This team doesn’t really need a true point guard. Norm is also on the fringes but I’d like to hold onto him unless they could get a very good player to package with wall that would mesh with this roster.

Essentially, the time that John Wall and Norman Powell get on the floor comes at the expense of other players who can provide more net positive results. That opportunity cost is a net loss for the Clips and is a big reason why they have dropped 4 very winnable games recently (Philly, Boston, Indiana, and now Miami).

Game was tied 40-40 w/8 min left in Q2 and the fans were feeling pretty good for a brief moment. Clips slipped quickly as Adebayo was getting the better of Zu and Herro hit a few 3s. John Wall was reinserted with 3 min to go and the lead went from the 12-14 pt range into the 20’s setting at -18.

Q3 began with the Clips down -18 and the starters (Reggie-Morris-Zu-PG-Mann) came back, played some tough minded defense, got more shots at the rim, more FTs mixed in with some PG 3s and took the lead.

Q4 turned into a dumpster fire of missed opportunities as again John Wall couldn’t get the offense going, couldn’t play D, turned the ball over or lost possession. At one point, Lue called time out with the Clips down -5. He made Luke Kennard the PG, and Luke proceeded to go on an 8 point run of his own to cut the lead down to -1 with 5:39 min left. Then the Clips went small for the next 3.5 min (to the 2:03 mark) and got outscored 8-2 which put the Heat up 7 with 2 min to go. Next, Norm Powell commits a charging call on a made basket (one of his few rim pressure moments) and that was basically the game. During that key 3 min stretch, the lineup was PG-Morris-Kennard/Reggie-Wall-Batum. Butler got 2 FTs off a Batum foul (cheap call tbh, but it is what it is. Jimmy doesn’t even take that shot over Zu); PG turns it over; Wall turns it over and Herro gets a 3; Batum misses and Adebayo gets a dunk and later another foul and FT.

Honorable mention should go to Norm Powell for a truly crappy performance. Missed every opportunity to make a difference. Couldn’t get to the rim effectively. Fell on his a** and kicked the ball around. He was a non-factor on defense. Basically he was on the back end of a sugar high and looked barely awake.

Terance Mann, who was instrumental in the big Q3 comeback got to play 53 seconds in Q4 (garbage time, essentially).

It’s just so obvious that Mann is a difference maker and the drop off between him and Wall (and also Powell, who is above Mann in the pecking order despite not demonstrating 2 way capability) is significant.

Amir Coffey could’ve also made a difference in this game. Herro would not have had 9 3pt attempts if Coffey were on him defensively.

Robert Covington should’ve also been inserted when Lue decided to go to Luke Kennard as the point guard. If you’re not using Wall as a PG and he clearly can’t play D, why aren’t his minutes going to Covington at that point?

I just don’t why the fans should be subject to this experimentation when we have more than enough data points to know that Terance Mann, Robert Covington and Amir Coffey can play and that John Wall is washed. We also know that Norm has some limitations and needs to be optimized.

I think Lue has too many combos to think about. Take one of them away by cutting Wall. Then he can focus on how to make Powell productive.