I have a challenge for you. Go tell somebody that you think the Los Angeles Clippers will be better than expected in 2025-26, just to hear how they react. "The team full of grandpas?" "They say that every year!" "They're still the Clippers." Their response is scientifically proven to be one of those three sentences, give or take a few expletives. The guffawing is sort of fair, to be honest, as this franchise has seen stars come and go for the past decade, but the on-court success has topped out at one Western Conference Finals appearance.
Now I'm going to propose something that you may be inclined to dismiss.