Following another disappointing first-round exit from the 2017 playoffs, the Clippers entered the offseason in a difficult spot. The Chris Paul-led squad of the last six years had never made it beyond the Western Conference Semifinals, and while injuries to key players at inopportune times created some tantalizing what-ifs in previous seasons, the 2016/17 Clippers didn’t look like a team on the verge of a breakthrough.
In a somewhat fortunate turn of events, Paul ultimately made the decision simpler for the Clippers, deciding that he wanted a change of scenery. Instead of signing with the Rockets as a free agent though, Paul gave the Clips a heads-up on his intentions, allowing the team to work out a trade with Houston. That deal helped the Clippers add depth, gave the club a first-round pick to dangle in a subsequent trade, and created the cap flexibility necessary to lock up Griffin to a long-term contract while potentially avoiding the tax.
Of course, losing an All-NBA caliber guard is never ideal, but the Clippers were in need of a shake-up, and the team did an admirable job revamping the roster in the wake of CP3’s departure.
Key offseason losses:
Injuries limited Paul to 61 games in 2016/17, meaning he was left off the West’s All-Star roster for the first time since 2006/07. Still, the 32-year-old remained one of the league’s most productive point guards, averaging 18.1 PPG, 9.2 APG, and 5.0 RPG while shooting .476/.411/.892 and playing solid defense. Moving on from Paul will allow the Clippers to adjust and speed up their style of play, and there will likely be players on the roster who don’t miss the veteran’s occasionally abrasive approach to leadership. But his contributions on both ends of the floor will be missed.
The Clippers will also find it challenging to replace the outside shooting the team lost by letting Redick sign elsewhere in free agency. Tthere’s no shortage of effective three-point shooters in the NBA these days, but few are more deadly than Redick, who has shot 44.6% from beyond the arc and made 2.6 threes per game over the last three seasons.
While Paul and Redick were the Clippers’ most notable offseason losses, there was a ton of turnover on the roster, with eight more players who finished last season with the club no longer on the roster. Some of those players won’t be missed much — Diamond Stone, Paul Pierce, and Alan Anderson, for instance, didn’t play many minutes for L.A. in 2016/17.
The team’s list of departing players includes several more rotation players though, including starting small forward Luc Mbah a Moute. Perennial Sixth Man of the Year candidate Jamal Crawford is no longer in the mix either, meaning the team lost its top defensive specialist on the wing in Mbah a Moute and its top bench scorer in Crawford.
The frontcourt rotation underwent some changes, with Brandon Bass and Marreese Speights landing elsewhere. And finally, backup point guard Raymond Felton left L.A. as a free agent, leaving the Clips to entirely rework their point guard rotation to fill the holes left by Paul and Felton.
Key offseason additions:
The Paul trade with the Rockets allowed the Clippers to stockpile several useful players, led by veteran guards Patrick Beverley and Lou Williams. The latter should be a capable replacement for Crawford as a sixth man off the bench, while the former can match – or top – Paul’s tenacity on the defensive end of the floor.
Of course, Beverley’s offensive game leaves something to be desired, but the Clippers added a playmaking veteran at the position by signing Euroleague star Milos Teodosic, who has already made a strong first impression on Clippers fans with his passing ability. Teodosic’s defense leaves something to be desired and his transition to the NBA may not be seamless, but his ability to set up teammates should pay major dividends in Los Angeles this season.
The CP3 deal also netted the Clippers a first-round pick which the team flipped to Atlanta in a three-team, sign-and-trade deal for Danilo Gallinari. The best way to use Gallinari is probably as a stretch four, so I’m somewhat skeptical about how he’ll fit on the floor next to Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. But if Doc Rivers can figure out the best way to juggle his lineups, Gallinari represents an intriguing addition to the roster. He was somewhat overlooked in Denver, but the Italian sharpshooter averaged 18.8 PPG for the Nuggets over the last two years and will help balance the Clippers’ offensive attack.
In addition to their bigger-name acquisitions, the Clippers picked up an interesting pair of young forwards – Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell – in the CP3 trade, and signing Willie Reed for the veteran’s minimum was a nice way to add depth behind Jordan at the five.
I was also impressed with the Clippers’ willingness to spend some cash to buy a couple second-round picks in June, adding Jawun Evans and Sindarius Thornwell in the draft. How much Evans and Thornwell will contribute in 2017/18 and beyond remains to be seen, but Rivers had been somewhat reluctant in recent years to invest heavily in young players, preferring to fill out his bench with aging veterans. The fact that the Clips – armed with a new G League affiliate – are open to the idea of developing young players bodes well for the club’s long-term outlook.
Outlook for 2017/18:
There are plenty of reasons to be down on the Clippers heading into 2017/18. Losing Paul almost certainly reduces the team’s upside, and many of the key contributors – including Griffin and Gallinari – have worrisome injury histories. Given the strides made by many of their conference rivals, the Clippers could fall out of the top eight in the West this season and it wouldn’t come as a total shock.
Nonetheless, given the way the Clippers’ 2016/17 season ended, it’s hard to fault the team for taking this approach. It didn’t make sense for the franchise to make a huge monetary commitment to a nucleus that had failed to make a deep playoff run, but the club also wasn’t well positioned to embark on a full-fledged rebuild.
By re-signing Griffin, receiving a surprisingly solid haul for Paul, and foraying into free agency for some useful veterans, the Clippers didn’t exactly build a title contender, but this is their deepest roster in years, and it will be fascinating to see how the new pieces fit together.
Salary information from Basketball Insiders used in the creation of this post. Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
