Our exit interview series at 213 Hoops continues with a look at the 2022 season of Clippers’ departed forward Justise Winslow.

Basic Information

Height: 6’6”

Weight: 220 pounds

Position: Forward

Age: 26

Years in the NBA: 6

Key Stats: In 37 games with the Clippers in the 2022 season, Justise Winslow averaged 4.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists, in 13 minutes, on 44.7 / 61 / 17 splits.

Expectations

Coming into this season, our staff graded the signing at about a B-. Although Winslow had had a tough time since leaving Miami, at the beginning of the season, it was reasonable to be optimistic that he could return to being a replacement-level player. After all, he was only 25 and has clear natural talent. Specifically, knowing that Kawhi would miss most-to-all of the season, there was a hope within Clippers Nation that Winslow could pick up some of the forward minutes, play competent defense, and help move the ball on offense. As Rob hinted at before the season, a lesser version of Nic Batum felt within reach.

Reality

Amir Coffey probably had the season Winslow was hoping for. Unfortunately for Justise, he could not become a consistent contributor (at any level) on offense. While he had a few nice moments in transition and otherwise finding guys with nice passing, he was non-existent (even negative) as a scoring threat. He shot a miserable 17% from three and 61% from the line, which was hard to stomach with the roster’s two best scorers missing so many games. On defense, he was hard working and fairly versatile, though he was not much of a help on the boards (another area the Clippers needed a lot of help). When he did finally settle in late in his Clippers’ tenure, his role was as a small-ball center, which was nice – but not what the Clippers needed or wanted from him.

Future with Clippers

Justise Winslow, of course, did not make it to the end of the 2022 season on the Clippers’ roster. I do think that Clippers Nation will have fond memories of Justise, though. He was light-hearted and hustled, which is always welcomed attributes by a fanbase.

Clippers 2022 Season Exit Interview: Justise Winslow
Kenneth Armstrong

Lucas, Rob, and Shap wrap up their All Star Player Grades after a fun Part 1 with Part 2 including Ty Lue. Players included: Serge, Zu, Justise, Hart, Nico, RoCo, Mook, Moses Wright, Wenyen Gabriel, Semi Ojeleye.

Check out the podcast here! Be sure to rate and review us five stars on whatever platform you listen to us on, and give us feedback in the comments below!

All Star Break Player Grades, Part 2
Shapan Debnath

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the LA Clippers made a massive trade Friday afternoon to acquire Norman Powell and Robert Covington from the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, and Keon Johnson. The Clippers are also sending Portland Detroit’s 2025 2nd round pick, acquired with Luke Kennard two offseasons ago.

The obvious centerpiece of this deal is Powell, who is currently putting up an efficient 18.7 points per game for Portland this season on good efficiency (45.6% from the field and 40.6% from deep). He’s averaged 17.8 points on 48/41 splits in 161 games over the last three seasons, so none of that production should be unsustainable moving forward. For a Clippers team starved of offensive talent (currently 26th in the NBA in Offensive Rating, according to basketball-reference), Powell should provide a lift on that side of the floor without creating major issues on the defensive end either. What Norm doesn’t do is create much offense for others: his assist numbers fall drastically short of point guards like Bledsoe or Jackson and are more in line with current Clippers like Luke Kennard, Terance Mann, and Amir Coffey. While Powell is a guard, he’s really more of a (slightly–he’s 6’3″ with a 6’11” wingspan) undersized scoring wing than a playmaker.

In Covington, the Clippers get a short-term look at a once-coveted defensive forward who has fallen off a bit of a cliff recently. Playing somewhere between the small forwar and center positions based on lineup and scheme, he’s still capable of making an impact on the defensive end of the floor (he’s averaging 2.8 steals + blocks in just under 30 minutes per game for Portland this year), but that impact has declined along with his three-point shot, really hurting his ability to add any value on the offensive end of the floor. RoCo is a bit of a wild card in this trade. In theory, he is still a serviceable veteran who can be a good team defender at power forward and give Ty Lue the versatile switchability in a small ball center that he loves. In practice, he’s not as good as the incumbents in that power forward role, Marcus Morris and Nicolas Batum, and stuck behind all three of the Clippers’ traditional centers. I could see him occupying a part-time rotation role as a depth 4/small ball 5 to replace Justise Winslow. I could also see this acquisition maybe making the Clippers feel a bit more secure in their forward depth if they were to trade Marcus Morris this week–something that has been rumored to be on the table. I also wouldn’t be shocked to see Covington’s $13M expiring contract flipped before the trade deadline passes as the Clippers deal with a glut of forwards and now find themselves in need of a backup point guard.

For Portland, the value in this deal is essentially financial. The Blazers are in dire straits as an organization, recently firing former Clippers executive Neil Olshey after an independent investigation found Olshey created a hostile work environment. They’ve struggled with injuries to core players and constant speculation that star Damian Lillard would ask to be traded, and currently sit well below .500. This trade helps the organization get their finances order in two ways: first, by shedding a total of $4M in the exchange, they avoid the NBA’s luxury tax; second, the team moves Norman Powell’s hefty multiyear deal to create flexibility moving forward. Between Powell, Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and breakout star Anfernee Simons, the Blazers had more 6’3″ guys than they knew what to do with. McCollum’s $30M+ deal will also likely be on the move soon, freeing up money for Portland to invest in rebuilding their frontcourt for next season in a last-ditch attempt to be competitive in the Lillard era. Powell signed a 5-year, $90 million dollar deal with the Blazers last summer that will pay him about $17M next year, $18M in 2023-24, $19M in 2024-25, and $20.5M in 2025-26 when he is 32 years old. It’s not a bad contract for a player of Powell’s caliber, especially since it won’t stretch too far into his 30s, but it is understandable why Portland was reluctant to hold on to it if they felt he was redunant with their other options.

Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, and Keon Johnson all could offer some utility to the Blazers, but it’s unlikely that their play is going to make a big difference for the team. Bledsoe is a solid enough backup guard, but Portland is probably already hard at work on a way to repackage him before next Thursday’s deadline. Winslow is a fun and hard-playing but flawed backup who should get some minutes in Portland and have a similar impact to the one he’s been able to have with the Clippers, while Johnson is a developmental prospect who still needs a lot of work to become an NBA player.

For the Clippers, this trade could indicate that another move is on the horizion, simply because they gave up a point guard and didn’t get one back. One key ramification here is that LAC managed to create a roster spot in a 3-for-2 trade, which will allow them to promote Amir Coffey from his current two-way contract to the 15-man roster. Two-way contract players are not eligible to play in postseason games, so that is an essential promotion for one of LAC’s key contributors this season. In theory, they could just do that and stand pat, but the current depth chart certainly suggests another move is coming:

In the meantime, the Clippers can get by with Jackson and Powell sharing guard duties while Coffey, Kennard, and Mann pick up the slack at SG and Batum and Covington share backup forward minutes, but by the time the deadline rolls around, it would really behoove the Clippers to have another point guard in the regular rotation. While there are any number of options for trades to accomplish that, the most obvious avenues are either a big deal involving Luke Kennard and/or Marcus Morris, or a simpler deal using the expiring contracts of Covington or Serge Ibaka to bring back a veteran guard. It’s worth noting that if the Clippers’ roster currently feels a bit crowded at the 2, 3, and 4, that’s with them still missing two All-NBA wings. Not all of these guys are going to get to stick around heading into next year. I think there’s a chance that the team views Powell as the long-term starter as a shadow point guard, with George resuming his duties as the team’s lead on-ball offensive creator. That would both alleviate some of the logjam on the wings and, with the assumption that Powell and Jackson are your point guards heading into next season, mean that all you need to do here is a simple deal to flip Covington or Ibaka. I would keep my eyes on guys like Kemba Walker and Dennis Schroder as veterans who should be available on the current trade market and can plug a short-term hole on the second unit with some playmaking.

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 Acquire Norman Powell, Robert Covington for Bledsoe, Winslow, and Johnson
Lucas Hann

Editor’s note: this article was written by 213Hoops contributor Thomas Wood. We do not yet have author profiles set up for each of our contributors, but we will soon!

Game Information

Where: STAPLES Center
When: 7:00 PM PST
How to Watch: Fox Sports Prime Ticket, ESPN, AM 570 LA Sports

Projected Starting Lineups

Heat: Kendrick Nunn — Duncan Robinson — Jimmy Butler — Bam Adebayo — TBA
Clippers: Patrick Beverley — Paul George — Kawhi Leonard — Maurice Harkless — Ivica Zubac

Injuries

Heat: OUT — Tyler Herro (foot), Meyers Leonard (ankle), Justise Winslow (back)
Clippers: None

The Big Picture

Tonight, Kawhi Leonard and Paul George will play their third consecutive game with one another. The band is back together. But the story this week, beyond wins and losses — ahem, let’s not forget what we’re here for — is whether the band will be getting any new members. The trade deadline is Thursday, and the Clippers have been in acquire-mode since before they put their two stars together. The front office may ultimately decide on nothing, but that seems unlikely. So if you are fond of this particular lineup, tonight’s game may be your last chance to see them jam together, even if what tomorrow brings eventually proves itself to be better.

The Antagonist

Speaking of buyers, the Heat are perpetually looking to add, even when they’re not very good. This year though, they’re actually good. Their consistent full-floor game has them solidly in the East’s top four and within clawing distance of the second-seeded Raptors. Jimmy Butler’s combination of talent and mania ensures the team represents a nightly challenge. Less than two weeks ago, they jumped on the Clippers early before the good guys went supernova in the middle quarters. The Clippers were without PG and Patrick Beverley that night, but it took Kawhi’s first triple-double and an explosive night from Landry Shamet to get the win on the other coast. And the Heat weren’t at full strength themselves, missing rookie dynamo Kendrick Nunn among others. The Clippers have since returned to full strength — see: strained metaphor above — while the Heat have lost a little more from the cupboard. No matter; this game’s on national television for a reason. The Heat can absolutely come to LA to repay the favor.

Notes:

• A Flamethrower in Reserve: Goran Dragic has taken well to life on the bench. Or rather, life coming off of it. The 33-year-old former All-Star has just one start among his 38 appearances this season, his fewest starts since his rookie season. Just don’t tell his stats that. He’s still averaging 16 points per game and converting 39.5% of his nearly six nightly three-point tries. Dragic is a scorcher. I bet Heat fans even think he should be Sixth Man of the Year. How quaint.
• A Little Less Hot: Miami will be without its starting center and presumed distant Kawhi-cousin, Meyers Leonard. At the time of this writing, the Heat hadn’t yet announced his replacement, and any guess I could make would be just that, as Leonard had started everygame this year before leaving Monday’s victory over the 76ers early. Tyler Herro, rookie shooter and Lucas’s fashion inspiration, was also hurt during Monday’s game and will sit tonight.
• Clippings: It’s all trade talk and it stales quickly, so for the latest updates, set your Twitter notifications and keep checking back here for all things Clippers.

213Hoops is an independent Los Angeles Clippers blog and fan community founded in February 2020 by a group of dedicated, long-time Clippers fans, writers, and podcasters.  You can support us by following us on twitter @213Hoops and subscribing to our Patreon for rewards and bonus content.

Game Preview: Clippers Host Heat as Deadline Looms
Lucas Hann