All in all, a team-worst -23.7 NETRTG with Trez on the floor last playoffs compared to a team-best +9.5 with him off the floor. This year the Clippers are better but it’s the same story, a team-worst -6.6 with him on the floor and a team-best +19.3 with him off the floor. They are KILLING teams when he sits and losing ground when he plays.

The most brutal bit is that him and Lou don’t seem like a viable duo in the playoffs. Last year, in 139 shared playoffs minutes, Clips had a -27.3 NETRTG. They were +8.0 in 37 just-Lou mins and +3.4 in 18 just-Trez minutes (sample size alert). This year, they’re -10.9 in 143 shared playoff minutes, +33.2 in 130 just-Lou minutes, and +7.1 in 44 just-Trez minutes. The data is noisy because they normally play together with other bench guys and some of their solo minutes are in lineups like Lou-PG-Kawhi-Morris-Zu or Pat-PG-Kawhi-Morris-Trez, but it’s clear that the Lou + Trez minutes are killing the team and that Lou deployed in other situations has been absolutely lethal. The Trez +7.1 is encouraging but the team as a whole is +8.7 in NETRTG this post-season, so even his more successful solo lineups are below average.

Doc may be able to find a way to make Trez into a net positive if he can play him in the right situations, against the right matchup, with the right guys around him (rebounding guards in particular help make up for Trez’s poor rebounding and prevent 2nd chance points). But the Lou-Trez lineups that had a +5 NETRTG in 1400 minutes this season seems like the kind of thing where their pick-and-roll shreds 2nd units all year but doesn’t quite pass the test at a slower pace against better teams in carefully-gameplanned 7-game series, especially since those teams are playing their starters (and therefore better defenders) higher minutes.

Please don’t underestimate how much Trezz can provide for this team. His energy, his effort and intensity is vital. Trezz also bring the intangibles that other players do not have.

If you were to ask me, Doc should’ve given more min to Zubac in the regular season. I’m just glad that he finally sees that Zu has been the more viable and reliable option at the 5

Clearly Trez and his grandmother were very, very close and she was a hugely important and influential figure in his life. He didn’t just take a month off after her death–he got to spend her last month with her. I think if most people, given the financial flexibility to do so without worrying, were given the chance to be with someone they love during the last month of their life, they’d take that chance. It sucks that more people don’t have that opportunity but I’m happy for Trez that he did and I don’t think any negative impact that may have had on the team should have been a factor in that decision.

The kicker is that I actually don’t really think Trez’s extended absence is a major factor right now. It maybe cost the Clippers a seeding game, but the flaws he has now are the flaws he’s had all season, and he’s playing in a playoff setting with a slower pace, facing better defenses, and getting fewer touches, three things that we have always known would limit his ability to make his normal positive impact. The best thing Trez does for this team is provide consistent, efficient offensive production at a high volume in a bench role. That production allows you to finish 2nd in the conference despite PG missing games at the start of the year and KL load managing on back to backs. It wins you regular season games that you’d otherwise lose with a more traditional backup C who can’t score at the volume he does.

But in the playoffs, it’s easy to see how that comes apart. PG and KL are playing every game, and bigger minutes than usual (30->36 and 32->39). That means Trez is sharing the court with stars more often, and getting fewer touches. The slower pace means fewer easy buckets for a guy who thrives in transition. The increased defensive intensity means fewer open dunks conceded than casual RS games. And the teams with bad offenses are watching from home, meaning not only is his defense up against an elite offense every night, but in a 7-game series setting where coaches are specifically targeting weak points in a focused way that doesn’t happen in the RS.

I think before the bubble games even started, Robert and I had a podcast with The Athletic’s Dave DuFour where we specifically talked about, and all agreed, that Trez’s play really wasn’t suited to the playoffs and speculated that if he was playing more than ~12 minutes a game he would cause problems for the Clippers. That was totally not factoring in the potential of an extended absence from the bubble.

After GAME 3, some fans on twitter or reddit said “Trez is back!”
Nah. Don’t get fooled by his scoring stats. He can score because they sacrifice too much possessions for Trez’s inefficient post-ups or free throws.
Besides scoring, he doesn’t anything helpful for the team. It’s always been like that during regular-season. This is why I really hate Trez. He can act like a BEAST on a bad team which only has a bunch of inexperienced young players or G-league players as their options. But contending teams don’t need him at all because he doesn’t know how to help the team or how to play defense. And worst part is that he’s not even interested in playing defense, doing the small things.

Please play Noah over Trez…
10 minutes of Noah is way more useful than 10 minutes of Trez. Trez plays to score. JaMychal/Patterson/Noah plays to help the team.