The Summer Clippers handily defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in their first contest in the Las Vegas Summer League tonight, 94-76. LA took control early on and never relinquished it, leading by as much as 27 in the second half as the Grizzlies failed to ever make the contest competitive.

I typically write very brief, bullet-point Summer League recaps that focus on the performances of key individuals, and I’m going to stay true to that in a moment, but I do think it’s worth nothing that this Clippers squad played exceptionally well as a team by Summer League standards. Things slipped a bit as they rotated the lineup more heavily in the second half with a massive lead, but in the first half their offensive execution was massively impressive, and I’d share credit for that among point guards Jason Preston and Xavier Moon as well as head coach Shaun Fein. Summer League is infamous for atrocious guard play, and having two composed floor generals actually running the offense simply put the Clippers a class above the Grizzlies–which is especially impressive when you consider that Memphis started a rookie first rounder and two sophomore first round picks along with a third-year player with plenty of NBA experience, and brought another first-round pick off the bench. In total, the 8 players who led the Grizzlies in minutes tonight are all assumed to have spots on the team’s 17-man roster next year, and the Clippers’ misfit crew thrashed them.

If you aren’t familiar with the name Shaun Fein, here you go: he got his start as a video analyst for the Brooklyn Nets under Kenny Atkinson, eventually moving up to the position of Player Development Coordinator and then Head Coach of the Nets’ G-League affiliate in Long Island. The Nets replaced Atkinson in the 2020 off-season to bring in Steve Nash as the hand-picked choice of superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, and the Clippers made the much-acclaimed hire to bring Atkinson in as an Assistant Coach under Ty Lue to revitalize the franchise’s player development program. Fein followed Atkinson to Los Angeles as a Player Development Coach, and then stayed with the team with a promotion to Assistant Coach when Atkinson left to join Steve Kerr’s staff in Golden State last summer. NBA teams have a lot of coaches and fans are typically only aware of the head coach and maybe a few high-profile assistants; welcome to the limelight, Shaun.

Now, let’s break down how key Clipper prospects performed in the opener:

• Jason Preston was the best player on the floor in the first quarter, playing floor general as the Clippers took an early lead. It felt like every possession involved him orchestrating the offense, and every possession ended with a good shot. He faded a bit as the game went on–possibly in part due to other guys getting more on-ball reps in a blowout–but if he can bottle the poise and comfort he showed in the first half and bring in the rest of the week, he’ll have really impressed me. His known weaknesses are still weaknesses: he isn’t explosive going downhill or finishing around the rim. That said, if his key strength (court vision and passing) can be elite at this level and his question marks (defense and spot-up shooting) look good as well, it’ll be a great sign.
• Brandon Boston had a solid performance and a good stat line, putting up 15 points on 4-8 shooting to go with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and a block. If this is his baseline Summer League performance, it’s good-not-great. Some folks had hoped he’d be “too good for Summer League,” which was a nice dream, but the reality is that as a guy without a clear role on the big league Clippers, this week was always going to be about getting him reps. I would love to see him be a little stronger physically entering the lane with the ball in his hands, either as a finisher or playmaker, so he doesn’t have to take so many stepback and fadeaway shots.
• Moussa Diabate was probably the player of the game overall (though Preston did more of his work early on when the game was close), really excelling defensively and on the offensive glass. I was worried he’d have some phsyical challenges against the stronger Xavier Tillman, a guy who was a higher draft pick 2 years ago, is 3 years older, and has over 1,700 NBA minutes under his belt–that didn’t materialize. Diabate finished with 10 points and 7 rebounds, 6 of them offensive, and had a spin move to a monster dunk that was probably the play of the game. In addition to his tenacious activity on the offensive glass, he was really efective on defensive switches against guards, which is a great sign because that is the skill that will probably define his NBA utility as a backup 4/5. I love that he got 9 free throw attempts (his game high at Michigan was 7), but wish he had made more than 4 of them.

• Xavier Moon, operating on the good news that he had been invited to the Clippers’ big league training camp this fall, had a simply very solid game as the backup point guard. It’s not surprising, given his advanced age for this level and his experience dominating lower pro leagues, but he’s a real asset to these Summer Clippers. The question is what utility he has to the real Clippers after the addition of John Wall, with younger Jason Preston already on a guaranteed contract for next year… and the unfortunate conclusion is that while Moon certainly seems capable of making an NBA roster, it feels unlikely that it will be LAC’s.
• Jarrell Brantley was a surprise starter at power forward (I personally thought we’d see Justin Bean, who the Clippers had signed to an Exhibit 10 deal as an undrafted free agent). The undersized 26-year-old forward was a second round pick in 2019 and played a couple hundred minutes of NBA garbage time before heading to Europe as a role player last year. He had a nice outing here and shot 3-6 from deep, but he only made 26% of his threes in 48 games overseas last season and 31% of his threes in 43 career G-League games. I’m happy that he got to have a nice outing tonight but I wouldn’t pencil him in to any future plans just yet.
• Reggie Perry jumped off the screen more than any other non-roster Summer Clipper, finishing with a team-high 17 points and 4 rebounds in 15 minutes. As a 22-year-old 6’8″ 4/5, he was drafted 57th (just after Jay Scrubb, the Clippers and Nets actually traded the two for each other) in 2020 and has almost 400 NBA minutes to his name. He played well all-around offensively and even stepped out to make a couple of threes (he’s been a below-average shooter at the G-League level but is willing to take plenty). He still has an uphill battle to even make the Clippers’ training camp, but because he plays a position of need as a big man and seems to be on the fringe of landing a two-way deal somewhere next year, he seems like a candidate to move forward with the team if he can play well for the rest of the week. I’d like to see a bit of him and Diabate together, as well.

• Jay Scrubb doesn’t seem to have made a lot of progress since last summer, and his game mostly seems to be taking inefficient pull-up jumpers with blinders on while occassionally putting together a mixtape highlight. That happened tonight, with a filthy stepback three that would make any highlight reel for this game, but outside of that moment he was just 3-10 from the field and made a lot of poor decisions with the basketball when he should have been passing. The Clippers invited him back to training camp this year and while it wouldn’t be a travesty to have him on a two-way deal again (he averaged 21 points on 46/35 splits in 12 G-League games last year, which outweighs some ugly Summer League play), this performance didn’t do a lot to inspire confidence that he’s an NBA guy going forward.
• Michael DeVoe, one of the undrafted free agents who the Clippers signed to an exhibit 10 contract to compete for a two-way spot for next season, played sparingly as the 10th man in this game and was pretty dreadful. I frequently tell fans to chill on the hyperbole when someone does well in a Summer League game and I’ll do the opposite here and say that it’s not a career death sentence for a player to struggle in a LVSL game–plenty of much higher-profile prospects have bad outings and turn out just fine. But tonight, he looked like a guy who didn’t belong at this level, which is troubling since this is about 7 levels below NBA-caliber play. He’ll have to turn it around in the upcoming contests or he might not even make it to training camp.
• Speaking of which, Lucas Williamson and Justin Bean, the other two undrafted free agents who the Clippers signed to exhibit 10 deals after the draft, were only garbage time bodies in tonight’s game. Now, it’s really common for teams to rotate guys throughout Summer League, with most players taking a night off at some point and everyone getting a chance for legit rotation minutes for at least one game. But normally the guys the organization is highest on play in the opener, and normally they start. Right now, the Clippers have 21 guys on the training camp list (Moussa Diabate is technically unsigned, allowing them to still abide by the 20-player off-season limit, but he’ll be replacing one of the current 20). Adding Xavier Moon and Jay Scrubb late is a bad omen for the team’s three exhibit 10 guys, especially when Scrubb started at shooting guard over DeVoe and Williamson (both shooting guards) and Bean scarcely played behind multiple forward without camp invites. For reference, Amir Coffey started the Clippers’ Summer League opener as an exhibit 10 rookie and, while he took one night off, ultimately started all four games that he played in and led the team in minutes per game. That’s a guy who showed up to Summer League mini-camp and showed the team that he belonged with the big club in the fall. It doesn’t look like Devoe, Williamson, or Bean have proven that at this point.

All in all, it was a very successful outing for the Summer Clippers, who are now 1-0 and will look to their Tuesday/Wednesday back-to-back against the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets to determine if they have a chance at competing for this year’s Summer League Championship. Each of the NBA’s 30 teams plays 4 games (LAC’s fourth is Friday afternoon against the Utah Jazz), with 28 playing a final consolation game on the last weekend and the top 2 competing for the title next Sunday. Top two is obviously decided first and foremost by record, so you need to go 3-1 in your first 4 to even have a chance and even 4-0 isn’t guaranteed if more than 2 teams go undefeated. Then, it goes by head-to-head record as the first tiebreaker (only in the case of a two-way tie, which is basically irrelevant as a two-way tie at 4-0 would put both teams in the championship and if 1 or 0 teams are 4-0, way more than 2 teams will be 3-1) and point differential as the second tiebreaker, so the Clippers’ 18-point win is a good sign. With everyone in the league having played at least one game in Vegas, only the Suns and Raptors are ahead of LAC on point differential, narrowly at +20. Only two teams, Orlando and Detroit, are 2-0 so far.

We’ll see the Summer Clippers again on Tuesday night at 8pm Pacific when they take on the Summer Lakers on NBATV in the big gym at LVSL, the Thomas & Mack 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 trounce Grizzlies in Summer League opener, 94-76
Lucas Hann

Reggie Jackson jumped on the pod after a tough loss to the Sixers to talk about his career, his time with the Clippers, and just exude his good vibes. Lucas and Shap talk about the game, the standings, and injuries in the second half of the pod.

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!

Reggie Jackson Comes on TLTJP
Shapan Debnath

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

Lucas, Rob, and Shap get together in Part 1 of their two part series going through player grades for your favorite Clippers so far this season, fresh off a strong win heading into the break. Part 1 features Eric Bledsoe, Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, Terance Mann, Amir Coffey, Brandon Boston Jr., Paul George, Norman Powell, Rodney Hood, Keon Johnson, Xavier Moon, and James Ennis III.

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 1
Shapan Debnath

Lucas Hann and Shap talked about the Normal Powell/Robert Covington trade on the latest episode of TLTJTP. What does it mean for the Clippers today, and for the fully healthy Clippers? The two also spend a moment saying goodbye to Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, and Keon Johnson.

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!

Clippers Land Norman Powell, Robert Covington
Shapan Debnath

Lucas, Rob, and Shap wrap up their Around the Beat series with Tomer Azarly from Clutch Points and then with fellow podders Joseph Raya-Ward from Clipset, and Will Updyke/Chuck Mockler from Locked On Clippers.

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!

Around the Beat Pt 2 with Tomer Azarly, Joseph Raya-Ward, William Updyke and Chuck Mockler
Shapan Debnath

Lucas, Rob, and Shap joined by Law Murray of the Athletic, Mirjam Swanson of the OC Register, and Andrew Greif of the LA Times for TLTJTP’s annual Around the Beat series! Pt 2 coming tomorrow. Questions included our expecations for PG, will Kawhi come back, breakout LAC player, and hot takes.

Check out the pod 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!

Around the Beat Pt 1 with Law Murray, Mirjam Swanson, and Andrew Greif
Shapan Debnath

The two Los Angeles basketball teams will always be compared to one another, for better and for worse. They have never been more tightly connected than they have been over the past 18 months, when both squads are true championship contenders at the same moment for the first time. That has led to endless debates about which team is better, more likable, more fun, and so on. In 2020, the Lakers seemed to definitively answer that question by winning the NBA championship in dominating fashion, while the Clippers suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. However, surprisingly, while the Clippers made their own roster adjustments and brought in a new coaching staff, the Lakers changed their team composition to a greater extent. Here’s a look at how the teams have shifted since the 2020 season, and how their matchups might be affected as a result.

Lakers Additions: Montrezl Harrell, Dennis Schroder, Marc Gasol, Wesley Matthews

Lakers Subtractions: Danny Green, Dwight Howard, JaVale McGee, Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley

Clippers Additions: Serge Ibaka, Luke Kennard, Nicolas Batum, Ty Lue

Clippers Subtractions: Montrezl Harrell, JaMychal Green, Landry Shamet, Rodney McGruder, Doc Rivers

Interestingly, the Lakers made not just more roster changes, but pursued swaps that shifted the fundamental nature of their roster. Yes, they still have LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and will therefore be a very good team, but their identity has shifted. Last year, they were a team that physically beat up on opponents with size, strength, and length, but relied heavily on James and AD for shot creation. The additions of Gasol, Schroder, and Trez boosted their offense and alternate shot creation abilities significantly, but at the cost of size and physicality on defense. This will presumably help them in the regular season, but might cost them in the playoffs (or maybe it won’t!). Either way, it was a very interesting gamble by the Lakers to try to reduce Bron and AD’s offensive burden at the cost of a clearly championship-caliber team and identity.

The Clippers, on the other hand, despite their disastrous showing in the playoffs, are going into 2021 with the same top 6 players that they closed 2020 with. Sure, they have swapped out guys 7 through 9, and Ibaka and Kennard could certainly play larger roles than Lou Williams and Ivica Zubac in the Clippers’ 2021 campaign, but still, the core of the roster is remarkably similar. Moreover, the fundamental identity of the team is relatively similar – a defense-minded squad that mostly relies on its two superstar wings for shot creation and scoring, with a health dash of scoring guards off the bench mixed in. Instead, the primary ingredient the Clippers are changing in their cocktail is that of head coach, with Ty Lue replacing Doc Rivers. We won’t see how that change will manifest until the season is really underway, but the offense and defense promise to be a bit more fluid and adaptable.

In terms of the direct matchup, the changes on both sides of the roster should make things look quite a bit different. JaMychal Green, probably the Clippers’ best option on LeBron James, is gone, with Serge Ibaka the likely go-to now. The Lakers do have other legitimate offensive threats outside of AD and Bron, with Schroder probably posing the biggest threat. The Clippers don’t have anyone on their roster who is a great option on super quick smaller guards, with Pat Beverley a step slow and George and Kawhi just a bit large and unwieldy. They will all be fine on Schroder, probably, but there will almost certainly be a game or two where he cooks the Clippers.

Conversely, the Lakers of last year did not have many weak points on defense, and now they have two in Schroder and Harrell. Now, it’s quite possible neither of those guys sees many minutes closing out games due to those defensive deficiencies, but still, the Clippers have to attack them while they’re on the court. They know firsthand Harrell’s weaknesses on the glass and in pick and roll coverage and should hammer him in such actions. Schroder is a somewhat feisty defender, but he is simply undersized compared to the Clippers’ wing scorers, and if they can facilitate a switch Schroder probably won’t stand much of a chance.

In other words, I think the Lakers’ offense has become more worrisome, while their defense has softened a little. The Clippers’ own defense should be somewhat sharper with Ibaka replacing Harrell, but there’s no denying that Trez brought a ferocity and paint-scoring acumen that has not been filled. I would expect Clippers-Lakers games to be somewhat higher scoring affairs than last season, but still maintaining the intensity and quality of play that made them enjoyable in 2020.

There’s a lot to look forward to in 2021, but a potential Lakers-Clippers playoff series might still be top of the list for many NBA fans. All of the powerhouse matchups are still present, but now the games will be charged by the added dynamics of the Trez switching teams plot and the context of the 2020 season. The roster adjustments made by both the Lakers and Clippers should make the actual games themselves take on a somewhat different tone than last season, bringing yet another intriguing factor to play. All said, tonight cannot come soon enough.

Assessing the Clippers and Lakers Roster Adjustments
Robert Flom

Now that the Clippers’ 2020 season has reached its disappointing end, 213Hoops will work through the roster player-by-player for our “Exit Interview” series. Today’s exit interview features sharpshooter Landry Shamet.

Basic Information

Height: 6’4″
Weight: 190 lbs
Position: Shooting Guard
Age: 23
Years in NBA: 2

Key Stats: In 53 regular-season appearances, Landry had 30 starts and played 27.4 minutes per game, averaging 9.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists while shooting 40.4% from the field and 37.5% from deep.

In the playoffs, Landry appeared in all 13 of the Clippers’ games, starting 4 and averaging 18.7 minutes per game and 5.2 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists while shooting 40.7% from the field and 35.7% from deep.

Contract Status: After finishing the second year of his inexpensive rookie contract, Landry will make just over $2 million next season. He has a team option worth about $3.75 million for the 2021-22 season, which the Clippers will have to make a decision on (they will certainly accept it) before next season begins. Then the summer of 2022, he will be a restricted free agent with a qualifying offer of $5.5 million, meaning the Clippers would have the right of first refusal on any contract Shamet agrees to with another team. His production, inexpensive deal, long-term team control, and youth and potential make him a valuable asset for the Clippers to either develop or trade.

Expectations

After a truly stellar rookie season that saw Shamet–first drafted by Philadelphia–excel enough as the 19th overall pick to become the centerpiece of a trade for Tobias Harris and then start for the Clippers upon his arrival, it’s safe to say expectations were high for the sharpshooter in his sophomore campaign. In a short post-deadline stint for LA as a rookie, he moved cleverly without the ball in a way that could only remind fans of former Clipper J.J. Redick, and he was lethally efficient, making 45% of his triples on over 10 attempts per 100 possessions. Defensively, he was unspectacular but solid, a rarity among rookie guards.

Entering the off-season, the 22-year-old looked like the kind of player who could be a start for the team for the next decade, particularly because of his extremely friendly rookie contract paying him less than $2M a year.

Changes above Shamet’s pay grade altered that plan. After all, when you can play two positions and your team acquires a player from the prior season’s All-NBA 1st team at one and the reigning NBA Finals MVP at the other, it’s going to change your role a bit. Still, Landry was going to have his opportunities to be a big contributor to a contending team, and faith was high in his ability to come through. Paul George would miss the opening weeks of the season as he recovered from double shoulder surgery. Kawhi Leonard wouldn’t play in back-to-backs as he managed a persistent quad injury. And even in the biggest games when both were playing, the team would use Shamet as their main wing option off the bench when George and Leonard sat–not to mention the widespread assumption that the team’s best lineup would ultimately be a smaller one with Shamet, George, and Leonard playing together at the 2, 3, and 4.

• Clippers vs Celtics Preview: Keeping the Good Vibes Going
• Clippers vs Mavericks Preview: Battle of the Miseries
• Clippers vs Nuggets Preview: Playoffs Rematch
• Clippers vs Hawks Preview: Stopping the Bleeding
• Clippers vs Suns Preview: Let’s Try That Again

Reality

In a bizarre and disappointing season, perhaps no Clipper faced more disappointment than Landry. A starter last year, it was of course understandable that he would be demoted this season, but would get his chances as a starter in the early weeks as George recovered from surgery. That made a pre-season wrist injury all the more excruciating. Shamet would play though it, but it would clearly hurt his shot as he hit just 39% from the field and 36% from deep in his first ten games before being forced out of the lineup with an ankle injury.

After missing 17 games with that ankle sprain, Shamet returned to the lineup with an inconsistent role. In the 37 games between his return and the season’s suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Landry would see 17 starts at different positions, with his minutes dipping as low as the teens and skyrocketing as high as the 40s depending on who else was available. When Reggie Jackson joined the team after the trade deadline, Landry’s minutes faced an even stronger squeeze, dipping into the teens multiple games at a time and even falling as low as 8 minutes played in the team’s big March match-up against the Lakers.

Things didn’t stabilize much in the bubble. Landry tested positive for COVID in July and was delayed in arriving to the bubble, missing the team’s Orlando training camp and starting the team’s seeding games with a minutes restriction. He moved in to the starting lineup in the team’s fourth, fifth, and sixth seeding games–each at a different position in place of Patrick Beverley, then Paul George, then Kawhi Leonard. Then, he missed the last two seeding games with a foot strain and came into the playoffs behind Reggie Jackson in the rotation… until Jackson’s underwhelming play in place of the injured Beverley caused Doc Rivers to turn to Landry Shamet at point guard, a position he had rarely played in the playoffs. He thrived in the role, starting in games 3-6, and then was immediately demoted upon Beverley’s return in the second round and saw scarce minutes as a backup.

One can hardly blame Landry for falling short of expectations considering the circumstances–repeated injuries with inconvenient timing, an inconsistent role that thrust him into multiple positions as a starter and backup with drastically varying minutes, and an unimaginative offensive scheme that removed many of the actions that generated good looks for him last season.

Future with Clippers

Despite an underwhelming sophomore campaign, there’s little doubt how important Landry is to the Clippers. Despite Lawrence Frank’s optimistic remark about how many under-30 players the team has, the reality is that most of them are 29 years, and Shamet and Zubac at 23 years old are the team’s only actual young players who have proven that they’re capable of playing in the NBA.

For a team that won’t control their own first-round draft pick until 2027, that–and hitting on second-round selections–means a whole lot in terms of long-term team building. On the one hand, Landry is crucial to the team as their only young guard, in tandem with 32-year-old Patrick Beverley and 34-year-old Lou Williams. If George and Leonard choose to stay in LA after their free agencies next summer, Landry is one of the few role players who won’t eventually need to be replaced around them. If those two depart, he’ll be one of the team’s best building blocks going forward.

On the other hand, if the Clippers do want to make any kind of short-term upgrade to their roster for next season, Shamet will also likely have an important role to play. While the team would hate to part with him for the reasons discussed above, their lack of first-round picks to trade means he’s their best trade chip, even after a disappointing year.

Just like last summer, Landry’s fate is going to be determined by transactions (or lack thereof) above his paygrade. We’ll just have to wait and see.

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 Exit Interview: Landry Shamet
Lucas Hann

Now that the Clippers’ 2020 season has reached its disappointing end, 213Hoops will work through the roster player-by-player for our “Exit Interview” series. Today’s exit interview features superstar Kawhi Leonard.

Basic Information

Height: 6’7″
Weight: 225 lbs
Position: Small Forward
Age: 29
Years in NBA: 9

Key Stats: In 57 regular-season appearances, Leonard played 32.4 minutes per game and averaged 27.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists, 1.8 steals, and 2.6 turnovers while shooting 47% from the field and 37.8% from deep.

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

Contract Status: Leonard has a guaranteed contract for $34,379,100 next season, with a player option for $36 million in 2021-22. He is expected to opt out next summer, when he will be eligible for the larger 35% maximum salary as a player with 10 or more years of experience. Because Leonard will have only been with the Clippers for two seasons, they will have his “early bird” rights instead of full bird rights, meaning that while they are the only team that can offer him 8% raises, they cannot offer him an additional 5th year on his contract. Depending on how long Leonard plans to play, he could opt for a LeBron James-inspired “1+1” contract next summer that would allow him to enter free agency again in 2022 and sign the full five-year max with the Clippers.

Expectations

More than any individual production benchmarks, there was one clear metric that reigned supreme in the LA Clippers’ pursuit of Kawhi Leonard in free agency last summer: 2x NBA Finals MVP. In 7 healthy NBA seasons (excluding 2017-18, when he played just 9 games for the Spurs) before joining the Clippers, Leonard had made the conference finals five times, the NBA Finals three times, and won the NBA Championship twice, with Leonard voted Finals MVP both times.

A lot of times, when we evaluate players in the NBA, we hedge: “he can be the best player on a team, but he’s really a #2 guy on a playoff team or a #3 guy on title team.” This is the case with Paul George, who would almost certainly be the best player on the majority of NBA rosters but is trying to prove that he can win a title as a #2 in LA. Kawhi Leonard has an incredible rare all-around package of skills that have not only earned him the designation of “best player on a championship team”–but earned him that designation twice, on two different teams. The Clippers’ expectation in going all-in to land Leonard was clear: a belief that the feat could be repeated yet again.

With that expectation of postseason glory came some regular season concessions, most notably the now-infamous “load management.” Leonard, who deals with a recurring–and sometimes referred to as degenerative–quadricep injury, has noted that taking care of his body is his biggest priority. It’s crucial not only for team success (“My health is no. 1 and that’s gonna make us a better team”) but also for his life after basketball: “I just want to be able to walk strong when I’m done playing this game. My son motivates me to keep playing. Once he gets to the age to play basketball, I want to be able to play with him still.”

• Clippers vs Celtics Preview: Keeping the Good Vibes Going
• Clippers vs Mavericks Preview: Battle of the Miseries
• Clippers vs Nuggets Preview: Playoffs Rematch
• Clippers vs Hawks Preview: Stopping the Bleeding
• Clippers vs Suns Preview: Let’s Try That Again

Reality

There isn’t much to say other than that the Clippers’ failures are Leonard’s failures, regardless of his individual production. His playoff numbers–39.3 minutes, 28.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game–were individually beyond reproach, but being a “best player on a championship team” guy means that your individual statistical profile isn’t enough. You have to make your team better by lifting them in the biggest moments.

Leonard had just 14 points on 6-22 shooting in the team’s game 7 elimination at the hands of the Denver Nuggets. When they blew a big lead in game 6, he managed just 11 points on 3-10 shooting. Those moments have to be weighed against his his successes–he broke 30 points 7 times in the team’s 13 games (and had 2 additional 29-point games) and lifted the team to many of their playoff wins. But he also failed to shoot 30% from the field in two of the team’s four losses to Denver after having just one such night during his entire 2019 title run in an inconsequential first-round game against the Orlando Magic. In fact, Leonard has only shot under 30% from the field in eight playoff games over the course of his career (in 124 total outings), and three of those came during his rookie season in San Antonio. This year was the first time it’s happened twice in a playoff run in his career since then.

It would, of course, be absurd to suggest that Leonard is solely at fault for the Clippers’ elimination. Paul George had his own struggles. Patrick Beverley couldn’t stay on the court due to foul trouble. Lou Williams and Landry Shamet couldn’t hit a shot in the second round. Marcus Morris lost his match-up with Paul Millsap. Montrezl Harrell brought awfulness that tanked the team on both ends whenever he played–and Doc Rivers continued playing him anyway. This wasn’t a case where the stars aligned for the Clippers’ supporting cast and Leonard came up short. It would be a lot more accurate to describe it as a perfect storm of struggles that Leonard couldn’t quite bail them out of.

But that’s the standard that Leonard is held to when he’s won two Finals MVPs and a franchise builds their entire organization around him, including trading virtually every asset in the war chest to bring Paul George on board at Leonard’s behest. That “best player on a championship team” label means the Clippers simply need more from Kawhi next season just as they most certainly need more from their coaching staff and supporting cast. That doesn’t mean sacrificing Leonard’s crucial load management regimen, but it means more leadership on a nightly basis, and ultimately it will have to mean stronger performances in the biggest moments if the Clippers are to realize their championship aspirations.

Future with Clippers

I don’t think either the Clippers or Leonard are inclined to overreact to some mutual disappointment–but even if they were, a divorce wouldn’t be easy. The two are far more entangled than Leonard was with the Raptors last season.

The Clippers, for their part, already made the call a year ago to go all-in on Kawhi. You don’t fold when all of your chips are already in the middle of the table. But depending on their read on Leonard, they have to balance building the best possible roster around him for next season with a medium-term approach covering the next 3-5 years.

Kawhi has a player option next summer which he’ll almost certainly exercise, putting him into free agency. Whether or not he’ll actually take meetings and consider leaving the Clippers remains to be seen, but the Clippers have several advantages. The largest is location: Leonard signed with the team in the first place largely because he wanted to live at home in Southern California surrounded by his family and friends. The Clippers also have a money advantage–while they won’t have Leonard’s full bird rights to offer him an extra fifth year on his contract, they can give him 8% raises compared to 5% from other teams. And, if Kawhi wants to play into his mid-30s, his most lucrative path by far would be signing a one-year deal with the Clippers next summer and then getting that five-year maximum deal when the team has his his full bird rights in 2022.

It would also be fascinating to see how a market shapes up for Leonard next summer. As long as he and Paul George are together, the Clippers will be in the conversation to contend for an NBA title. As far as competitive rosters go, the Los Angeles Lakers would have to part with LeBron James to make a Leonard addition feasible. The Toronto Raptors would have to miss out on Giannis Antetokounmpo. Either move would have a significant negative impact on his legacy after he chose the Clippers over those two teams in 2019 free agency. And if the Clippers flare out in the playoffs again, teams will start to have serious questions about Leonard’s load management, long-term health, and ability to replicate his 2014 and 2019 Finals MVP runs.

There are too many variables to have more than a hunch about Leonard’s future beyond the 2020-21 NBA season–and that makes it all the more crucial for both team and player to make the most of their chances in the upcoming campaign. Succeeding together is the best-case scenario for both parties.

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Clippers 2020 Exit Interview: Kawhi Leonard
Lucas Hann