Los Angeles Clippers Offseason In Review
The “Lob City” era officially came to an end with the loss of Chris Paul this summer, but the Clippers have re-tooled and are ready to embrace their new identity
The Clippers entered the summer with complete uncertainty over the future of the franchise. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin were both reportedly set to activate their early termination options on the current deals and enter unrestricted free agency with J.J. Redick, Marreese Speights, Raymond Felton, Luc Mbah a Moute, Alan Anderson and Brandon Bass.
Instead, The Clippers threw “NBA Twitter” into meltdown when Chris Paul opted in to accept his $24,268,959 salary for the 2017–2018 season and was traded to the Houston Rockets which subsequently saw 8 players in total switch sides, as well as a first-round pick.
Needs:
The Clippers main need entering free agency was a little different to the other teams. With almost their entire roster set to become free agents including the two cornerstone, franchise stars, the Clippers needed to make a decision whether they were going to re-sign and re-tool the current roster, or pull a complete U-turn and head down the dark path of “blowing it up” and re-building.
The general perception early on was that Doc Rivers and the front office were going to do everything they could to bring back both Paul and Griffin and search for that extra player to put them over the glass ceiling they’ve faced in previous seasons, which meant a starting-calibre wing was top of the priority list.
Luc Mbah a Moute had developed into one of the best defensive small forwards in the league, but his extremely limited offensive skill was a big spacing problem, especially when sharing the floor with Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
Key Losses:
Chris Paul (Trade)
J.J. Redick (Free Agency)
Luc Mbah a Moute (Free Agency)
Marreese Speights (Free Agency)
Raymond Felton (Free Agency)
Key Additions:
Jawun Evans (Draft)
Sindarius Thornwell (Draft)
Patrick Beverley (Trade)
Lou Williams (Trade)
Sam Dekker (Trade)
Montrezl Harrell (Trade)
Danilo Gallinari (Free Agency)
Willie Reed (Free Agency)
Projected Depth Chart:
Starters: Milos Teodosic, Austin Rivers, Danilo Gallinari, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan
Bench: Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell, Willie Reed
Reserves: Jawun Evans, Sindarius Thornwell, DeAndre Liggins, Tyron Wallace, Jamil Wilson, Wesley Johnson, Brice Johnson
The Clippers depth chart is completely interchangable at this stage. The early reports were that Doc Rivers saw Teodosic as the starter for the point guard position, but Patrick Beverley is more than capable and qualified to lead the line for LA.
Rivers may also look to run a dual-point guard backcourt with both Teodosic and Beverley playing together, or choose to reward Austin Rivers consistent two-way improvement with a permanent place in the starting-five.
Considering the valuable skillset of the current backcourt players, it would make most sense for Beverley or Rivers to start with either Teodosic or Lou Williams, which means having one lockdown defender alongside a more offensive-minded partner to balance out the squads.
Best Offseason Move:
You could argue that the best offseason move was also the worst. Losing a player of Chris Paul’s calibre is never an easy pill to swallow, but the return that the Clippers were able to get softened the blow, big time.
Patrick Beverley joined Chris Paul on the All-Defensive 1st Team this season and doesn’t require the ball in his hands nearly as much as CP3, which allows Los Angeles to run the offense through Griffin. The team also managed to get younger, which a contingent of the fan base had been calling on for the last couple of seasons.
Adding Danilo Gallinari also gives the Clippers that legitimate small forward threat they’ve been seeking since day one of the new era under Doc Rivers. Gallinari isn’t the defensive wing that’s going to shut down Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James night in, night out, but his efficient scoring and sheer size at that position will work wonders in opening up the floor for Griffin and Jordan to operate the deadly big-to-big pick and roll.
Worst Offseason Move:
Obviously losing Chris Paul to one of the teams biggest Western Conference competitors was a tough position to be in for the Clippers, but as previously mentioned, the package in return has given the team much improved depth and a significantly younger core to work with going forward.
Danilo Gallinari when healthy, will be an excellent contributor for the Clippers after suffering for years with a sub standard, offensive small forward option. However, given his injury history the fully guaranteed $64,762,737 deal over 3-years could be crippling to the team’s cap hold if the acquisition doesn’t work out.
The loss of Marreese Speights has become somewhat of an under-discussed problem, with the Clippers now lacking in a stretch-big to open up the floor and compliment Jordan, Harrell, Johnson and Reed in the front court outside of Gallo and Griffin, who is still improving as an outside shooter himself.
Season Goals and Expectations:
This Clippers team doesn’t have the lofty expectations of title contention that they’ve had the previous seasons with the “Big 3” of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
Its a transitional year as the influx of new talent gel together and the franchise works on finding its new identity in a post-Chris Paul era. The Clippers will also look to youth for the first time under the Doc Rivers regime with promising young players like Harrell, Evans, Thornwell and Johnson all likely to spend time with the new Ontario-based G-League affiliate but after an impressive Summer League campaign, will be hungry to fill in when called upon.
If Blake Griffin can maintain consistent health for the first time in a few years, there is no reason he can’t be in the MVP conversation, after all, the last time he led the team without Chris Paul, he finished third in voting behind Kevin Durant and LeBron James back in 2014
Record Projection: 44–38
If the Clippers can finally get a little luck on their side and get through the campaign without any major health issues, the argument could be made that this team can still fight for the 4th or 5th seed in the West
Offseason Grade: B+
The Clippers lost Chris Paul, an elite defensive floor general who is still more than capable of taking over games offensively when called upon.
Luckily though, the Clippers acquired Patrick Beverley, fresh off a 1st-Team All-Defensive season. Milos Teodosic who some have already praised as being a top passer and floor general in the NBA before he’s even stepped on the court. And Lou Williams, a scoring machine who last season averaged 17.5 points per game.
That’s not to say it’ll be a seamless transition, but you would find it very difficult to get a better package of players in return for a player who already decided he was heading for the exit.
It’s the beginning of a new era for everyone. Some old faces return, some new faces join, but one thing remains.
This was Blake Griffin’s team before Chris Paul, and it’ll be Blake Griffin’s team long after his banner is taken down from the rafters of the Staples Center.
