The newcomers (Plumlee, EJ and Bones)

[KL2]

As The Athletic reported Thursday, LA received permission to speak to Russell Westbrook and talks have started among franchise officials. In that meeting, the two parties communicated what Westbrook’s role could be. Westbrook is set to meet with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard in the near future as he continues to mull over his options prior to the March 1 playoff eligibility waiver deadline. George already took the extra step prior to the Clippers meeting with Westbrook to publicly vouch for his former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate. – via Law Murray @ The Athletic

[nickhx2]

As The Athletic reported Thursday, LA received permission to speak to Russell Westbrook and talks have started among franchise officials. In that meeting, the two parties communicated what Westbrook’s role could be. Westbrook is set to meet with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard in the near future as he continues to mull over his options prior to the March 1 playoff eligibility waiver deadline. George already took the extra step prior to the Clippers meeting with Westbrook to publicly vouch for his former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate. – via Law Murray @ The Athletic

i assume they're gonna hang out at the ASG (if kawhi goes, anyway, not sure why he would), but if not, they'll just hang out in LA.

[Scoundreldays]

IF we get Russ his role should be in the second unit. Ideally him and Bones should be competing for the backup spot (realistically I know that will not happen). If he starts I think it will be a downgrade since neither he or Zu can shoot. Worse even we have Morris starting still our overall defense will be downgraded.

[madmaxmedia]

EJ is such a clear upgrade over Luke, and obviously Plumlee is night and day better than Moses Brown/nobody/small ball/smoke and mirrors.

Bones is not an upgrade over Reggie, but so far has shown the potential to be our backup point guard now, and adds his own wrinkles- speed, 3 point shooting, and of course hopefully improvement down the road.

Speaking of Brown, seems like his two way time here is done...wonder if we will give Xavier the two way slot now?

Bones was more of a future move, so he should get an INC for the time being, unless he surprises in either a good or bad way.

I still can't believe Ty had him out there in the 4th quarter. Looks like all jobs are on the table.

I think Bones has been pretty good so far, so Ty is giving him some rope to see how far he can be relied on. Bones played around 16 MPG playoffs last year for Denver and this is definitely a position of need for us, so seems like a great call.

[playaloc916]

EJ has been a really pleasant surprise. He's still got a lot left in the tank. His shot selection hasn't been that great so far, but it's not like he's looking to chuck the minute he gets in. His defense looked quite good, and he had 7 assists so he's doing a little bit of everything. I read on the general board someone say EJ is a downgrade from Kennard, with worse shooting and defense! Worse shooting I agree, but what's the point if you hesitate to shoot? And worse defense?? WTF!?

Things are getting really interesting now. With the addition of all this new blood, it's like the team has hit the restart button on a lagging computer. Other than Norm, things were just stale on bench offense. Now the team has EJ and Hyland causing a little chaos (the good kind, lol). Plumlee is doing everything the team needs as well. I feel bad for the Brewmaster... He's probably not going to play much the rest of the season.

[skywalker33]

Can't wait to see Bones' reaction to his reduced minutes when Westbrook signs, it should be explosive

[PeteyPablo]

Hyland plays with a lot of energy. He has range but is not strong enough to play tough defense.

Last game vs Suns he was getting abused in the paint and also vs Warriors.

Westbrook seems like the clear favorite to take minutes off the bench.

Would Batum get less minutes and would Ty Lue try a bench lineup of

Westbrook
Powell
Hyland
Plumlee
Gordon

That is a 4 guard lineup


If we do not get Westbrook , then Hyland keeps his minutes.


Otherwise switch Batum for Hyland in that lineup above

[The High Cyde]

RoCo might need to take minutes from Batum, if he ever gets out the doghouse.

[nickhx2]

yeah, batum has been dogging it for a while now. his age might be showing, unfortunately. which of course sucks because i felt like he was the 3rd best player on the team for more than a few games, early on.

i do, however, think he might just be taking it a bit easier until the playoffs start. this kinda happened at the end of last season where he was looking kinda bad and then all of a sudden he was looking like a hero. sure hope it's that, more than anything else.

[Ballings7]

yeah, batum has been dogging it for a while now. his age might be showing, unfortunately. which of course sucks because i felt like he was the 3rd best player on the team for more than a few games, early on.

i do, however, think he might just be taking it a bit easier until the playoffs start. this kinda happened at the end of last season where he was looking kinda bad and then all of a sudden he was looking like a hero. sure hope it's that, more than anything else.

I think he's been coasting some.. he did have that big game at the Knicks in early February.

[ERClips]

Totally digging what Plumlee has brought in the small sample of games. This guy does the dirty work!

[esqtvd]

Totally digging what Plumlee has brought in the small sample of games. This guy does the dirty work!

With no real backup, Zu has been carrying such a tremendous load this year while pacing himself for 30 minutes and watching his fouls. His efficiency stats have declined heavily--his plus/minus has been teetering around 0.0. Now he can be like Kurt Rambis or Mark Landsberger--go as hard as you can as long as you can.

22-24 minutes has always been Zu's sweet spot. Plumlee and/or the small lineup can handle the other half. I hated trading Reggie but we needed a backup center way more than a backup point guard. Mann, Gordon and Hyland can fake point guard. Morris and Batum not so good at faking the 5.

And now of course there's that Westbrook fellow at the 1...

[madmaxmedia]

Now he can be like Kurt Rambis or Mark Landsberger--go as hard as you can as long as you can.

I think that’s the key for a lot of our guys, and how our buyout guys have turned around their careers. It should be the key to maximizing Marcus and Russell, but we’ll see…

[madmaxmedia]

Here’s an interesting article and interview with Bones, he does seem to show some self-awareness of his time in Denver:

https://www.denverpost.com/2023/02/17/los-angeles-clippers-bones-hyland-trade/

“Yeah, I feel like it could’ve been done better on both ends,” he said. “Just more communication. I’ve got so much love for Denver, but I just feel like the communication was just so low. I had a lot of mixed emotions, and we didn’t come together and just make it better.”
…
“Me and MPJ had a long talk on the plane,” Hyland said. “A long talk. ‘Man, I wish we could make it better, I want you here,’ and stuff like that. I feel like a lot of the players, they can vouch for me. You can ask them how they feel about me and stuff like that. My character speaks for itself. It just goes a long way. A lot of teammates want me there, something I feel like it was the wrong timing.”

Hyland said DeAndre Jordan was there for him, too.

Much was made of his relationship with Jamal Murray, though Hyland said any tension was largely made up. The Denver Post reported friction between Murray and Hyland’s playing styles, which was part of the reason for the trade in the first place.
“Mally hit me (after the trade),” Hyland said. “He sent me a long message, man. … It felt like wrong timing. He sent me a long, thoughtful message and a heartfelt message, man. That’s really my guy, for sure. It’s one of (things) where those are like my brothers over there. You move on. You got to go on with your career, but at the same time, there’s so much love for them.”
Hyland said a lot of the outside noise wasn’t a genuine reflection of what was really happening.

[madmaxmedia]

One last thing to add about Bones. Even if adding Russ reduces his minutes this season, I’m sure he’s well aware that unlike Denver we have no permanent point guard going forward and that the starting position is up for grabs next season.

[Clemenza]

One last thing to add about Bones. Even if adding Russ reduces his minutes this season, I’m sure he’s well aware that unlike Denver we have no permanent point guard going forward and that the starting position is up for grabs next season.

Murray was out for the year and Bones as a rook got some minutes to shine. Then Murray finally came back and I believe Bones looked and played better than him -at least in practice and whatnot- but Murray is Denver's guy and Bones got pushed to the back burner even when Murray didn't look like the old bubble Murray. Bones should've handled it better tho. Hopefully he's patient. I feel that him and Boston will get a chance for consistent minutes on the team next season

[clipperlover]

Totally digging what Plumlee has brought in the small sample of games. This guy does the dirty work!

With no real backup, Zu has been carrying such a tremendous load this year while pacing himself for 30 minutes and watching his fouls. His efficiency stats have declined heavily--his plus/minus has been teetering around 0.0. Now he can be like Kurt Rambis or Mark Landsberger--go as hard as you can as long as you can.

22-24 minutes has always been Zu's sweet spot. Plumlee and/or the small lineup can handle the other half. I hated trading Reggie but we needed a backup center way more than a backup point guard. Mann, Gordon and Hyland can fake point guard. Morris and Batum not so good at faking the 5.

And now of course there's that Westbrook fellow at the 1...

Plumlee and Zu are going to benefit greatly from Westbrook's presence.

Watch on YouTube

[madmaxmedia]

One last thing to add about Bones. Even if adding Russ reduces his minutes this season, I’m sure he’s well aware that unlike Denver we have no permanent point guard going forward and that the starting position is up for grabs next season.

Murray was out for the year and Bones as a rook got some minutes to shine. Then Murray finally came back and I believe Bones looked and played better than him -at least in practice and whatnot- but Murray is Denver's guy and Bones got pushed to the back burner even when Murray didn't look like the old bubble Murray. Bones should've handled it better tho. Hopefully he's patient. I feel that him and Boston will get a chance for consistent minutes on the team next season

My Clipper dream is for both Bones and BBJ to become decent starter level players for us. They are both young and fun to watch, and would help transition us to whatever comes after PG and Kawhi.

If they could fulfill some or most of their potential, I'd be more open to a big trade next year involving our next 2 1sts.

[clipsfever]

FYI - we released Moses Brown over the break and have given his 2-way deal to a SG on the Ontario Clips roster named Keaton Wallace

Watch on YouTube

maybe he'll hit a meaningful 3 for us if we have injuries and need him to play, and I guess it gives us options to hold him in place in the offseason?

[KL2]

I wouldn’t read anything into it just yet. The day before they signed Nate Darling to a 2-way only to cut him and sign Wallace immediately after.

Maybe has to do with keeping their rights? I have no idea.