Trilly Grades Your Prebuild: Los Angeles Clippers
Welcome back,
We are now onto our PREbuild series and today we’ll be taking a look at the Clippers. You can find past entries here but I’ll warn you now, there’s only fifteen: Heat, Kings, Lakers, Cavs, Wizards, Pelicans, Suns, Wolves, Mavs, Hawks, Magic, Hornets, Knicks, Bulls, and Grizzlies.
I’ll take a look at three things they did well, three things they failed at and three things they could do this summer to improve. I’ll issue one of two grades based on my findings: Oh hell yeah (good) or Oh no (bad). This is the internet, things are classic or trash with no in between. You wouldn’t expect nuance on Twitter so please do not expect it here. Thank you.
Los Angeles Clippers (48-34, 8th place Western Conference)
Good Things
1. I think this is the best situation in basketball…
…from a star free agent’s perspective. They have veteran talent locked up (Danilo Gallinari, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell combined will make less than John Wall next season), young talent (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Landry Shamet, Jerome Robinson), cap space (over $60 million in contracts expiring) and draft capital (this year’s pick goes to Boston but they have Philly’s 2020 first rounder and Miami’s 2021 first rounder).
2. Great front office
When Doc Rivers is allowed to coach and only coach, he turns in one of his best seasons. Owner Steve Ballmer is horny for winning and he’s horny for winning now so he’s ready to spend. I’m not sure who the GM is between Michael Winger, Lawrence Frank or Jerry West but they’ve assembled a hell of a roster. They should be able to get free agent meetings and not embarrass themselves in them at the very least.
They stole Ivica Zubac from crosstown. They picked up Rodney McGruder for nothing after the Heat had to waive him to get under the luxury tax. Those two are no great shakes but they’re rotation NBA players and LA got them for nothing. Avery Bradley was shooting 38% from the field when they traded him to Memphis for JaMychal Green and Garrett Temple. Green started multiple playoff games for LA this season and the Kings/Grizzlies have both spoken about Temple and the leadership role he takes in locker rooms. None of these are home run moves, but enough singles and you’re still in good shape.
3. Offensive identity
The Clippers ranked #9 in offensive rating and they did it with two bench players leading them in shots, two rookies and MARCIN GORTAT starting a majority of their games. The Clippers could strike out on every free agent, hand over their first-round pick to Boston and still field a playoff caliber team next season because they already have an offensive identity that works.
Bad Things
1. Roster turnover
They’ve done well with a number of moving parts on the roster which is good because they have a lot of FAs. The core guys are under contract next year but Green, Temple, Wilson Chandler, and Patrick Beverly are all UFAs. Zubac/McGruder hit RFA this summer and Harrell is going into the last year of his deal. Piece for piece, I don’t think they’ll have any issues replacing the FAs but it does feel like a lot of this team’s identity was being the players that nobody else wanted. Maybe this was the start of a new era, or maybe it was a bunch of guys close to free agency willing to put their egos aside until they got paid. We’ll see.
2. Still the Clippers
I say that not in the sense that their futility in 1998 will keep them from prospering going forward. But I’m not sure if impending free agents know about them stealing McGruder off the trash heap. Or care that they have that 2021 unprotected Miami pick in their back pocket. Or are willing to be patient to see if Jerome Robinson was the correct pick if Michael Porter Jr starts lighting it up in Denver next season. Maybe they shouldn’t know or know and dont care, idk. But it seems like it takes years of success before places that weren’t known as free agency hotspots (Boston, OKC for PG re-signing and also the fucking Golden State Warriors) start getting meetings with the elite guys. We’ve heard that they have Kawhi in the bag but we heard that about the Lakers/Paul George so I’m hesitant to say they can get meetings with and close deals with superstar FAs.
3. Defensive identity
As scrappy as they are and as good as Pat Bev was as the head of your defense, the Clippers defense as a team wasn’t very good. They ranked 20th during the regular season and dead in the postseason. Of course, some of that postseason number is because they played the Warriors. But it’s ultimately why they lost to the Warriors. They couldn’t guard Kevin Durant (duh) and they couldn’t protect the rim. For all their strengths, their postseason frontcourt rotation of Zubac/Green/Gallinari/Harrell leaves a lot to be desired defensively.
Trilly’s Summer Prescription
1. Sign Kawhi Leonard
That’s what I’d do.
2. They have enough room for a star, re-signing your own and a rehab player
Say they sign Kawhi Leonard (or Jerry West helps convice Kevin Durant to change teams again) this summer. They’d still have enough room to take a contract/asset on from a team trying to avoid the luxury tax penalty, and also re-sign Pat Bev which feels essential. They have the cap space to absorb a bad contract and they might even turn the bad contract into an asset. The Thunder will be over the luxury tax and may be willing to add a draft pick to get off the last year of Andre Roberson’s contract. Same for Miami or Portland, especially if either wants to make a splash in free agency and needs to clear some cap space ASAP.
Fast forward to Roberson taking those Wilson Chandler minutes and making second-team All-Defense for the Clippers next season or Dion Waiters becoming Lou Will Jr as LA’s eighth man. And them adding an extra first rounder for their troubles.
3. They also have enough room for two stars
The can sign a Kawhi outright, but if he gets word that a Durant/Jimmy Butler/Kyrie Irving/whomstever wanted to join him, the Clippers could open up space relatively quickly by trading one or more of Gallinari and renouncing some of their current FAs. If you have an agreement, you do it of course. But the Clippers could really score by being patient.
Sign Kawhi and play out the season. Gallinari/Harrell’s contracts expire just in time for you to sign…Anthony Davis’ stylist, who then lays out an ensemble that ensures Anthony Davis will sign with the Clippers. Realistically in June 2020, the Clippers could be looking at a team lead by Kawhi/AD, flanked by SGA/Shamet/whatever the hell Jerome Robinson turns out to be still on rookie contracts, and Lou Will. They’d also still have the Philly 2020/Heat 2021 pick as a future asset to help get a third star if need be. They’d have the ability to go over the cap to re-sign their own FA’s (Danilo, Montrezl, Zubac, McGruder) around them. Holy hell, doesn’t that sound a lot more appealing than being the bad cop to LeBron’s good cop as a Laker??? Anthony, can you hear me? Blink once if you can hear me.
Rebuild status: Oh HELL yea