The Clippers have their first three-day game break since basically the start of the season, so it’s a good time to take stock on how their 2023 season has gone so far with a little look at the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.
The Good
Kawhi’s Health: Contrary to what Brian Windhorst of ESPN said a few days ago, I think Kawhi has *looked* healthy this season. He hasn’t always played well, but his movement and athleticism are pretty good for a 31-year-old returning from a major knee injury after not playing competitive basketball for 18 months. Even better, he’s played more and looked more like himself as the season has come along, with by far his two best games coming in short succession against the Celtics last week and Wizards on Sunday. His defense in particular is not to the level of “old Kawhi”, but he’s still been a positive on that end, and his mere presence has boosted the Clippers on offense to a remarkable degree. If he can remain healthy over the last 50 games and appear in at least 35 of those (40 would be ideal), he should hopefully look somewhat close to the Kawhi of 2021 by the playoffs. His midrange game remains very good, his passing is sharp, and his defense and rebounding remain clear positives. And that’s not counting his three-ball, which is sure to improve. I’m worried about his availability, but not about how he’s looked on the court.
Western Conference Standings: The Clippers have an 18-14 record and sit in 7th in the Western Conference. On the face of it, that doesn’t sound great. However, they’re a mere 2.5 games back from the top seed in the Conference, and one game back from the 3 seed. They’re well positioned in the standings to make a run, especially with Kawhi finally (hopefully) healthy. Even better, the West seems wide open – the Nuggets’ defense is awful, the Warriors are under .500 with Steph out for several weeks, and the Suns have struggled after a hot start. The Pelicans and Grizzlies are very talented and playing great basketball, but aren’t nearly on the level of the Celtics or Bucks in the East. If the Clippers can get their act together as the season goes o, they can get homecourt advantage in the 2023 playoffs and make a deep run.
Most Role Players: Outside of some of the guards (Reggie Jackson and Norm Powell were particularly awful to start the year), the 2023 Clippers’ non-stars have played well this season. Ivica Zubac has been a monster defensively, Terance has provided his usual jolt of energy, rebounding, defense, and rim scoring, Luke Kennard has been lights out shooting the ball, Marcus Morris has shot the ball well, and Nic Batum has been simply majestic on both sides of the court. The Clippers have gotten the contributions from their non-ball handlers and stars, and most of those guys outside of Luke have also had pretty good availability. Now if only the lead scorers and stars could get healthy, the Clippers might really be in business.
The Bad
Lack of RoCo: There was no way Robert Covington was going to sustain his shooting from his stint on the Clippers after the trade deadline last year, but everything else about his fit as a small-ball forward and center looked ideal. The Clippers re-signed him to a 2 year, $23M deal this summer, seemingly signaling his importance as a rotation player. Instead, he’s barely played, appearing in only 19 games (he was out for a bit with COVID), getting a bunch of DNP-CDs, and playing in garbage time or only for short stints in awkward combinations for many others. To be blunt, he’s barely been given a chance, and for a guy who has been a solid NBA starter for over half a decade and doesn’t look “washed”, that’s just odd. Playing Moses Brown (more on him later), Brandon Boston Jr., and Amir Coffey over him is questionable, as is going with extended 9-man rotations for an older team. I’m not sure what the Clippers’ plan is with him, but it’s a waste to have him rotting on the bench, regardless of how he’s taking it (with the utmost professionalism, it seems). Free RoCo.
John Wall in Halfcourt: Wall has had some nice games for the Clippers this season and remains an absolute force of nature in the fastbreak even in 2023. His ability to speed the game up and create open looks for shooters in transition is still one of the best in the NBA and has aided the Clips this season. Unfortunately, when the game slows down, Wall’s usefulness plummets. His inability to shoot (27.1% on threes on 3.4 attempts per game) and opposing team’s lack of respect for him as a shooter clogs up the offense. He also tends towards ball dominance, which takes away from the Clippers’ movement, and makes him an awkward fit with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. While Wall does force turnovers, he mostly does this by gambling on defense; overall, his defense hasn’t been awful this season, but has definitely been in the realm of “bad”. In short, while he’s looked healthy and is still an NBA player, I’m just not sure he should be in the team’s healthy rotation. When Norm Powell returns, the Clippers would have to play Wall, Norm, Luke, and Terance off the bench, which is a lot of guards, and to me, the odd man out there is Wall. There’s still time for him to acclimate and fit, but it’s been more down than up.
The Ugly
Injuries/Lack of Cohesion: The only Clipper to play every game this season is Nic Batum, the oldest player on the roster. The only other Clipper to miss just a single game is Terance Mann. Key Clippers including Kawhi Leonard, Norm Powell, Luke Kennard, and Paul George have all missed at least 10 games so far – 33% of the season to date. Those injuries have not only sapped talent on a game-to-game basis, but also resulted in a distinct lack of on-court cohesion and chemistry as players haven’t had the opportunity to get into rhythms or stable rotations. This has most impacted the Clippers on offense – they rank 28th in the NBA on that end, down with the dregs of the league. The Clippers have been able to stay in the playoff running due to their defense and a soft schedule, but they need to be healthy and really get some cohesion at some point before the playoffs.
Moses Brown: Look, I have nothing against Brown personally, like I have for several other of my least favorite Clippers over the past few years (Rondo, Bradley, Cousins). He seems like a nice guy, and I want him to do well. But he’s bad. Very, very bad. His only attribute as a basketball player is size, and he can’t leverage it effectively on either end due to a lack of strength defensively and complete absence of skill or fundamentals on offense. The drop defense he plays in is so deep that he cedes the entire lane to offensive players, allowing easy shots from midrange and at the rim. On offense, the only value is offensive rebounding (not even that great at it) and wide-open dunks around the rim. There’s no real reason he should be playing rotation minutes at all, and honestly, no reason for him to be taking up a roster spot. I wish him the best, but it is brutal to watch him play basketball.
