How Much Pressure Are Chris Paul and Blake Griffin Under to Win Big Next Season?

There's no reason why the Los Angeles Clippers shouldn't contend for a title next year. None. Not a one.

That doesn't mean the Clippers are infallible or that they don't have holes just like every other team, but the trio of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, coached by Doc Rivers, is good enough to win it all.

And there should be pressure to do just that, despite the fact that the Clippers have never advanced past the second round.

Now is the time. Yes, the Clippers have a young core that has many successful years of basketball ahead of them, but you never know when the championship window will slam shut. Right now, it's open, and there's a chance it might not ever be this wide again.  

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Here's Bleacher Report's Ric Bucher:

"

And while the Clippers have a relatively young core in Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan, they're going to need flexibility to restock their wings. Redick is in the second year of a four-year deal, but Barnes and Crawford could be up after this season. Whatever space their departures might provide undoubtedly will be used to tie up Jordan, a pending free agent whose $11 million salary is sure to jump.

"

Maintaining a championship-quality core can be difficult, so it's important to maximize results while everyone is together. Both Paul and Griffin are on long-term contracts, and now so is Rivers, but the calls for patience and steady growth should be just about finished.

The adjustment period with a new coach is over. The dark cloud looming over the franchise, Donald Sterling, is gone. The roster is filled with veterans and desired additions at the cost of future assets like first-round draft picks.

And even though it was something Rivers said over a year ago, this point stands true in regard to Paul's career, via Marc J. Spears at Yahoo! Sports:

"

'As professional athletes, you always want someone to push you and motivate you,' Paul said. 'The first meeting I had with Doc, he pretty much told me I wasn't anything. He told me I hadn't done anything in this league, and he was right. You don't always want somebody that's going to tell you what you want to hear.'

"

Paul's shocking lack of postseason success was mostly whispered about two seasons ago. Now it's a substantial murmur, even if most do it under their breath. At this point in his career, one of the league's very best players and one of the best point guards of all time should have played in at least a conference final, if not have a ring on his finger.

Paul has played nine incredible seasons, but he doesn't have much to show for it. The pressure is very clearly on.

Here's Andrew Sharp at Grantland:

"

Chris Paul has never actually won anything. He is 17-25 in the playoffs. He’s never played in the NBA Finals. He’s never even played in the conference finals. He’s been to the playoffs six times in eight years, and has made it to the second round just twice. Every time things break bad in the playoffs, we see Paul screaming at teammates before going into superhero mode and hitting a level that’s as breathtaking as anything in basketball … and he loses. At the end, he always loses.

For someone who’s often mentioned as the third-best player in the NBA, he doesn’t take a quarter of the criticism we give to guys like Carmelo Anthony, or Dwight Howard, or Dirk Nowitzki before his title. And they are all players who have been further in the playoffs than Paul ever has, and long before their eighth season. So if Paul is a team’s best player, what is that team really winning?

"

Paul is turning 30 this year, so you can understand why everything is mounting. Griffin, meanwhile, is just 25 and probably still has his best basketball ahead of him.

But it's foolish to assume that because Griffin is young there isn't any pressure on him to win now as well. The narrative throughout Griffin's career is that he's provided more highlights than actual substance. Even though that's changed recently as people have seen the level of skill executed aside from the dunks, it will only be a matter of time before people question if Griffin is nothing but an "empty stats" type of player, and whether he does enough on both ends to deserve his superstar status.

The perceptions, fair or not, can only be debunked by winning big. Dirk Nowitzki was "soft" until he won a title, and only then was he allowed to enter the conversation on the greatest power forwards ever.

It's certainly not easy to win a title. Historically great players like John Stockton and Charles Barkley never did it, but they competed for it and were beat by superior teams. Paul needs to at least get to that point, especially since there aren't many excuses readily available.

Part of the pressure for Paul, Griffin and the Clippers is just surviving the long haul of the regular season for once.

Here's Stephen Babb of Bleacher Report:

"

One historically bothersome factor has been health—not catastrophically damning injuries, but the kind of nagging wear and tear that have limited Paul and Griffin. Griffin battled a debilitating ankle injury in 2013 and a knee injury the year before that. Paul dealt with a groin strain in 2012 and hamstring issues last season.

"

Added pressure doesn't necessarily need to be justified or something you can even control to still be present. Paul and Griffin need to go into the playoffs with a completely clean bill of health, or else there will be questions if the two can hold up enough to really contend year after year. It's a war of attrition.

Paul will be under the magnifying glass more than Griffin, but both players are facing massive expectations really for the first time in their careers. Again, there are no reasons why the Clippers can't go out and win a title, and so now they need to do it.

This term has carried a very different meaning throughout much of the team's history, but Paul, Griffin and the Clippers are now officially on the clock.