Well, we are just about at Christmas, which is not the mathematical halfway point of the NBA season, but is more of the figurative midway figure. The Clippers are 17-15, in fifth place in the Western Conference with no Kawhi Leonard and limited games from Marcus Morris, Nic Batum, and Serge Ibaka. At this Christmas breathing point, I thought it would be fun to review the seasons of every Clippers player and assign completely meaningless grades for their play. The players are graded on a curve – Paul George is not on the same scale as Keon Johnson – and availability is a big factor, especially considering this COVID-riddled year. Without further ado:
Amir Coffey – B
Coffey hasn’t played a ton this year, and has not shot the ball well at all, but when he has played, he’s been competent defensively and brought energy in transition on offense. Considering that he’s still “just” a two-way player, such replacement level play is actual quite nice. There hasn’t been a ton of development for Amir on offense, yet his defensive contributions should keep him on the fringe of the rotation and as a situational player for Ty Lue. Very solid depth piece.
Brandon Boston Jr. – B+
Brandon Boston Jr. is actually extremely tough to grade. On one hand, his flashes, especially in his 27-point game against the Celtics and 13-point outing against the Blazers, have been extremely tantalizing. On the other, on the whole, he’s been mostly bad, and since he’s gotten a good amount of rotation minutes, his poor play has been damaging. His biggest issue outside of simple inefficiency have been some ghastly turnovers. His defense, for a scrawny young rookie, has been quite impressive. I’ll be generous to the rookie – it’s not his fault he’s been pressed into rotation minutes, and his good games have actually won the Clippers a couple games.
Eric Bledsoe – C-
Bledsoe has not been particularly good this season, but a lot of that can’t be placed on his shoulders. Ty Lue started him alongside Reggie Jackson and Paul George, which put Bledsoe off-ball, and considering how bad a shooter he is, that lineup did him no favors. Still, his poor shooting, inconsistent playmaking, and sometimes awful turnovers has meant he’s been a negative more often than not this year. His play has improved a lot over the last few weeks since he was moved to the bench and decoupled from Reggie, and his defense has mostly been good. That combined with his availability for all 32 games keeps him from a complete failing grade,, but it’s a near-run thing.
Isaiah Hartenstein – A+
Isaiah Hartenstein has been a revelation for the Clippers this year. By most advanced metrics (EPM, RAPTOR, BPM) he’s been one of the best players on the team by impact, and the eye test bears that out. He’s been an effective finisher, a plus defender, a sometimes dazzling passer, and a bringer of energy on a nightly basis. He’s not perfect – he can’t shoot, his defensive positioning is sometimes rough, and he fouls far too regularly – but considering he was a training camp signing it’s impossible to complain. Where would the Clippers be without Hartenstein? It’s not a pleasant thought.
Ivica Zubac – B+
Zu has been a largely similar player to last season, which is totally fine. In his sixth season in the NBA, Zu’s development is probably largely over, and that’s ok, as he’s a perfectly competent starting center who has nearly always been available for the Clippers. He’s played in every game this season and as been a bulwark on defense for what’s been a top five defensive unit most of the season. He’s limited on offense, but remains a good finisher, a potent offensive rebounder, and a mostly capable passer. There are nights where he doesn’t make much an impact on offense, or can’t hold his own against smaller lineups – that much can’t be denied. Nor can his solid play on both ends and total availability.
Jay Scrubb – Inc
Scrubb has only played 54 minutes for the Clippers, nearly all of them in garbage time, so it’s tough to grade his season. That said, the fact that he hasn’t gotten a look in the rotation despite all the injuries the Clippers have faced does not bode particularly well. Brandon Boston and Amir Coffey are firmly above him, and a couple games ago against the Kings, Keon Johnson was as well. Scrubb is young, but the Clippers haven’t invested too heavily in him, and for his sake hopefully he gets a shot soon.
Justise Winslow – D
Justise Winslow was a gamble the Clippers took – a gamble that a year further removed from hip surgery, Winslow would be more of the Swiss Army Knife type player he was on both ends for the Heat instead of the completely ineffective option he was for the Grizzlies. While he hasn’t been quite that bad this year, he’s still been a significant negative impact player, which is a disappointment considering the Clippers signed him for an above-minimum deal. His defense has been fine (but not great), and his rebounding is welcome, but his complete inability to shoot or finish around the basket makes him a vast negative on offense. Considering the Clippers’ weaknesses on offense and relative strength on defense, Winslow doesn’t appear to be someone they’ll play when fully healthy.
Keon Johnson – Inc
The Clippers’ first-round pick of the 2021 Draft has only played in 38 minutes in the season to date across six games. Fifteen of those minutes came in the win over the Kings, where Johnson brought a lot of energy and some promising defense. He’s also had some nice games in the G-League. It’s all very early for Keon, who’s young, raw, and very much a project, but maybe he gets more rotation minutes in the next few games.
Luke Kennard – A-
Luke Kennard’s shooting has been much ballyhooed this season – and for good reason. The guard from Duke is shooting 45.1% from three on 6.2 attempts per game, which is phenomenal. He’s an absolute marksman. However, that was largely the case last season, and while Kennard is taking 66% of his shots from three instead of 54%, his efficiency is worse on the whole since his two-point scoring is much worse. Rather, his big leap this season has been on defense, where he’s been roughly fine after being well below average last year. He’s fighting around screens more, playing more physically, and rotating more swiftly. All good stuff. Luke certainly hasn’t developed into the on-ball combo guard it seems the Clippers originally envisioned, but his shooting with competent defense is a valuable player. Also, he’s only missed one game while averaging 29 minutes per game, and this season, availability is even more important than usual.
Marcus Morris – D+
Look, Marcus Morris has been *fine* this year when he’s played, on the whole. However, he’s appeared in only 13 games, and was pretty bad in around half of them before really coming on a couple weeks back. Seven good games out of 32 for a player who was not just supposed to be starting but was also supposed to step up with Kawhi Leonard out is undeniably bad. You can’t blame Morris for his injuries, or for getting COVID. That said, he’s barely made an impact on the Clippers this year, and that’s a big reason why they’re struggling to stay above .500.
Moses Wright – Inc
Wright has played one minute for the Clippers and isn’t likely to play much more.
Nicolas Batum – B-
If these grades ignored games and minutes played, Nico would be at an A- or so, as his actual play this season has mostly been superb. He’s been every bit as good as he was last year, when he was the Clippers’ third-best player, and continues to fill a valuable connector role on offense while also shooting 42% from three and playing superb defense. Unfortunately, Nic has only played in 18 out of 32 games, and has had limited minutes in several of those, so it’s tough to give him much more than a pass for this season.
Paul George – C+
The MVPG days are way, way behind us at this point. After a superb start to the season, Paul George’s play has fallen – maybe not off a cliff, but down a steep road – from legitimate MVP levels to more around standard All Star levels. That is not good enough. George is scoring less than last season on a Per 100 possession basis, which is crazy considering he is the team’s lone star this season. His assist and rebound numbers are also virtually identical to last season, while his turnovers are up. His efficiency has cratered. About the only thing PG is doing better this year is defense, where he’s been close to his All-Defense level prime. George has still, for the totality of the season, been quite good. And he’s been dealing with injuries, which excuses some of the poor shooting. It’s impossible to say he’s been a failure, but it’s certainly fair to be disappointed, especially considering how great he was over the first 10 games of the season or so.
Reggie Jackson – C
Poor Reggie Jackson has been asked to shoulder a load far, far above his paygrade this season. Now, he hasn’t performed particularly well in this role, but nobody really should have expected him too. The frustrating issues with Reggie are the ones that go outside of his too-large role as the team’s primary or secondary playmaker, ball-handler, and creator on a Clippers’ squad that severely lacks other creation options. These include the awful hero ball in crunch time, the poor shot selection throughout games, and defense that still includes some ghastly mistakes despite mostly good effort. Reggie has been bad this year – he’s scoring the ball at a pitiful 49% True Shooting – but it’s difficult to place too much blame on him.
Serge Ibaka – D+
It’s not Serge’s fault that he’s been pushed out of the rotation – he got injured, and while he was out, Hartenstein solidified himself as too valuable a member of the team to bench again. Still, even when he’s played, he hasn’t been particularly effective on either end. Add in the rumblings of discontentment due to being benched, and it’s had not to view this as a disappointing season. Hopefully Serge can get back into things with Hartenstein out – he still offers things that nobody else on the team does, and should be a useful player in the postseason. His performance against the Kings is a good start.
Terance Mann – B
There’s been a weird sense that Terance has been a disappointment this season. And, for those expecting a huge leap, maybe it has been somewhat of a letdown. But Mann has put up nearly identical numbers to last year while playing far more minutes per game, and in less favorable lineups. His finishing around the basket remains superb, he’s a mostly competent defender, he adds energy in transition, and his three-point shooting has been solid on higher volume (though he still hesitates too much). He hasn’t added the creation that people may have hoped for, but he’s been a solid player this year, and has only missed one contest while playing by far the highest minutes of his career. Maybe this is just who Terance is – and that’s totally ok, since he’s a great rotation player that fits perfectly on the team when fully healthy.
That about does it for the Clippers player grades here at Christmas 2021. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
