizing low-post presence for many years and ranks second on the franchise's all-time rebounding list.
DeAndre Jordan
Jordan was the third wheel in the "Lob City" trio, yet he played a vital role in turning around the mediocre Clippers. The 6-foot-11 center led the Association in field-goal percentage from 2012-17 while also capturing a pair of rebounding titles over that span.
The former second-round pick emerged as one of the NBA's top post defenders and swatted nearly two shots per game as the Clippers' man in the middle. Jordan is the franchise's all-time leader in games played, rebounds, blocks, effective field-goal percentage, and defensive win shares.
Just missed
Corey Maggette
The 6-foot-6 swingman averaged more than 20 points per contest in three of his eight seasons as a Clipper. Maggette made an NBA-leading 526 free throws in 2003-04 and finished within the top 10 in free-throw attempts four times during his tenure in L.A.
JJ Redick
The veteran sharpshooter was lights out from distance in four seasons with the Clippers. Redick averaged 15.8 points and connected at a 44% clip from deep, including a league-leading 47.5% mark in 2015-16.