Help-Wanted Ad for LA Clippers' Small Forward Position
Different offseason, same story: The Los Angeles Clippers need help at small forward, but they might not be able to find it.
The Clippers haven't really had athleticism at the 3 during the Chris Paul era.
Caron Butler wasn't the energizer he once was during his time in Los Angeles. Grant Hill, even when effective at his rising age, was hardly dunking on guys or swatting shots. Jared Dudley was a slow-footed, meticulous player.
Actually, Matt Barnes, the man who's been in red, blue and white the longest, might be the best athlete the Clips have thrown out there at the 3, but he'll be 35 years old at the start of next season.
Thus is the problem for the Clippers' wings: They can be effective and they can help, but they won't do it in the most skyscraping ways.
Barnes is slowly but surely declining physically, even if he is coming off another constructive season, his 12th in the NBA.
His production was fine in 2014-15. He got better as the year went along—after starting with a dreadful preseason that included a 6-of-44 shooting effort. He shot his best percentage from three-point range (better than 36 percent) since 2006-07. He mostly defended the opposition's best wing scorer. But the physical regression was clear.
He wasn't quite as quick as he was three years ago. Not quite as explosive. Not quite as willing to sky for the random, seemingly out-of-nowhere great Matt Barnes dunk that used to happen once every 10 or 15 games.
The decline is subtle but noticeable.
So when the Clippers look at the open market this offseason, they have to prioritize athleticism and defense. Barnes already appears overmatched, having to go up against the best of the best on the perimeter every night, even if he is still above average at guarding wings. It's just exhausting, having to do it over and over again. Spelling him even for a few minutes a night could do wonders.
Head coach and president of basketball operations Doc Rivers had the right idea in that sense when he brought Jordan Hamilton into town midseason. Hamilton immediately became the Clippers' spryest competitor on the perimeter, but he didn't play much. Actually, Rivers used him for upward of 20 minutes in only one game—Los Angeles' March 2 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves—and he got that much burn only because Barnes didn't play that evening.
Hamilton never got a shot, so Los Angeles still just needs a wing—not a small forward, specifically.
The Clippers could go out and sign Alan Anderson for the mini mid-level exception (about $3.7 million, which will be the exception afforded to them if DeAndre Jordan re-signs with the club). Anderson would make for a logical Rivers priority since he's a reliable veteran who can shoot and play D, but he'll be 33 years old at the start of next season and isn't an athlete of Barnes' caliber.
They could try to convince one of Rivers' favorites, Paul Pierce, to sign for the minimum or the mini MLE, but all Pierce does is add offense to a team that already scored more points per possession than any other NBA squad during each of the past two years. He's not transfusing athleticism or any kind of elite defense into the roster.
They could take fliers on a bunch of different young players, hoping at least one of them pans out.
An Al-Farouq Aminu minimum deal would be splendid. Wesley Johnson on the cheap could make a difference. If they could find a way to swing restricted free agent K.J. McDaniels after the rookie barely saw the floor with the Houston Rockets, they could throw a party so crazy that even J.R. Smith and Nick Young would be in attendance.
This is the caliber of player to which the cash-strapped Clips are limited. But if they're going to find bargain-bin players this offseason, maybe the most important thing they can do is give young talent a chance.
Rivers isn't known for allotting playing time to his young guys, especially not with the Clippers.
Reggie Bullock might as well have not existed until Rivers traded him away a year-and-a-half into his Clippers career. First-round draft pick C.J. Wilcox played a mere total of 101 minutes during his rookie season, though Rivers does claim he's a valued part of Los Angeles' future, according to USA Today's Sam Amick (via ClipperBlog's Fred Katz).
Rivers can make these comments, but at some point, he has to back them up, too. It's not like Wilcox was a one-and-done. He's a 24-year-old, four-year Washington alum who was supposed to be NBA-ready. And still, he received no playing time from the guy who drafted him.
The Clips haven't just failed to sign reinforcements on the fringes of the roster under Rivers. They've also struggled to develop the players already there. Of course, that thesis could easily be disproved in the coming years, considering that development is a long-term process and we've had only two years of Doc on the West Coast.
Still, it's not looking good. And Rivers' aversion to playing the young'uns could be part of the reason why.
This is the predicament in which the Clippers find themselves: without enough cap flexibility to sign a big-time guy and without the patience to bring in someone on the cheap and develop him into a legitimate contributor.
Los Angeles' best chance at fixing its small forward depth might be to take on a Popovichian mentality and prioritize development, even if it costs the team a win or two down the line. It's not that much of a risk, given the talent of the Clippers' core.
The Clips need depth. If finding it is out of the question, they may have to create it.
Follow Fred Katz on Twitter at @FredKatz.
Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are current as of June 9 and are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
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