Basic Information

Name: Jerome Robinson

Age: 23

Years in NBA: 2

Position: Shooting Guard

Key Stats: 3.7 points, 1.2 assists, and 13.6 minutes per game with 34.7/29.8/69.0 shooting splits. Started one game in 42 appearances with the Clippers in 2019-20.

Summary

Robinson played 1,068 minutes across one and one-partial season with the Clippers, which isn’t a lot but also isn’t not a lot. Because of both injuries and a number of blowouts birthing meaningless fourth quarters, Robinson got some chances, which is more than many fans would say about young players coached by Doc Rivers. Robinson appeared frequently enough, and if he didn’t appear more frequently or for longer stretches, he probably has only his own lack of production to blame.

And eventually, Robinson did this:

Of course, Jerome Robinson didn’t do that for the Clippers, he did it for the Washington Wizards, and that’s the ultimate story here. On February 6, shortly before the NBA trade deadline, Robinson was traded for Isaiah Thomas. The Clippers waived Thomas and ended Robinson’s brief and uneventful tenure with the Clippers.

Strengths

Robinson looks like he belongs, for what it’s worth. He processes the game quickly enough and is generally where he’s supposed to be, relative to his level of experience of course. He displays a certain intangible comfort level. His presence isn’t beyond his years, but it’s sufficient. Most of the time he’s on the floor, he fits.

Also, in a mild surprise given some pre-draft comparisons to noted matador Kevin Martin, Robinson is serviceable (or better) at the defensive end. He’s both long enough and fluid enough for a guard/wing, and that he held his own on the Clippers’ side of the court is testament to his aforementioned level of awareness. His relative reliability there was the likely reason he got what opportunities he did. (I can’t imagine his premium draft position hurt, though.) If Robinson had been a traffic cone, he’d have rarely left the bench.

If there is one part of Robinson’s offensive game thats fine-ish, it’s his passing. In a similar offensive role, Robinson’s assist ratio bettered that of Landry Shamet, and Shamet has experience backing up point guards. (Well, in college.) Robinson turns it over too frequently but his moderate playmaking is more evidence that he sees the game well enough.

Weaknesses

Almost any scoring statistic you can quantify. Seriously, look at Robinson’s box score lines. Actually don’t, at least not after a meal. 28.4% three-point conversion rate on 67 tries for the Clippers this season. 30.4% on 161 attempts over two seasons. 42.4% on all career two-pointers. It’s a good job he doesn’t get to the free-throw line because he’s made just 26 (68.4%) of 38 career tries from the stripe.

Look, if I could code I would put a small sample-size warning in dancing red letters here, but for a guy who was billed as a three-level scorer, it would be nice to see him achieve an average mark at even one. Robinson’s offensive numbers aren’t just bad, they’re a bear attack at the site of a head-on train crash. So far, he has really struggled to put the ball in the bucket.

Future

At just 23 years old, Robinson’s NBA ultimate legacy hasn’t yet been finalized, but unfortunately, the Clippers’ return on their investment has. Acting as salary ballast in a transaction that netted Marcus Morris but cost two more draft picks and a possible-if-unlikely pick swap is suboptimal compensation for a player who was a lottery choice just 18 months prior.

Personally, I’m guardedly optimistic about Robinson’s career prospects. There is time for Robinson to correct his shooting woes, and his draft status and defense will afford him more opportunities than your average end-of-bench guy. Make the most of them and maybe find a mid-career renaissance like Jeremy Lamb. Make the least and be the answer to a trivia question, namely, “With the 13th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, who did the Clippers select over Michael Porter, Jr.?”

2019-2020 LA Clippers Exit Interviews: Jerome Robinson
Thomas Wood

Time to wrap this up. To recap, in Part 1 we talked about the fun upstart Clippers of the early 2000’s, and the Clippers’ 2005-06 playoff run.  And in Part 2 we talked about the painful (but hopeful) rebuilding years, and the long journey back to the playoffs. And finally in Part 3 we saw the Clippers finally return to the playoffs with the Lob City Era. 

When One Door Shuts, Another One Opens

2017-18

After leading the Clippers for their most successful stretch in franchise history, Game 7 of the 2017 playoffs would be the last game that Chris Paul ever played for the Clippers. That summer he agreed to sign with the Houston Rockets, and in order for Chris to get a maximum salary, he requested a sign-and-trade deal. The Clippers obliged and traded Chris for Patrick Beverley, Montrezl Harrell, and Lou Williams (among other pieces).

Blake Griffin was convinced to re-sign to a max contract, after the team showed him a mock jersey retirement and assured him he’d be the new face of the franchise. The Clippers, now with a younger Sixth Man of the Year in Lou, sent out fan favorite Jamal Crawford in a 3-team trade that netted them Danilo Gallinari. The Clippers added a play-making point guard in Milos Teodosic, since starting point guard Patrick Beverley’s calling card was his defense, not offense (though, as we’ve seen, Pat’s offense is pretty underrated).

As if part of their initiation to join the Clippers, both Danilo Gallinari and Patrick Beverley were injured less than a dozen games into the season. Gallo (glute) only played 21 games that season (and nowhere near at a full level in any of them) and Pat (knee) only played 11. And many of the rest of the team, including Blake, all missed games to injury. 

Then, in a shocking move, the Clippers traded Blake Griffin to Detroit for Tobias Harris, Avery Bradley, and league treasure Boban Marjanovic. Many fans saw this as a stab in the back to Blake, while others saw it as a smart decision to get out of a long-term commitment to Blake (who seemed to truly be injury prone); but everyone wondered what the long-term plan was. The Clippers finished the season with a 42-40 record and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2011.

2018-19

Almost caught up now. 2018-19 was my favorite season. That might seem odd, since the Lob City years were so much more successful, but I loved that season because the expectations were so low, and what was accomplished was so incredible. 

With a pair of picks from the 2018 draft, the Clippers selected Jerome Robinson and obtained Shai Gilgeous-Alexander via a draft day trade. They also re-signed Harrell and Bradley, added free agent Mike Scott, and traded Austin Rivers for Marcin Gortat. Fully healthy and slightly reshuffled, the Clippers had a 30-25 record heading into the trade deadline. The Clippers were winning off of a balanced effort, led by Tobias, Gallo, their talented rookie Shai, and Lou Williams off the bench, who would go on to win his 3rd Sixth Man of the Year award. There were two clear weak points in the starting lineup, however: Avery Bradley, who was inexplicably starting every night despite providing no production, and Marcin Gortat, the Clippers’ only conventional center outside of Boban.

At the trade deadline, the Clippers made a number of moves. First, they made yet another shocking move in trading Tobias, Boban, and Scott for Landry Shamet, Wilson Chandler, Mike Muscala, 2 first round picks, and 2 second round picks. Then they flipped Mike Muscala to the Lakers for Ivica Zubac, and somehow turned Avery Bradley into Garrett Temple and JaMychal Green. Despite trading their top scorer, the Clippers went 18-9 after that point, which is better than they were before the trade. 

Despite having no All Stars, no media exposure, no expectations, and 14 different starting lineups (12 featuring rookies), the Clippers managed to snag the 8th seed in the playoffs with a 48-34 record. Their reward? Being matched up against the defending champion Golden State Warriors. If there ever was one, this was truly a David versus Goliath match-up.

In game 1, the star-less Clippers were completely outgunned and lost by 17, as expected. And in game 2, the Clippers found themselves down 31 points to one of the greatest teams ever assembled, also as expected.

FREAK OCCURRENCE ALERT 

Finally, one of these things goes our way.

Down 31, the Clippers drank some of Mike’s Secret Stuff and began the greatest comeback in Clipper history, slowly chipping away at the lead, bucket by bucket. With 1:21 remaining, with the Warriors leading 128-126, Kevin Durant set an obvious moving screen and fouled out of the game. Lou Williams got to his spot and drained the fade-away two to tie up the game for the first time since the opening quarter. But as expected of the best team in the NBA, Steph Curry immediately went down and drained a 3-pointer, causing Oracle Arena to erupt with 56 seconds remaining. Lou came right back and nailed another fade-away with 45 seconds left. The Clippers got a stop and with 22 seconds left, had a chance to take the lead. The Warriors doubled Lou, he passed it to Shai, Shai drove and kicked it to Shamet, and Shamet knocked down the biggest 3 pointer of his career, eliciting the greatest BINGO ever heard from Ralph. The Clippers got the stops needed and held on to win the game, stunning the crowd and the rest of the nation. 

In games 3 and 4, the Warriors once again out-muscled the Clippers as expected, but in game 5 the Clippers surprised the Warriors for a second time, absorbing Kevin Durant’s 45 points while sealing the victory with huge contributions from Lou, Gallo, and Trezz. But ultimately the Warriors won game 6 and won the series.

Still, the competitive nature of that series put the league on notice: the Clippers, a team with max cap space that summer, was already very good. Without a doubt, I think that if the Clippers had been swept against Golden State, they wouldn’t have landed Kawhi Leonard and Paul George that summer.

2019-20

And now we’re back to the present day. I won’t go into detail about the season we’ve just experienced, or the preceding off-season where we signed Kawhi and PG13—if you’re reading this I’m assuming you were there for that. But hopefully it’s been as enjoyable for you to read this long (long) stroll down memory lane, as it was for me to write. 

When I think about this current season, even if it’s already over, I am so grateful, humbled, and happy that we’ve finally got the team we always hoped for. Hope was all we ever really had, what with being the second team in LA and having the cheapest owner in sports. But finally that hope has become a reality, and it’s about time. So with that said, I’ll end this the way we started, with that perfect quote from Pat Bev:

“That’s who we do it for: The people in the back. The blue-collar people who don’t have a lot given to them. Who work for everything they deserve. And that’s what we’re doing right now. We do it for them.”

The 2020 LA Clippers: For the People in the Back, Part 4
Erik Olsgaard

According to The Athletic’s David Aldridge, the Clippers will not keep veteran point guard Isaiah Thomas following his acquisition today from the Washington Wizards.

The rationale for this deal, then, must have been as follows: the Clippers wanted to move Jerome Robinson in order to make salaries work for Marcus Morris, and the Knicks did not want Robinson’s guaranteed salary for next season.

The Wizards, then, who coveted Robinson in the 2018 NBA Draft, were willing to take on Robinson for free in order to see if he can thrive more in Washington than he did in Los Angeles.

Now, the Clippers will look elsewhere to fill their need for an emergency point guard–possibly the much-discussed Darren Collison, or newly-waived Trey Burke or Tim Frazier.

Report: Clippers to release Isaiah Thomas
Lucas Hann

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Clippers have acquired Washington Wizards point guard Isaiah Thomas from the Washington Wizards in a three-team trade with the New York Knicks. The Clippers will send Moe Harkless and their 2020 first-round pick to the Knicks for Marcus Morris, as well as Jerome Robinson to the Washington Wizards for Thomas.

Thomas is averaging 12.2 points and 3.7 assists for the Wizards this year in 23.1 minutes per game, while shooting 40.8% from the field and 41.3% from deep.

Breaking News: Clippers acquire Isaiah Thomas in three-team trade
Lucas Hann

According to Caron Butler and David Aldridge, the Washington Wizards are interested in Clippers reserve guard Jerome Robinson.

Robinson has disappointed for the Clippers since being selected 13th overall in the 2018 draft, and it’s highly likely that a change in scenery (and the chance for some minutes on a bad team) could be good for his career. Particularly, he has been unable to hit shots when given opportunities this season despite his reputation and history as a good three-point shooter.

It’s unclear what the Wizards would give the Clippers in such a deal–and unlikely that, assuming their first-round draft pick goes to the New York Knicks in a Marcus Morris trade, they would be able to pry sharpshooter Davis Bertans from Washington. The Wizards do have a large enough trade exception to simply absorb Robinson–but are the Clippers ready to move on from Jerome for what could potentially amount to a second-round pick?

Report: Wizards interested in Clippers’ Jerome Robinson
Lucas Hann