Reloaded Los Angeles Clippers Ready to Shake Up the Western Conference
By now, the Los Angeles Clippers' 11th-hour pursuit of incumbent free agent DeAndre Jordan has become the stuff of NBA lore. With team representatives (including officials and several teammates) remaining at Jordan's side on the eve of the free-agency moratorium's conclusion, the news of the All-Star center's return became increasingly clear and unbelievable.
And with it, L.A.'s fate suddenly reversed in grand fashion.
Now the Clippers can safely be classified as contenders once more, this time with added talent and leadership potentially paving the way toward a heretofore elusive title. Measured by regular-season victories alone, it's hard to imagine this club improving significantly after a 56-win season that claimed the crowded Western Conference's No. 3 seed.
But L.A.'s postseason pedigree is another story. That's where the rest of the organization's additions come into focus. Jordan alone maintains the status quo, but the additions of Paul Pierce and Lance Stephenson are potentially game-changing. And lesser acquisitions (Wesley Johnson, Cole Aldrich and—most recently—Josh Smith, according to RealGM's Shams Charania) won't hurt.
The Clippers have retooled economically. The front office has assembled a roster that should be able to compete with the very best of them. In turn, Jordan probably made the wise decision—even if it wasn't his first. L.A.'s new faces will assure him plenty of help.
The Truth
As Yahoo Sports' Eric Freeman put it this month, "While the team impressed in the postseason before an epic collapse against the Houston Rockets in the final three games of the conference semifinals, the Clippers lacked consistent outside shooting and dependable secondary scorers throughout their two playoff series."
Freeman argues that as "one of the most prolific crunch-time shooters in the sport," Pierce could be part of the solution. And he has a good point. Though the 17-year veteran will be 38 in October, he's still a formidable complementary scorer, according to the recent data.
Pierce averaged 11.9 points and 4.0 rebounds in just 26.2 minutes per contest for the Washington Wizards last season, making a very solid 44.7 percent of his field-goal attempts (and 38.9 percent of his attempts from three-point range).
He won't drastically impact games on the defensive end, but nor is he liability. Per Basketball-Reference.com, he's generated 2.3 defensive win shares in each of his last two seasons. That's a modest but respectable mark.
Much of Pierce's continued relevance can be attributed to his game IQ, as one might expect from a veteran with championship experience. His understanding of the sport and often vocal leadership should translate into another advantage for next season's Clippers: an esteemed locker room presence.
Granted, L.A. already had one of the game's most celebrated leaders in point guard Chris Paul. But Pierce's extensive record of playoff participation is a virtue in its own right—something from which Paul himself may be able to draw. At minimum, the Clippers probably aren't worried about having too much of a good thing.
This is the kind of good thing that can have a transformative effect.
"I think that swagger he had about himself and everything he brought to the team helped," former teammate Bradley Beal said, per the Washington Post's Jorge Castillo. "It definitely rubbed off on us, me especially. Having that killer instinct and that belief that you're the best player and you're the best team on the floor at that time."
"So having him was definitely great for us," he continued. "We're going to miss him. We wish he was still here but we got to continue to move forward."
Pierce will supplant small forward Matt Barnes in the starting lineup, as the team replaces a frisky defender with a polished playmaker capable of scoring from virtually anywhere. It's a trade-off, sure, but it should be a net positive for a team that's appeared to be on the verge of something special in recent years. Pierce could put the Clippers over the top.
The Wild Card
Pierce's most pressing challenge may be mentoring Stephenson, a 24-year-old swingman whom L.A. acquired in the deal that sent Barnes packing. The five-year veteran struggled to find his footing last season with the Charlotte Hornets, but a change of scenery could do wonders in that regard. Already, Stephenson appears to be enthusiastic about his latest destination.
"When I got the call, I was like, 'What, are you serious!? I'm going to the Clippers!?'" Stephen told reporters at his introductory press conference last month. "I was very happy. I was very excited."
Stephenson also seemed content with his anticipated role after a conversation with head coach Doc Rivers.
"He just wanted me to play defense and be a good role player and just come in in the best shape I could get and be ready to win," he added.
So far, so good. Stephenson was something of a success story for the Indiana Pacers, particularly in his fourth season with the franchise. Though his antics wore thin on team President Larry Bird, the production (and two-way effort) was there. Stephenson averaged 13.8 points, 7.2 rebounds and 4.6 assists per contest during his 2013-14 campaign with the Pacers.
His minutes and efficiency plummeted with the Hornets, and L.A. can only hope that was an isolated situation. For what it's worth, Hornets coach Steve Clifford seems to be of that belief. Here's the forecast Clifford shared with Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix:
"I think Lance will fit better with the Clippers, I think he's a terrific pick-and-roll player with good size and a good competitor, and there were whatever, I guess, rumors or whatever about him here. He was very good here, very coachable, we asked him to come off the bench because our starting unit wasn't playing well together. Really because of a lack of range shooting. And obviously, he didn't love it, but we never had any issues. He's a good teammate, he's a good guy, and I think he'll play well there.
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Coming from a coach who oversaw the less than ideal fit, that's an encouraging prognosis. It's anything but definitive, but it speaks to concerns about Stephenson's willingness to get with the program (wherever that program might be).
Clifford went on to note that Charlotte's lack of perimeter shooting limited its ability to space the floor, which in turn made it more difficult for Stephenson to find driving lanes to the basket. From and X's and O's standpoint, life with the Clippers (and shooters like J.J. Redick and Jamal Crawford) could remedy that.
The real test won't be how many points or assists Stephenson tallies. It will be whether he can improve upon last's season 37.6 shooting percentage. That mark was 49.1 percent in his final season with the Pacers. If the Clippers can elicit anywhere near that kind of efficiency, count this move a resounding win.
The other barometer for success is harder to measure, but L.A. desperately needs Stephenson to exert the kind of effort that once made him so indispensable.
"We needed to get tougher, and we needed to get more athleticism, and we needed to improve defensively," Rivers told the Beast 980 AM's Fred Roggin (h/t the Los Angeles Times' Ben Bolch). "And Lance has shown he can do that for us."
"He's a tough kid, very competitive kid, and that has gotten him in trouble at times, but the one thing he has shown in major playoff games is that he can be a top-tier defender," Rivers continued.
Much as Pierce will contribute in those playoff scenarios, Stephenson could be the real X-factor.
Sports Illustrated's Rob Mahoney described the acquisition as "the act of a desperate team," and that's a fair assessment. But L.A.'s optimism may well be vindicated soon enough.
The Others
The Clippers' potential title picture is beginning to take shape. Jordan, Paul and superstar power forward Blake Griffin will remain the centerpieces. Redick and Crawford will supply the shooting. Pierce and Stephenson could emerge as all-important missing links.
But there's more. And the other guys should matter too.
Aldrich and Johnson add depth at two areas of need at center and on the wing, respectively. But Smith may well prove the most impactful of the three reserves. The Detroit Pistons waived the 29-year-old forward after 28 games last season, paving the way for Smith to join the Houston Rockets and play an integral role in the team's push to the Western Conference Finals.
The 11-year-veteran upped his shooting percentage from 39.1 percent with the Pistons to 43.8 percent in Houston, proving a fairly reliable (and versatile) addition to a club that battled injuries to big men Terrence Jones and Donatas Motiejunas. So while the Detroit experiment was an unmitigated disaster, Smith at least nominally refurbished his image with the Rockets. As an affordable member of the supporting cast, he's not a bad addition.
Pro Basketball Talk's Kurt Helin described the move's financial logic:
"The Clippers could only sign him for the league minimum (all they had left) but Smith was good with it since the Pistons still will pay him $5.4 million as part of their waiving and stretch of his contract. (What the Clippers will pay him will be offset from the money Detroit owes him.)
At that price, Smith is a steal.
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The hope in L.A. is that Smith can build upon that stint in Houston, letting the game come to him as a role player. He'll likely still be fond of questionable three-point attempts. There is, after all, a reason this guy is chasing rings on minimum contracts before even turning 30. Like with Stephenson, there are serious question marks.
That's not the end of the world. This team had to roll the dice to take another step. Rivers and general manager Dave Wohl didn't have the cap flexibility to import significant talent via free agency nor the young assets to land a proven commodity via the trade market. In that context, Stephenson and Smith make a lot of sense.
And in the best of scenarios, they may also make the difference.
The Clippers proved they could hang with the San Antonio Spurs in last season's first round, and they initially put up a formidable fight against those Rockets in the conference semifinals despite Paul's hamstring injury. There's little doubt they have the scoring ability to compete with anyone out West, perhaps even the reigning champion Golden State Warriors.
This club was already on the brink of doing big things. Now, barring internal drama, it has all the tools it needs on paper. The rest will come down to timing, rhythm, health and a little luck—the usual stuff championships are made of. The Clippers don't have much control over that. But they've given themselves an opportunity, and that's reason enough for a little preseason excitement.
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