RealGM

Starting PG? Starting C?

I'm trying to figure out which position could be improved the easiest.

1. No superstars - Could also double as a strength, but I'll focus on what superstars are supposed to do. They can be no. 1 scoring options, players who can get past the 29-point threshold on a frequent basis, take over when the game isn't going right, and be the person to take that clutch shot to give you a chance or Sudden Death Shot that can win you a game. Superstars are magnets to acquiring other superstars. They even grant you instant playoff appearances, plus improved odds to winning a championship. Without a superstar, the Clippers look like a lottery team. The only reason Clippers are surprising everyone is because opponents aren't taking them seriously, especially with Jerry West as their good luck charm.

2. Ejections - Get a player thrown out, you automatically lose. Clippers are 0-2 in games this season where a player is ejected. Both Williams and Beverley's ejections are also career firsts. In the Lob City era, post 3-1 collapse, they were 3-6 when a player is thrown out. Strangely enough, the only times the Clippers won from an ejection was when it was DeAndre Jordan; anybody else is an instant defeat.

3. Coaching For The White Flag - Doc Rivers makes substitutions based on feeling, and the person always getting pulled is their rookie Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Ironically, he's their best player and one who needs clutch reps, but Doc is so afraid of losing that he would pull Shai out and try the free throw game with his veterans. Doc might suffer from winning tunnel vision, meaning he wants to win in a specific way; if it doesn't match his vision, he'll sabotage it on purpose to force a loss and make the team see that his way is the only way of winning.

I'm asking which position needs to be upgraded the most.

The center. A Twitter user actually suggested a trade of Marcin Gortat to the Knicks for Courtney Lee and Trey Burke, but doing this would force the Clippers to commit to small ball permanently. Montrezl Harrell is a center in a small forward body; Boban Marjanovic is only summoned whenever the opponent has a traditional big who mans the paint or when Doc needs him to save the Clippers from an inevitable loss (see last year's Nuggets road game).

It's the small forward problem all over again: point guards, shooting guards and power forwards pretending to be a small forward. And it took trading a superstar to finally get a small forward. Trade Gortat, you may as well assign Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to guard both guards and centers. Not an ideal proposition.

I'm going to frame my assessment based on not only what we have right now, but what I anticipate we'll need in the near future after free agency this off-season. The short answer is I think we need the rim protection and rebounding normally provided from the starting center spot in this era of positionless basketball. Such a player would hopefully come in the form of a long, athletic and energetic big man.

Gortat is up there in age and likely gone after this season. Harrell is undersized in terms of length and it remains to be seen if he can maintain his all-out play in extended minutes over the course of a full season. Marjanovic may return on an inexpensive deal but he's still more of a spot contributor than regular role player in the rotation.

The way I see it, we'll also need more shooters as Gallinari will likely not be with the team after next season, if not sooner. I anticipate that we'll sign Kawhi this off-season, so I have the Clippers' composition with him in mind. I think the team can make do with just Kawhi and re-signing Tobias this summer, but down the line we'll likely need that proverbial second star player to seriously contend.

If Durant were to be that player, this would actually fill most of the void for shooters but we'd still have that need for the aforementioned big man, which is probably why the current consensus board opinion has either the Brow or Greek Freak as the preferred partner for Kawhi. I've also mentioned elsewhere how signing Khris Middleton along with retaining Tobias to complement adding Kawhi might be a more appealing option over Durant while we wait for the situations with Davis and Antetokounmpo to develop.

Another area of need could be argued for a more natural playmaking point guard but I think Shai is a suitable player even if he is more of a facilitator than playmaker. Shai's length and versatility would provide many options on both the defensive and offensive ends of the court as he continues to develop. He's already off to a great start and his lack of natural playmaking ability is mitigated by incoming ball-dominant free agent(s).

Jerome's development would also serve us well as he's already got the ability to contribute as a shooter, but whether that will be as a starter or designated shooter remains to be determined as he works on building his confidence and defensive ability. I'd also love to have an athletic starting shooting guard but the priority and biggest need remains a reliably consistent starting center for the foreseeable future.

Head coach.

Shooters. Too many dudes literally can't shoot on this team