Lakers vs. Clippers Preview: L.A. seeks revenge on ... LA (maybe)

Welp. The Los Angeles Lakers are probably still hung over from losing out on the Kawhi Leonard sweepstakes (to the Clippers, no less) and must now face off against little brother with all that is usually on the line in the Las Vegas desert.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that this game might not even take place, as those in charge of Las Vegas Summer League are apparently scrambling to find an engineer to check out the building following two earthquakes in the last week. As more information comes to light in this respect, we’ll keep you posted.

Roll your eyes as you might, but a few meaningless exhibition games are nowhere near important enough to risk any of the players, fans, coaches and various other people in those gyms at any one time.

If the teams do play, well, I don’t know who the hell would even participate. Both the Lakers and Clippers are heading into next year with title aspirations, having devoted all of their draft capital and youth to going all-in on this season. And that’s before you get to Talen Horton-Tucker not participating in the league at all with concerns about a stress reaction in his foot.

On the bright side thus far, two-way player Zach Norvell Jr. has looked pretty good given how few NBA players are around him right now. It would be great to see him continue those performances moving forward, starting tonight against a similarly thin Clippers summer league team.

More important than any of the players, though, is the safety of everyone involved. There is apparently no guarantee this or any other game will be played until they get the arena fully checked out. It’s the right call.

If the game does take place, tipoff is at 4:30 PM PT in the Thomas and Mack Center and will be televised on ESPN.