Clippers: Ignore the hype, the Clippers are still far better than the Lakers

The Los Angeles Clippers have seemingly taken a backseat once more to the Los Angeles Lakers. However, the Clippers short dominance of LA will continue at least one more year.

Let’s face it; the city of Los Angeles is owned by the Lakers. The Clippers could go 82-0 and the Lakers could go 0-82 and the city of LA would still gravitate towards the Lakers. However, what cannot be taken away is the Clippers dominance of the City of Angels. The Clippers have been the better team for six seasons and that trend will continue next season as well.

Although they ultimately fall short in the playoffs, the Clippers have been the far better Los Angeles team. Last season they won 51 games, their worst mark in the last five years. In comparison, the Lakers have won 64 games in the last three seasons combined.

And that is completely fine. The most popular LA team does not have to be the better team. The Lakers were native of Los Angeles first and the Clippers have played in that shadow their entire existence in LA, they are the Los Angeles Chargers of the NBA.

However, the hype train is beginning to favor the Los Angeles Lakers, a lot of optimistic fans expect a playoff berth; those same fans also expect the Clippers to miss the postseason entirely.

Sure, the Clippers did lose their biggest superstar in Chris Paul. Sure, the Lakers did get significantly better adding Lonzo Ball, Brook Lopez and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, to name a few. However, these additions still are not enough to surpass the Clippers, and quite frankly, they are still easily a playoff team.

Just line up the starting five for both teams and it is evident that the Clippers hold the edge. DeAndre Jordan (12.7 points, 13.8 rebounds, 1.7 blocks) may not score like Brook Lopez (20.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.7 blocks), but he is a far better rebounder and shoots nearly 25% better from the court.

Next is power forward. Although Julius Randle may have gotten a lot better in the offseason, Blake Griffin still holds a significant advantage. Same with small forward. Brandon Ingram may end up being the better producer in a couple of seasons, but Danilo Gallinari averaged twice as many points last season. So far, the advantage is 3-0, Clippers.

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Shooting guard is tough. Both Austin Rivers and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have the potential to break out. However, the two put up very similar numbers, so that can be a wash. The only real starting position that the Lakers have the edge in is at point guard and that is if Lonzo Ball plays up to his potential.

Not to mention the Clippers have a better bench. They have the best sixth man in the game in Lou Williams and have promising talents in Sam Dekker, Milos Tedosic and Montrezl Harrell. The Lakers do have Jordan Clarkson, Kyle Kuzma and Larry Nance Jr.to counter, however.

While the Clippers certainly will not be the same team without Paul, they easily will still flirt with the 50 win plateau. As for the Lakers, ESPN projects them to win only 33 games. Sorry to say it Laker fans, but the better Los Angeles team is still the Clippers.

Next: Don't rule LeBron out for the Clippers

Now, one year from now, this may be a completely different story. So many superstars are tied to the Lakers and very well could end up there. However, as of now, Los Angeles’ little brother still holds the distinctive edge.

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