We round out our 2021 season preview series with Paul George, who might have the biggest year ahead of him of any Clipper. Just how big is this season for PG? In our survey of Clippers beat reporters, he was almost unanimously chosen as the player to watch this season.

Basic Information

Height: 6’8″
Weight: 220 lbs
Position: SG/SF
Age: 30
Years in NBA: 10
Key Stats: In 48 games last season, played 29.6 minutes per game and averaged 21.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.4 steals, and 2.8 turnovers while shooting 43.9% from the field and 41.2% from deep on 7.9 attempts per game. Finished 3rd in MVP voting in 2018-19 after a fully healthy season.
Contract Status: Signed a maximum-salary extension this month that will ultimately see him make well over $200M over the next 5 years (the exact amount will depend on where the cap is set next off-season). He has a player option in the final year that he is incredibly unlikely to decline–$48.8M in his age 34 season.

Expectations

It would be easy to say that the Clippers need Paul George to be better this season, but it would also probably a bit lazy. The truth is, his per-minute stats last season measured up comparably with his per-minute stats the year before, when he was 3rd in MVP voting:

Only a few things stick out here as really changing–he shot a bit better from deep, got to the free throw line less, rebounded a little less, and posted more assists while also turning the ball over more. George admitted throughout last season that he wasn’t his normal, fully aggressive self driving to the rim and seeking contact as he recovered from double shoulder surgery, and the decline in his free throws is a direct result of that (it’s possible the rebounding was also a factor, but then you’d have to consider a lot more context about the lineups he was playing in each year). A healthy George should mean more drives to the rim, meaning more dunks and more free throws. Those are just about the two most efficient things you can do as a basketball player.

Overall, there’s no reason to expect anything except a stellar season from George. His free throw attempts should get back to normal levels in a healthy season, and pretty much everything else was already at normal levels. The thing is that this year, we should get to see a lot more of him than 48 games and 30 minutes a night. He played less than half as many minutes last season as he did in 2018 and 2019. While he probably won’t replicate that this season on a team that will pay more mind to keeping players healthy and fresh for the playoffs, nearly doubling the amount of minutes that your best player is on the floor is normally a pretty good thing for a basketball team. When discussing the ways LAC got better and worse compared to last season, the inherent advantage of getting a full season from the oft-maligned George is what most pundits miss.

Strengths

Don’t mind the haters, Paul George is legitimately one of the best players in the NBA. He’s an offensive killer from all over the floor, and one of the league’s premier perimeter defenders who can clamp down across all three perimeter positions (hypothetically I think he could have utility as a small-ball 4 too, but with Kawhi Leonard as his wing counterpart that won’t happen often). Sometimes lost in appreciation of his elite athleticism and incredibly smooth handle at 6’8″ is his truly elite three-point shooting–hovering around 40% and 10 attempts per 36 minutes legitimately places him among the very best shooters in league history:

Nobody measures up to Steph, but you get the feeling that George, whose numbers have trended up in the last two seasons, is close to Klay’s caliber (Klay got to play off of Steph and KD and shoot more catch-and-shoot vs off-the-drible compared to George, but has also demonstrated elite off-ball movement skills in that role) and has actually outpaced Lillard as a marksman in recent years. That’s not something you’d pick up on if you asked average NBA fans to rank these four players as shooting threats.

Weaknesses

Like any player, George isn’t perfect. I would never tell him to stop taking mid-range jumpshots–he’s lethal from all over the floor and pull-ups are an important part of keeping defenses honest–but I do sometimes wish that he would be a little more deliberate about forcing his way to the rim, especially when he’s struggling. As a distributor, he leaves a lot to be desired. He simply isn’t good at picking out passes as a pick-and-roll ball-handler, and while he racks up assists by nature of having the ball in his hands a lot, he isn’t a natural passer who can create open looks for others with his vision. The Clippers could really use more from PG as a creator this season, and the best way for him to do that isn’t with his passing acumen but with his scoring acumen. The more aggressive George is offensively in getting into the lane, the more he will force defenses to collapse. When all he has to do is make a simple read and pass to an open teammate, he’s more than capable of racking up assists. It’s the more complex playmaking situations that he struggles in. Aggressive drives will lead to a better AST:TO for George this year.

Lastly, of course, there’s the talking. Some of it is certainly NBA media liking to kick someone while they’re down, but there’s no denying that PG has historically had a tendency to put his foot in his mouth when making public appearances or talking to the media. I don’t think he’s a jerk or a bad guy by any means–I just think he isn’t often thoughtful about the message he’s crafting when he speaks, opting to go more stream-of-consciousness in a way that leaves a lot of his comments to be picked apart due to inaccuracies or inconsistencies. To be honest, nobody should really care what PG says in his press conferences so long as he has the respect of his teammates, which might have become an issue late last season.

Summary

There might not be a star in the NBA with as much heat on them this season as Paul George, who has had an extreme fall from grace in the eyes of the media despite posting similar statistical rates last year to what he put up two years ago, when he finished 3rd in MVP voting. Not only will he have to dispel myths that he’s not a playoff performer, but somehow opinions have turned so harshly that he’ll seemingly have to remind folks that he’s an elite player on a nightly basis. The good news for the Clippers is that there’s really no reason to believe he’s anything less than one of the very best basketball players in the world, and they’ll have the massive advantage of getting him for a full season this year.

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Clippers 2020-2021 Season Preview: Paul George
Lucas Hann

With the season just two days away, here’s the season preview for Amir Coffey, who is set to make a number of garbage time appearances for the Clippers a year after earning a two-way contract in summer league a year and a half ago.

Basic Information

Height: 6’7″
Weight: 210 lbs
Position: SG/SF
Age: 23
Years in NBA: 1
Key Stats: In 18 appearances as an undrafted rookie on a two-way contract, Coffey played 8.8 minutes per game and averaged 3.2 points, 0.9 rebounds, and 0.8 assists while shooting 42.6% from the field and 31.6% from three
Contract Status: Entering his second year on a two-way contract with the Clippers. Eligible for conversion to a minimum-salary deal mid-season (when his pro-rated deal would fit into the Clippers’ hard cap space). Eligible for restricted free agency next summer.

Expectations

Coffey is probably a bit overrated by Clippers fans who were excited to see an undrafted free agent from the summer league roster make the team and contribute in spots, but that’s only natural. Realistically, all the Clippers need from Amir is what you’d typically expect from the 15th man on the roster–adequate performances in limited minutes either in garbage time or extreme emergency depth situations.

Heading into last year, Coffey was basically the Clippers’ 16th man, though he ultimately played more than Mfiondu Kabengele, who was on the 15-man roster but was not as needed for emergency minutes positionally. After the team lost Jerome Robinson and Derrick Walton in trades and added just one player, Reggie Jackson, on the perimeter, Coffey became a de facto third stringer on his two-way contract and was one of the 15 Clippers brought to the Orlando bubble despite not having been drafted or given a guaranteed contract. The team had 7 bigs and thus needed a perimeter third-stringer from Coffey’s two-way slot.

This year, he’ll basically pick up right where he left off–the Clippers only have 14 players on their roster and are unable to fill their final roster spot due to the hard cap. With six bigs on the team, and fellow two-way wing Jay Scrubb out for most of the year, Coffey again finds himself in a legitimate third-string role by default. Even better (for him), it looks like coach Ty Lue is primed to play Terance Mann at backup point guard and Nicolas Batum at backup power forward, potentially further clearing out space for Coffey to get emergency minutes. In their projected opening-night depth chart, he’s the team’s third-choice shooting guard and small forward (though Reggie Jackson and Patrick Patterson would almost assuredly come in before him in an emergency and slide other players into the wing positions):

Amir will only be called on for second-string minutes if the Clippers really fall on hard times and are missing like three players from their rotation (maybe if a couple of guys are out and Kawhi sits for load management?), but the way Lue has the lineup built right now really sets Coffey up nicely for plentiful garbage time minutes.

On his two-way contract, Amir can appear on the active roster (meaning even if he doesn’t play, it counts) for 50 of the Clippers’ 72 games, so look for him to be available either nightly or almost nightly until the trade deadline, when the Clippers will likely fill out their roster, either by adding a wing ahead of Coffey or converting him to a full-season contract.

Strengths

Coffey is a super-athletic wing who can score from all over the floor, though his efficiency and decision-making can leave a lot to be desired. At his best, he’s using his quickness and length to get to the rim while bringing heightened energy on the defensive end in short spurts of minutes. His offensive toolkit is probably best suited to playing in transition, where he can use his handle and athleticism in the open floor to get to the basket before the defense is set.

Weaknesses

Amir’s weakness is that he’s not really that good at any of the stuff I just mentioned. His speed offensively in transition is great, but he struggles to find the brakes–he isn’t great at slowing down and making reads in the half court, often leading to rushed or contested drives and pull-ups. As a spot-up shooter, it’s a bit of a mixed bag–he shot 32% in the NBA last year, but 40% in the G-League, though both on small samples. Over the course of his three-year collegiate career, he made just 32.8% of his attempts from deep, including 30.4% in his highest-volume year as a junior. As is the case with so many fringe NBA prospects, his ability to consistently make open shots will be crucial if he ever wants to earn rotation minutes as a support player. While he’s used his physical tools to bring defensive energy in limited NBA minutes, and that’s a good sign, the broader scouting report suggests that he’s far more interested in the offensive end of the floor, which makes me skeptical of how his defense would hold up if he were ever needed for meaningful minutes against real rotation-caliber NBA players.

Summary

Coffey’s readiness to see real NBA minutes is likely overstated by a lot of Clippers fans, but he was a competent emergency/garbage time third stringer last season and there’s no reason to doubt that he can start to build on that this season as the NBA’s expansion of the active list from 13 to 15 provides him with more opportunities to suit up and sub in if games get out of hand. The 23-year-old undrafted wing will have to take some important steps forward to have a career with the Clippers long-term, but he’s positioned himself well to get opportunities to prove that he belongs on the 15-man roster sooner rather than later.

Clippers 2020-2021 Season Preview: Amir Coffey
Lucas Hann

Providing a player preview for Jay Scrubb is tricky–he doesn’t project to have much of a 2021 season in the NBA. If we’re going to see him, it’ll be in future years.

Basic Information

Height: 6’6″
Weight: 220
Position: SG/SF
Age: 20
Years in NBA: Rookie
Key Stats: As a junior college sophomore, averaged 21.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists, winning National Junior College Player of the Year.
Contract Status: After being selected with the 55th overall pick as part of the Clippers’ 3-team trade that sent Landry Shamet to Brooklyn and brought Luke Kennard to LA, Scrubb signed a two-way contract.

Expectations

Right now? Absolutely none. Contenders don’t exactly draft for impact in the 50s–in fact, most players taken in this range don’t have NBA careers at all. You also don’t necessarily expect contributions from first-year players who weren’t even playing NCAA D1 (or top-flight European) basketball the year prior. Scrubb’s long-term upside is tantalizing–The Athletic’s Sam Amick loosely suggested that if Jay had gone to Louisville this season instead of staying in the draft that he could have worked his way into the first round conversation as a senior in two years. But even on draft night, it would have been foolish to expect anything more than G-League and garbage time contributions from him as a 20-year-old rookie taken in the late 2nd round and making a massive jump from junior college to the NBA.

Then came the injury news–Scrubb had to have a pin inserted in his right foot, costing him 3-4 months of his rookie year. As hard as that transition from junior college to the world’s best professional league was going to be to begin with–on a stacked team with title aspirations, no less–it would be next to impossible without training camp, pre-season, and early year reps to acclimate to the pace and physicality of NBA play. So, while Scrubb will return with some time left in the season, he’ll just be working on conditioning while still well short of making an NBA impact in terms of ability and comfort. That’s okay. He’s 20, he was a late 2nd, he has clear upside, and he isn’t even taking up a full roster spot or counting against the hard cap. After this redshirt year, it’ll be like the Clippers having a bonus draft pick next season, when they will have their own 1st rounder but no 2nd.

Strengths

Scrubb is extremely athletic and clearly has loads of talent on the offensive end of the floor, scoring essentially at will in junior college. While we can scoff at the level he was playing at compared to other prospects, it’s still not easy to put up the numbers he put up at the level he was playing at–hence the national player of the year award. There’s a lot of work to be done to get him to an NBA level once he’s healthy, but it’s a gamble the Clippers were more than willing to take as part of their new focus on player development given their lack of draft assets in upcoming years.

Weaknesses

Even without the foot surgery, there just isn’t much you can be confident about Scrubb replicating at the NBA level. His strengths–like how he deployed his athleticism on offense–will be tested like they never were before. It’s common for superb athletes to struggle when they reach the league and are facing other superb athletes every night in practice. Nobody in junior college could match Scrubb’s size, movement, and skill. Plenty of guys in the NBA will be able to.

Once he’s proven that his strengths translate well enough to make him a viable NBA prospect, we can actually start to have a conversation about weaknesses and what he needs to do to go from “potential NBA player” to “NBA rotation player.” Right now, he’s still more of a potential potential NBA player–he could be a guy who could be a guy. That’s not to say that I’m down on Scrubb, or dislike the pick, or think he isn’t going to pan out. It’s just being realistic about the work players selected at 55th overall have to do in the early years (if they even get years, for many it’s just months or weeks) of their careers to prove they belong.

Summary

As a rookie, Scrubb will largely be out of sight and out of mind for Clippers fans. We may see a debut in late-season garbage time and get a chance to evaluate him firsthand (or we might get G-League minutes depending on when he’s back and if/when Agua Caliente’s games are played), but this year is a wash for the rookie. It’s a year to watch practices, forge connections in the locker room, watch film with coaches, and sit on the bench during games, absorbing every bit of knowledge he can about the team and Ty Lue’s program. Once we get out of this season–however it ends for LAC–Scrubb will deploy that knowledge to give him a head start in the fight for a roster spot on next year’s team.

Clippers 2020-2021 Player Preview: Jay Scrubb
Lucas Hann

With opening night for the Clippers just around the corner, we’re continuing our season preview series by looking at Nicolas Batum, who joined the team as a late free agent acquisition.

Basic Information

Height: 6’9″
Weight: 230 lbs
Position: Forward
Age: 32
Years in NBA: 12
Key Stats: Played just 22 games for Charlotte last year, averaging 3.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists while shooting 34.6% from the field and 28.6% from deep.

The year prior, in a more significant sample size, appeared in 75 games, playing 31.4 minutes per game and averaging 9.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.3 assists while shooting 45% from the field and 38.9% from three.

Contract Status: Signed a one-year, veteran’s minimum contract that will pay him about $2.6M but only count for $1.6M against the hard cap.

Expectations

While Nicolas Batum never came close to living up to his 5-year, $120 million dollar deal in Charlotte, he was still a positive contributor–until last season. A combination of injuries, conditioning, poor play, and a preference for younger options caused the Hornets to go away from Batum for most of the year, and he was truly awful in the 22 games that he did play. But for a new team, there are plenty of reasons to assume that a healthy, motivated Batum could be a quality role player again at 32 years old. In the 2018-19 season, he was solid (but unspectacular) as a glue guy who can hit an open three, make a simple read to drive or pass, and use his size and length to be a positive defender across multiple positions.

For the Clippers this season, they really only need him to do each of those things at an average level to be well worth his minimum-salary deal and nightly minutes. Heading into the season, he appears to be safely in coach Ty Lue’s plans. During the pre-season, he started at power forward in place of Marcus Morris, and when Morris returns to the lineup we can expect to see plenty of Batum at power forward on the second unit in a lineup with Terance Mann, Lou Williams, Luke Kennard, and Ivica Zubac. In that lineup, he’ll add a lot of value defensively working with Mann to cover for Lou and Luke, but there isn’t a lot of shooting in that lineup so they’ll really need his three-point shot to bounce back after last season.

Ultimately, it looks like we’ll be seeing quite a bit of Batum this season, and I’d venture to say he’s the 9th man heading into the year. He’s the primary backup PF and fill-in starter for Morris, but I also expect that he’ll see time at small forward on load management nights. As long as his quality of play is adequate, it’s easy to see Batum fitting in to a lot of lineups as a gluey role player who will likely be low-impact but also make very few mistakes.

Strengths

Probably the most enticing aspect of Batum’s game from the Clippers’ perspective is his defensive ability. He had a strong defensive reputation earlier in his career, and even in recent years Charlotte used him on star wings–though it’s worth noting that the Hornets have been dreadful in recent years and didn’t have very many other options. In reality, Batum shouldn’t be your best option against the league’s stars, but he’ll bring a positive presence to his lineups as the Clippers’ fourth-best wing defender behind Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Morris. A step slow at this point in his career, he might be well-suited to his shift to more power forward minutes, but his 6’9″, lengthy frame makes up for a lot of mistakes. He won’t stay in front of quicker guards, but he will be able to defend most second unit players at shooting guard, small forward, and power forward.

Offensively, Batum’s shooting might be his x-factor, but it’s not quite a strength. Even with an uptick from last season’s small-sample 29%, his career average of 35.7% is just average for a backup forward. His strength is really his playmaking ability, which exceeds what you’ll get from most backup forwards. He isn’t a primary distributor by any means, but he can run a secondary pick-and-roll and read the defense to make smart passes. Without a player like Chris Paul or Ricky Rubio joining the team to create for others, Batum is part of an upgraded playmaking ensemble–including incumbent Lou Williams and newcomer Luke Kennard–who will try to ease the team’s offensive stagnation.

Weaknesses

Probably the best thing about Batum is that he doesn’t have any egregious weaknesses. Where other options at this tier might be non-shooters, horrible defenders, or poor decision-makers, Batum is adequate in each area. If there’s one thing that will probably become a recurring annoyance, it’s that he has a tendency to be overly timid and passive offensively. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing on a team with a ton of high-usage scorers and offensive firepower, but it could be frustrating at times if good possessions end with Nic passing up shots.

Just as I said above that Batum’s shooting isn’t quite a strength, it isn’t quite a weakness either… but it could end up becoming one. If Nic can hit 39% of his threes like he did two years ago, he’ll make huge contributions this season. If he shoots 29% like he did last season, it seems like he’ll find his way out of the rotation soon enough. In the 33-35% range, he will have some utility but could hold back the Clippers’ offense at times as defenses funnel shots to him (like Luc Mbah a Moute years ago).

Summary

While Batum isn’t likely to have any type of breakout or huge nights where he’s the center of attention, he has the potential to be a solid and consistent second-unit player that helps Ty Lue build viable lineups around his more dangerous game changers. As long as he can do that, he’ll be tremendous value on his minimum-salary deal.

Clippers 2020-2021 Season Preview: Nicolas Batum
Lucas Hann

With just a week until the season begins, let’s take a look at the season preview for the Clippers’ youngest rotation contributor, Ivica Zubac.

Basic Information

Height: 7’0″
Weight: 240 lbs.
Position: Center
Age: 23
Years in NBA: 4
Key Stats: In 72 appearances for the Clippers last season, played 18.4 minutes per game and averaged 8.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 0.9 blocks. In the playoffs, played 24.6 minutes per game and averaged 9.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks. In the Clippers’ second-round loss to Denver, they won Zubac’s minutes by 32 points and lost the minutes he sat by 35.
Contract Status: Signed a 4-year contract with the Clippers summer 2019, paying him $7,000,000 this year and and $7.5M each of the next two seasons, with a team option for the final year.

Expectations

The Clippers need to rely on Zubac more this season than they have in the past, given his near-elite numbers as a rebounder and rim protector. It was a disgrace that he only played 18 minutes a night last season on a team that lacked a single other big man who was adequate at either rebounding or defending, and that mistake was horribly exposed in the playoffs when the Clippers struggled to do anything positive defensively when Zubac sat. This year, the Clippers have a much more legitimate alternative in newcomer Serge Ibaka, who isn’t as good as Zubac in either category but brings a slight upgrade in mobility and a major one in offensive skillset.

Heading into the regular season, Ty Lue has said that Ibaka will take over the starting center position this season, moving Zubac to the second unit to play in a lineup with Terance Mann, Lou Williams, Luke Kennard, and Nicolas Batum. Given the personnel in question, the thought process makes sense–that quartet features a significantly worse collection of perimeter defenders and guard and forward rebounders than the Clippers’ starters, making Zu’s skillset needed on the bench unit. Whether Zu starts or not isn’t necessarily a priority, but he will need to play more than his 18 minutes per game last season. A roughly 50/50 minutes split with Ibaka is the ideal outcome, regardless of who starts.

While Zubac is quite good, the Clippers’ lack of alternatives last season may have caused him to become a little bit overrated in Clippers’ fan circles by nature of the team’s over-dependence on him and absolute collapse when a different center was in the game. Ibaka’s role might unsettle some who are used to loudly clamoring for Zubac to play 30+ minutes a night, but this season’s roster gives Ty Lue the advantage of not needing to funnel minutes to a center who doesn’t bring floor-spacing offensively. If the Clippers find themselves needing to match up with Nikola Jokic for 40 minutes a night in a playoff series again, Zu will be immensely useful in big minutes. But at other times, the Clippers can deploy a center who spaces the floor around their stars while still holding down the fort defensively.

Strengths

Zubac does two things incredibly well: rebound, and defend in the lane. Last season, he grabbed 21.3% of available rebounds while he was on the floor, including an astonishing and league-leading 15.9% of available offensive rebounds. That’s right, for all the focus on his defense, Ivica was the NBA’s best offensive rebounder last season.

The focus on his defense is warranted, though. Zu was one of the NBA’s top rim protectors last season and actually held Jokic, the league’s best offensive center, to lower numbers than Rudy Gobert did in the round prior. There’s a limit to the impact that can be made in that type of role–Jokic was still clearly the best player on the floor in that series, and put up a string of dominant performances–but take a look at Jokic’s numbers in the playoffs vs Gobert, vs Zu, vs non-Zu Clipper lineups, and vs the Lakers (adjusted to per-40 minute rates, since that’s about how much he was playing a night):

I think there are two takeaways from those numbers. The first is that Zubac did a damn good job on Jokic, doing best overall and in a number of individual metrics. The second is that Jokic is damn good, still putting up an efficient 23/13/7 per 40 in his minutes going against Zubac. Just because the other Clippers who drew the Jokic assignment were deer in the headlights doesn’t mean that Zu didn’t also lose the match-up–it just means that he was able to keep the margin of defeat small enough that LAC could make it up elsewhere.

Weaknesses

While Zu does just enough offensively to be a positive presence, he’s both a non-floor spacer and not much of an interior threat. He finishes with solid efficiently on low-volume attempts around the rim, mostly completing dunks off of dump-offs from drivers and scoring on putbacks–again, that league-best offensive rebounding rate really helps him boost his value on that end of the floor. Still, he isn’t at all an explosive pick-and-roll threat and his constant presence in the lane allows opposing anchors to stay home and help on drives where a shooter like Ibaka could pull them out.

Defensively, while Zu is stellar around the basket, he isn’t particularly quick and can get caught in bad situations when asked to defend perimeter ball screens. He’s actually smart and big enough to use good positioning to fend well for himself when caught in a switch, but it’s the initial action where he just isn’t the kind of defender who can hedge to contain a guard and recover to take away a mobile big’s roll to the rim.

One last note on Zu’s defense, which really is relevant: he’s quiet. Teams often rely on their center, who is typically the furthest-back defensive player who can see the whole floor, to be vocal leaders who communicate with the perimeter players in front of them.

Summary

Zubac is a really effective young big man on a really great team-friendly contract, so hopefully he stays with the Clippers for a long time. Good teams will always need players who are as consistently positive on defense and the glass as he is. Last season, he clearly should have played more throughout the year and in the playoffs. This year, while he should still see his minutes increase, the Clippers have wisely built a roster where Zu can be deployed as a good rotation player with a valuable skillset and not depended upon as the team’s only viable option at center.

213Hoops is an independently owned and operated L.A. Clippers blog by Clippers fans, for Clippers fans. If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our Patreon. Subscriptions start at $1 a month and support from readers like you goes a long way towards helping us keep 213Hoops sustainable, growing, and thriving.

Clippers 2020-2021 Season Preview: Ivica Zubac
Lucas Hann

As we get ready for the looming start of pre-season basketball, let’s take a look at the season preview for Marcus Morris, the Clippers’ newly re-signed starting power forward.

Basic Information

Height: 6’8″
Weight: 218 lbs
Position: Forward
Age: 31
Years in NBA: 9
Key Stats: Last season, played 43 games for the Knicks and 19 for the Clippers. As a Knick, averaged 19.6 points and 5.4 rebounds in 32.3 minutes while shooting 44.2% from the field and 43.9% from three. As a Clipper, averaged 10.1 points and 4.1 rebounds in 28.9 minutes while shooting 42.5% from the field and 31% from three.

In the playoffs with LA, averaged 11.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game in 29.8 minutes while shooting 50.5% from the field and 47.5% from three.
Contract Status: The Clippers re-signed Morris to a massive four-year, $64M contract in free agency last month, essentially cementing his status as a key supporting piece for years to come.

Expectations

Morris is a fairly versatile player who can help the Clippers in a lot of ways. He can be an efficient support player in start-studded lineups who can provide volume scoring with the second unit, a player who fits as a stretch power forward next to Leonard or can handle the bulk of on-ball small forward minutes in his absence, and someone who contributes on both sides of the ball as a switchable defender.

While critics of the trade that brought Morris to LA, like 213Hoops editor Robert Flom, will point out the opportunity cost of acquiring him meant not landing an upgrade at backup point guard or center, there’s little doubt that Morris is a useful contributor in a contender’s playoff rotation. The Clippers’ decision to give him such a big payday while losing high-quality backup forward JaMychal Green means that expectations for Morris have to be turned up even a little higher. The arrangement of depth on this roster suggest that he’ll end up playing the third-most minutes of anyone on the team behind Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, and he’s going to have to go beyond a useful support player and make a consistent positive impact on games.

For that to happen, he’ll need to avoid the kind of distracting incidents that he’s become infamous for in his NBA career. In each of the Clippers’ 2020 playoff series, the ugly side of Morris’ persona came out. Against the Dallas Mavericks, he took himself out of a closeout game 6 with an obvious and pointless flagrant 2 foul against Luka Doncic. In game 5 against Denver, Paul Millsap credited pre-emptive trash talk from Morris with sparking a bit of a rally in the Nuggets’ locker room at halftime. It isn’t uncommon for contending teams to have a player or two who can get a bit hotheaded or commit a hard foul on demand, but that guy can’t be third on your team in minutes and salary. Morris needs to be above it this year.

Strengths

Morris was an elite spot-up shooter last year who certainly has no fear of big shots in big moments. Last year, he hit a career-best 43.9% from deep with the Knicks before a brief slump in a small regular-season sample as a Clipper, and then knocked down 47.5% of his attempts in the playoffs. Those numbers are quite a bit ahead of his career mark of 36.7% (though he’s made 43.9% of his playoff attempts), so we’ll have to keep an eye out for any regression.

He can also score from all over the floor in middling efficiency, an attribute that can be an asset in a pinch but is hopefully something the Clippers won’t need to over-rely on. Still, in healthy doses and in the right situations, like injury-depleted regular season games or late in the shot clock of a stagnant possession, it helps to have another guy on the floor who can create his own shot.

Weaknesses

Morris’ weaknesses–aside from the aforementioned extracurriculars detracting from the team–stem largely from inconsistency. In the playoffs last year, he put together an excellent defensive series against Doncic and the Mavericks before struggling immensely with an easier assignment in Denver’s Paul Millsap. While he overall shot well, he had boom-or-bust games that included shooting a combined 3-14 in the last two games against the Nuggets. At times, when his three point shot wasn’t falling he could feel a bit invisible, which could bode poorly if his shot regresses.

He also, like many of the players featured in the Clippers’ rotation, isn’t naturally inclined to create good looks for his teammates. Last season, he had one of the NBA’s most extreme combinations of high usage rate and low assist rate, meaning he is one of the league’s most prolific black holes who finds shots for himself but not others. While Morris settled rather gracefully into a smaller role with LAC last season, taking 14 FGA per 100 possessions in the playoffs compared to 22.3 in the regular season with the Knicks, it’s worth keeping an eye on if his usage starts to drift back upwards this year. While I mentioned above that his ability to create his own shot can be an asset in certain lineups and situations, he could be prone to lean a little too far into it and pull possessions away from LA’s stronger options.

Summary

The Clippers’ decision to re-sign Morris felt like a bit of a formality, considering their trade for him at the deadline was the real indicator that they viewed him as a key piece of their supporting cast. Still, the massive four-year contract implies a lot of faith in Morris to play a significant role on a team with title aspirations, and it will be up to him to reward that trust with improved consistency and discipline.

213Hoops is an independently owned and operated L.A. Clippers blog by Clippers fans, for Clippers fans. If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our Patreon. Subscriptions start at $1 a month and support from readers like you goes a long way towards helping us keep 213Hoops sustainable, growing, and thriving.

Clippers 2020-2021 Season Preview: Marcus Morris
Lucas Hann

Today, we’re looking at the season preview for one of the Clippers’ big new additions: veteran center Serge Ibaka, who joined the team as a free agent after winning the 2019 NBA Championship with Kawhi Leonard in Toronto.

Basic Information

Height: 7’0″
Weight: 235 lbs
Position: Center
Age: 31
Years in NBA: 11
Key Stats: In 55 appearances for the Raptors last year, played 27 minutes per game and averaged 15.4 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.8 blocks, and 2.0 steals while shooting 51.2% from the field and 38.5% from deep.

In the playoffs, played 22.8 minutes per game and averaged 14.8 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.3 blocks while shooting 57.3% from the field and 51.1% from deep.
Contract Status: Signed a two-year deal for the full mid-level exception, with a player option for the second year. His deal pays $9,258,000 this season.

Expectations

Based on his career, and recent contributions on contending teams in Toronto, the Clippers should have high expectations for Serge–he should be one of the team’s top 8 players who consistently produce during the season, and be a mainstay in Ty Lue’s playoff rotation as well. The team clearly foresaw that level of impact, considering the sacrifices they made to sign him. Not only was Ibaka brought in to replace reigning sixth man of the year Montrezl Harrell, but utilizing the full MLE means incurring a hard cap, which cost the Clippers valued backup JaMychal Green and negatively impacted their flexibility to round out the roster.

Ibaka’s counting stats aren’t particularly significant, as long as he maintains his quality. He’ll back up incumbent starter Ivica Zubac, though I expect the two to essentially split the center minutes 50/50. Depending on situation and matchup, each could see favor–Zubac is the superior interior defender while Ibaka brings offensive floor-spacing. The two will also inevitably play together at times this season, though the pairing will only work defensively against certain opposing lineups. As long as Ibaka can take his roughly ~50% of the center minutes and play like he did last season for Toronto, he’ll help the Clippers stay a strong regular season team. Then, in the playoffs, he’s a champion and trusted veteran with 144 career postseason games who will help the team significantly as Zubac’s backup.

Strengths

Contrary to what Ibaka became famous for early in his career in Oklahoma City, present-day Ibaka doesn’t make his biggest contributions with shot blocking and rim-rattling dunks. Instead, he’s become a well-rounded scorer who has good volume and efficiency from all over the floor. Last year, he shot 38.5% from three on 5.8 attempts per 100 possessions (for reference, JaMychal Green shot 38.7% on 8.6) and in total, scored 27.1 points per 100 possessions on 25.1 shot attempts with 2.5 assists and 3.5 turnovers (Montrezl Harrell scored 31.7 on 21.9 attempts with 2.9 assists and 2.9 turnovers).

The Clippers, in essence, managed to replace almost all of Harrell’s high-volume offensive production in the backup center slot (albeit with major stylistic differences, as Trez dives to the rim seeking contact and dunks while Ibaka pops and spaces the floor) and add a stretch big with legitimate center size to rebound and defend on the second unit. While Serge isn’t going to lead the league in blocks like he did earlier in his career, he’s a high-IQ defensive big who has good positioning and rebounds the ball well–he grabbed 23.5% of available defensive rebounds and 16.1% of total available rebounds last year (compared to Harrell, 16.3%/13.2%; Zubac, 26.4%/21.3%; and Green, 24.1%/15.4%).

Weaknesses

While Serge is efficient from all over the floor offensively, he isn’t a particularly creative player. On a Clippers team that sometimes struggles with ball movement and creating good shots for each other, Ibaka won’t bring much passing or playmaking–and as someone whose production is heavily dependent upon others’ playmaking, he could even suffer in the transition away from playing with Kyle Lowry. Last year, 80% of Ibaka’s 273 made 2-pointers were assisted, along with all 70 of his made threes. Fortunately, between Green, Marcus Morris, and Patrick Patterson, the Clippers are comfortable playing with pick-and-pop bigs and should be able to get Ibaka some looks, but he might not be as prolific on a team that isn’t as good at finding him.

Defensively, while Serge is a big step up from the likes of Harrell, he still has some limitations. His rebounding is good, but not as great as Zubac’s, and as an interior defender and rim protector his high IQ leaves him trustworthy but his declining mobility leaves him probably closer to solid than actually being strong on that end. Again, Zubac has the Clippers covered with an elite interior defender, while Ibaka might be useful as a situational alternative who is slightly more mobile to defend ball screens while adding more offensive firepower. But the word slightly is important there–the Raptors found in recent seasons that Ibaka and Marc Gasol could essentially only play together when opposing teams were using two similarly big players. They only saw 89 minutes of floor time together last season, though the Raptors excelled with a +24.7 net rating in those minutes. Zubac has more mobility than Gasol has left, but isn’t the passer or shooter that Marc is offensively, so it’s hard to say if there will really be more utility to the two-big look for LAC.

Summary

Ibaka isn’t a perfect player, and his athleticism has declined drastically over the years. But he is a legitimate replacement as a backup scoring center who will be a valuable floor-spacing alternative to Zubac in the postseason–all while being a stable non-liability on defense and the glass. I don’t think Serge is going to emerge as any type of third star for the Clippers, but he’s a safer bet to a high-impact member of their top-8 rotation, and should be a big part of their 2021 redemption arc.

213Hoops is an independently owned and operated L.A. Clippers blog by Clippers fans, for Clippers fans. If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our Patreon. Subscriptions start at $1 a month and support from readers like you goes a long way towards helping us keep 213Hoops sustainable, growing, and thriving.

Clippers 2020-2021 Season Preview: Serge Ibaka
Lucas Hann

Today, we’re taking a look at the season preview for Kawhi Leonard, the superstar forward who sits at the center of the Clippers’ title hopes.

Basic Information

Height: 6’7″
Weight: 225 lbs
Position: Small Forward
Age: 29
Years in NBA: 9
Key Stats: In 57 appearances for the Clippers last season, played 32.4 minutes per game and averaged 27.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 1.8 steals while shooting 47% from the field and 37.8% from three. In the regular season, the Clippers had a net rating of +12.2 in Kawhi’s 1848 minutes and -0.3 in 1628 minutes without him.

In the playoffs, Leonard played 39.3 minutes per game and averaged 28.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 2.3 steals, and 2.5 turnovers while shooting 48.9% from the field and 32.9% from three.

Contract Status: Kawhi signed a “2+1” contract with the Clippers last summer that will give him an opt out in free agency next year. He’ll make $34,279,100 next season before almost certainly declining his $36,016,200 option for 2021-22. As this upcoming year will be his 10th in the league, he’ll be eligible for the higher 35% maximum salary next year, with the Clippers able to give him up to 4 years with 8% raises. If he signs a 1+1 deal and opts out again in 2022, the Clippers could then give him a full 5-year max.

Expectations

Short of LeBron James’ unique ability to elevate the players around him, there isn’t much that you can ask a basketball player to do that Kawhi Leonard doesn’t do. He scores with remarkable volume and efficiency, he’s one of the league’s most feared individual defensive stoppers and an elite team defender. He rebounds at a high level for a perimeter-oriented player and has developed into a strong secondary playmaker, posting a significant career high in assists. His drive and demeanor are renowned, and he’s surpassed even the wildest expectations for the career of a 15th overall pick by winning the NBA Finals MVP award twice.

The Clippers know what they’ll get from Kawhi in the box score, and he will assuredly be one of the best few players in the league next season. He’ll miss some games due to load management (though the team only has 6 back-to-backs in their first 38 games, so if he stays healthy he could play more than last year), but that’s part of the deal–and if the tradeoff is that he’ll be available for increased minutes in the playoffs and extend his career (hopefully with the Clippers) for additional seasons, it’s a no-brainer.

But the real expectation for Kawhi this season is going to be a lot harder to track than an increase in assists or a better three-point percentage. When the Clippers talk about their playoff collapse against the Denver Nuggets, talent is rarely mentioned. Offensive lulls had less to do with the need for an upgrade at point guard and more to do with a lack of cohesion that resulted from inconsistent availability throughout the year (well beyond Kawhi’s load management, beginning with both Leonard and Paul George missing training camp and a number of other intermittent absences from key players). Mental collapses weren’t just offensive blitzes from opponents but a lack of resiliency built in to the fragile relationships in the Clippers’ locker room.

Yes, they probably would have beaten the Nuggets if not for the awful one-two punch of Doc Rivers and Montrezl Harrell having some of the worst playoff performances ever from a coach and player, and yes, landing an All-Star point guard or other roster upgrades could have boosted the team further, but no roster is perfect. Teams often over- or underachieve based on whether or not they are able to come together to be more or less than the sum of their parts. Last season, the Clippers were never as good in reality as they were on paper, while teams like the eventual-champion Lakers meshed together to produce performances from role players that exceeded expectations. Simply put, the Clippers need to find a way to “click” this year in a way they never did last season. Kawhi Leonard has a legacy with or without another title, but if he wants that next notch in his historical belt he’ll need to make another step of individual growth and bring more as a leader this season.

Strengths

Basketball, and most basketball-related activities.

Weaknesses

Calling Kawhi’s personality a weakness feels harsh–if we’re going to judge athletes personally at all, that should be reserved for people who have actually demonstrated real toxic behavior that go beyond sports drama. I don’t know Kawhi personally but the people around him seem to think he’s a fun guy. In context, it’s more that he doesn’t quite have what the Clippers would ideally get from him as a natural and vocal leader. The Clippers–and every sports team ever–have some dominating personalities in their locker room. If anyone has the credibility to legitimize himself as the leader, it would be Kawhi, but he’s called himself a “lead by example” type. If there is a vocal leadership vacuum in any locker room, it will end up filled. Short of Kawhi taking on that role, the Clippers need to be a lot more mindful of how that happens this season.

On the court, Kawhi is spectacular but not flawless. Expecting improvements or critiquing weaknesses feels unfair because of just how good he is, but for the sake of the exercise I’ll name a few. At 4.9 assists per game, he just posted by far his career high on a Clippers team that used him more as a distributor than he’d ever been used before, and he showed legitimate passing ability that just wasn’t there even the year before in Toronto. Additional comfort as a playmaker would certainly help this team, and even if he doesn’t increase his creative volume it would help if he could reduce his turnovers and perhaps get less flustered against double teams as a pick-and-roll ball-handler. As a shooter, he’s above-average on high volume, but above-average isn’t quite lethal. Lastly, the Clippers could use a bit more from him in terms of nightly defensive production. I get it, he’s a superstar who has to shoulder a big load offensively and protect his body. The legend slightly exceeded the reality on that end in his first year as a Clipper, though my guess, based on spurts of domination, is that it had a lot more to do with strategically expending energy than decreased ability.

Summary

Kawhi is one of the greatest players to ever step on a basketball court. Without dominating a generation like LeBron or sparking a stylistic revolution like Steph Curry, he’s found a way to be a legitimate peer to those and other greats. Kawhi will get the job done in his role, even with a massive role on both ends of the floor. His ability to extend beyond the confines of elite individual contributions and lift the team around him will likely be the most important factor in the 2021 LA Clippers’ success or failure.

213Hoops is an independently owned and operated L.A. Clippers blog by Clippers fans, for Clippers fans. If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our Patreon. Subscriptions start at $1 a month and support from readers like you goes a long way towards helping us keep 213Hoops sustainable, growing, and thriving.

Clippers 2020-2021 Season Preview: Kawhi Leonard
Lucas Hann

Today, we’re looking at a season preview for veteran stretch 4 Patrick Patterson, who recently re-signed with the Clippers on a one-year deal to play a bigger role on the team’s second unit.

Basic Information

Height: 6’8″
Weight: 235 lbs
Position: PF
Age: 31
Years in NBA: 10
Key Stats: In 59 appearances last season, played 13.2 minutes per game and averaged 4.9 points and 2.6 rebounds. He was one of the league’s best volume and efficiency shooters, making 39% of his 10.5 attempts per 100 possessions.
Contract Status: Patterson signed a one-year deal with the Clippers worth $3,077,704 using his non-bird rights. He’ll have early bird rights next summer, but in the meantime has an implicit no-trade clause that allows him to veto any mid-season deal.

Expectations

We sort of have to assume that the Clippers consider Patterson a top-10 rotation player this season. There really isn’t any other way to explain why they rushed to give him an above-minimum deal considering their proximity to the hard cap–in fact, even if Patterson is slotted in for 16 minutes a game all season long, it still feels like a questionable choice.

Still, it’s the choice the Clippers made, and Patterson is the team’s presumptive 9th man heading into the season, though we’d hope that an addition like Nicolas Batum has a strong enough impact to pass him in the pecking order. He proved last season that he was a solid above-replacement-level backup power forward, and that’s what we’ll expect from him this season too in an increased role due to the departure of JaMychal Green in free agency. Patterson still isn’t likely going to be a mainstay for Ty Lue in the playoffs, but he should be a nightly contributor in the regular season on a much more consistent basis than last year.

Strengths

Almost exactly opposite of what I said in yesterday’s breakdown of Reggie Jackson, Patterson has one extreme strength that provides almost all of his on-court value: high-volume, high-efficiency three-point shooting. He made 39% of his 2.9 attempts per game in low minutes–exactly 12 power forwards and centers shot better on more than 100 attempts. On the floor, he gives the Clippers a consistent pick-and-pop option who functions without the ball in his hands, allowing him to actively participate in sets as a screener but also space the floor to create more room for the Clippers’ higher-profile offensive creators to operate.

There’s also a bit of intangible value brought by Patterson. He’s a smart, team-first veteran who made a name for himself earlier in his career as a versatile team defender and role player. Even though he’s evolved into more of an offensive player, he still knows how to operate within the defensive scheme and brings positive positioning. Also, last year he was a consummate professional through inconsistent minutes as players like Moe Harkless, JaMychal Green, and Marcus Morris cycled through the rotation ahead of him. While it’s always hard to glean from the outside, Patterson seems like an overall positive and stabilizing presence on a team that had a bit too much turmoil last season for anyone’s liking.

Weaknesses

Besides his shooting, there isn’t a ton that stands out as a big positive for Patterson, but he was solid in most areas last season. He’s not a great rebounder, and probably not good enough to be a consistent option as a small-ball center, but he pulled down 7 per 36 minutes. He isn’t an offensive creator or distributor who is going to do much with the ball in his hands, but that’s not asked of him in his role, and he’s shown a capability of making a simple extra pass to an open man.

It’s really defensively where Patterson’s utility is more situational. He doesn’t have the size to really anchor a unit and protect the rim, and his foot speed just isn’t there to defend on the perimeter. The Clippers could struggle this season against teams that play smaller power forwards, especially on the second unit, and we might see someone like Nicolas Batum see more minutes in certain match-ups. Last season, Doc Rivers preferred to use Patterson in games against teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, who start 2 big men, so his strength could be a deterrent to Anthony Davis. But in 3 pre-bubble games against the New Orleans Pelicans, who start Brandon Ingram at power forward, Patterson played just 12 total minutes.

Summary

In Patrick Patterson, the Clippers retained a solid regular season contributor who will help them maintain their preferred offensive look, spacing the floor at power forward to provide more room for Paul George and Kawhi Leonard to drive into the lane. However, going above the vet’s min may have been a questionable decision considering the hard cap. Ultimately, Patterson’s upside this season is likely emerging as a clear and consistent 9th man, while his downside is sliding back into an 11th man role with Ty Lue opting for a smaller second unit. The likely deciding factor will be his defensive versatility, and whether or not he’s mobile enough to consistently guard the younger, faster forwards he’ll face on most opposing benches.

213Hoops is an independently owned and operated L.A. Clippers blog by Clippers fans, for Clippers fans. If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our Patreon. Subscriptions start at $1 a month and support from readers like you goes a long way towards helping us keep 213Hoops sustainable, growing, and thriving.

Clippers 2020-2021 Season Preview: Patrick Patterson
Lucas Hann

Today, we’re putting together a season preview for Reggie Jackson, continuing our annual tradition of going player-by-player through the Clippers’ roster to break down expectations.

Basic Information

Height: 6’3″
Weight: 208 lbs.
Position: Guard
Age: 30
Years in NBA: 9
Key Stats: In 17 appearances for the Clippers last season, averaged 9.5 points, 3.2 assists, and 3.0 rebounds in 21.3 minutes per game, shooting 45.3% from the field and 41.3% from deep. In the playoffs, played 14.2 minutes per game in 12 appearances, averaging 4.9 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 0.9 assists while shooting 43.8% from the field and 53.1% from deep.
Contract Status: Signed a one year, minimum-salary deal to stay with the Clippers.

Expectations

Although he might not have the “prominent” role suggested in the initial reporting of his re-signing, Reggie actually should play quite a bit for the Clippers this season on the 2.5 string–not quite a primary backup, but someone who will regularly feature in the 10-man rotation due to absences in front of him. If we look at LAC’s depth chart, it’s easy to see where Jackson will likely slot in:

Sure, if everyone is healthy on opening night, Jackson might not play. But Patrick Beverley is notoriously injury-prone, and Jackson figures to be first choice to get spot starts at point guard. If Williams or Kennard are unavailable on the second unit, Jackson will join the second unit as an offensive creator off the bench–and Kennard’s absence on the second unit could be frequent, not only due to his own injury history but because he figures to slide into the starting lineup whenever Paul George or Kawhi Leonard are injured or rest for load management.

Jackson’s job description should be pretty much built around those potential rotation gaps over the course of a campaign that is not only 72 games long but features an accelerated schedule. As a minimum-salary player in a depth role, we should have limited expectations as to his impact… which is probably well suited to his abilities at this stage of his career. Just be available, be solid enough for regular-season minutes, and hopefully don’t be needed when the playoffs role around.

Strengths

This is, um, hard. Maybe the best way to describe Reggie’s contributions to the team is that he doesn’t bring specific strengths so much as he brings all-around shaky play that’s just a little bit less shaky and more consistent than your typical minimum-salary point guard. He definitely brings more to the table offensively than defensively, though the effort will be there to be passable in regular-season minutes, especially flanked by the Clippers’ all-league defenders on the wing.

The truth is, though, that as I discussed above the minutes load for LAC’s 11th man this season could be significant. Jackson’s main strength–and the reason why the team retained him–is that he’s more experienced and dependable for that role than a younger, less proven player.

Weaknesses

Reggie’s weaknesses are the reason he was available for a minimum deal and a third-string role. A high-usage and middling-efficiency offensive player throughout his career, Jackson has had struggles with decision-making. As injuries have hampered his explosiveness, the decision-making hasn’t improved, resulting in turnovers and lots of heavily-guarded floaters. As a spot-up shooter, he thrived with the Clippers last season, but has shot just 33.7% from deep for his career, so it’s likely that some of his weaknesses will become more glaring when he’s no longer making half of his threes.

His defensive issues honestly might be a little overstated, to be fair. Doc Rivers rather inexplicably gave Jackson a lot of burn guarding Luka Doncic in the NBA playoffs, particularly late in games. Luka is one of the most gifted offensive players in the league, and Jackson is… an adequate second-unit defender. So I’m putting defense in the weakness column for Jackson, but it’s worth noting that smarter strategy would make that weakness far less exposed than it was last season.

Summary

Overall, the Clippers have in Reggie Jackson one of the best third-string point guards in the league–but not much more than that. We’ll see plenty of him this season but the less we see of him, the better it will be for the team, as his time on the bench will be heavily correlated with their primary rotation players staying healthy.

Clippers 2020-2021 Season Preview: Reggie Jackson
Lucas Hann