Breaking Down How Each LA Clippers' Backcourt Pairing Will Work

The Los Angeles Clippers added two new players to their backcourt, J.J. Redick and Darren Collison. Gone are Chauncey Billups and Eric Bledsoe, but the rotation seems much clearer and potent. There are plenty of new backcourt combinations for Doc Rivers to employ, but which ones will work and how effective will they be?

For as well as Bledsoe played, he was playing out of position anytime he was on the floor with Chris Paul. Meanwhile, Chauncey Billups never could stay healthy. What the team lacked, outside shooting, J.J. Redick provides.

The easiest way to break down the pairing is to split Darren Collison and Chris Paul up and rotate each with Jamal Crawford, J.J. Redick and Willie Green. It is doubtful Collison and Paul will see much time together on the floor, considering how strong the shooting guard position is.

With Chris Paul

There should be no doubt that any player on the floor with Chris Paul, especially with the ball in Paul’s hands, is in a much better situation. Paul’s ability to create and hit his follow perimeter players with pocket passes is astonishing.

The problem in Los Angeles has been the Clippers’ inability to make the shots Paul creates from the perimeter. According to hoopdata, Paul recorded back-to-back career-low assists numbers leading to shots from 16-23 feet. His final year as a New Orleans Hornet, Paul assisted on a career-high 3.0 assists from 16-23 feet. The previous two seasons in Los Angeles that number dropped to 1.9 and 1.6.

One of the reasons for that is because the Clippers had little weak-side action under Vinny Del Negro. This is something J.J. Redick should immediately fix, because he excels at running off screens. Expect to see Redick curling off DeAndre Jordan screens to manipulate the defense’s attention and force them to play Paul straight up instead of overloading the floor.

Jamal Crawford’s impact with Paul on the floor is already known. He allows Paul to play more off the ball, because Crawford is at his best when he is attacking off the dribble. His usage rate was 2.2 points over his career-average of 23.8 percent last season, many of those minutes coming in crunch-time next to Paul.

Crawford adds another dimension that the Clippers offense took advantage of. When Paul swings the ball back to the weak side of the floor, Crawford can either hit the corner three or shot-fake and drive.

Finally, there is Willie Green. Green was at his best last season as a spot up shooter. Although less active than Redick, Green filled that corner shooter role that teams like the San Antonio Spurs have made famous.

He might not be a focal point of the defense’s attention, but teams cannot leave him wide open in the corner, for fear of him knocking down shots. Green shot a stellar 42.8 percent from downtown last season and should see the same type of open shots this season.

With Darren Collison

Collison signed with the Dallas Mavericks last season to prove that he is still fully capable of handling the duties of a spot-starting point guard. He hit nearly all of his career averages and was a solid contributor for the Mavericks.

However, he has yet to show he can run a team full-time. His per-36 minute numbers are solid, but Collison is far more valuable as a key reserve. It just so happens the Clippers were in the market for a dynamic backup point guard to replace Eric Bledsoe.

While he is returning to his once familiar role as Chris Paul’s reserve, expect to see plenty of Collison this season. He may not provide the electric defense that Bledsoe did, but he can certainly play solid defense.

According to 82games, Collison held opposing point guards to a PER of 15.7, right around the league average. How Doc Rivers uses Collison on defense will be interesting. Last season Del Negro allowed the Clippers’ reserves to trap and speed up the game, thus forcing turnovers that led to transition baskets.

Rivers may not give the reserves that much freedom, but Collison will lead an exciting second-unit that thrives playing fast. The key will be for Collison to defend well, limit turnovers and hit the open three. The most difficult part for Collison will be playing off the ball, because Crawford has proven he can do either effectively.

While Jamal Crawford saw less of the ball when playing next to Paul, he will likely share the ball-handling duties with Collison. Crawford was one of the best reserves in the league last year, because Del Negro allowed him to take full control over the second-unit as the primary shot creator.

Next, there will be scenarios where Collison and Redick are on the floor together. Much like with Jamal Crawford, Collison will likely share the ball with Redick, who proved he was efficient at initiating and running an offense with the Orlando Magic.

Redick’s assist percentage jumped from 16.2 to 22.7 last season. Furthermore, his usage percentage jumped 2.3 points, to the second-highest mark of his career, 21.5. Redick was relied upon to attack off pick-and-rolls, something he will likely be asked to do again when playing with Collison and even with Paul.

As far as Willie Green goes, it remains to be seen how many minutes he will actually play with Collison. Green was mainly a floor-spacing starter under Del Negro last season. He started each half but rarely played much after that.

Green could be used to help space the floor so Collison can attack, presumably while Blake Griffin stays on the floor to close out the second and third quarters. Other than that, Green is going to find minutes hard to come by unless there are injuries.

Overall, there will likely be very few times that Chris Paul and Darren Collison are on the floor together. Defensively, they may be solid one-on-one defenders, but neither is capable of defending shooting guards.

Mainly, the two will sub for each other, because that allows Doc Rivers to play to the strength of his shooting guards. Paul is able to initiate and create, while Collison is fully capable of surrendering the ball in order to give defenses a new look.

Finally, this may be the most versatile Clippers backcourt in years. Perhaps not defensively, but offensively they are extremely potent. From shot creation, three-point shooting and running pick-and-rolls the Clippers’ backcourt can do it all. The only question left is whether or not the pairings work as well on the floor as they look on paper.