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ESPN, the Worldwide Leader in Sports, has been putting out their projections and predictions for the upcoming 2022-23 NBA season, and one of those had to do with who they foresee winning the Western Conference. As you would imagine, the LA Clippers did pretty well in this regard.

The Clippers finished second in the polling done by the panel, trailing only the reigning champion Golden State Warriors.

Here’s what they had to say:

While the Warriors take top billing here — more on them below — LA is a trendy Finals pick because of the return of Kawhi Leonard, who missed the entire 2021-22 season after suffering a partial right ACL tear during the 2021 playoffs.

The top three teams in the polling all came from the Pacific Division thanks to the Phoenix Suns joining both the Clippers and Warriors.

It makes sense that the Warriors are the panel’s choice of making it back to the NBA Finals since, after all, they did just win a title. In a lot of sports, the champion gets the benefit of the doubt, as they should in most cases.

The Clippers have gotten stronger in the time that Kawhi Leonard has been absent, which is a part of the reason they are viewed so favorably. The additions of Norman Powell and Robert Covington near last year’s trade deadline, plus the inclusion of John Wall, have made them an intriguing pick for some.

Kawhi Leonard has not played in an NBA game since June 14, 2021. But that hasn’t stopped the expert panel at ESPN from predicting a big year for the LA Clippers superstar. In fact, they think he possibly could be in the thick of the MVP race.

In their latest projection series, Leonard came in tied for fifth amongst players that the panel thinks could potentially win MVP this season.

It was an interesting top five (err, six) considering the top player was Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. Antetokounmpo, who has two MVP awards already to his name, received 33.3% of the first-place votes.

There was a tie for second between Luka Doncic (Dallas Mavericks) and Joel Embiid (Philadelphia 76ers). Each player received 40 points in the polling process. The Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry, the reigning Finals MVP, was fourth with 14 points.

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