The Los Angeles Clippers entered the 2015-2016 season with high hopes of finally being the team to beat with the summer acquisitions of Lance Stephenson, Josh Smith, Wesley Johnson, and NBA champion Paul Pierce.
Changing DeAndre Jordan's mind to stay with the team cemented that promise, but 14 games into the season they sit 7-7 at the seventh spot in the stacked Western Conference, showing no signs that they could compete to this year's West elite of Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs, and Oklahoma City.
Rumors of an impending breakup amongst the Big Three of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and Jordan is getting louder and louder in L.A. as head coach Doc Rivers infamously stated during the offseason that it is possible.
Rivers told Grantland's Zach Lowe in October that the team is "right on the borderline" of resetting its roster, even saying that he is "a believer that teams can get stale".
"I have no problem saying that. I'm a believer that teams can get stale," the 54-year-old NBA champion coach said. "After a while, you don't win. It just doesn't work. We're right at the edge."
While it is too early to tell that the Clips' trio are no longer effective, Rivers is certainly sensitive with all the warning signs.
Fox Sports' NBA analysts Matt Moore, Brad Botkin and Zach Harper gave one reason each as to why the Clippers are struggling right now.
Moore put forward the obvious, Paul, Griffin, and Jordan are underperforming and the old and new members of their supporting cast doesn't fit within their system as well.
Jamal Crawford is reportedly unhappy about his lessened role, Smith had recently been involved in a shouting match with an assistant coach, while Stephenson is on the verge of getting traded again as soon as the restriction expires.
Botkin noted the team's rebounding problems as they are dead last in that category so far this season.
Harper observed that it was the Clips' lackluster defense that's keeping them from consistently winning games, especially against the top teams.
All these points are definitely on the money, but Rivers' own prediction that the team's core may already be getting stale is slowly coming true. Which brings us to the question, is the Big Three going to survive and stay together this season?