RealGM

If no other changes occur from now to the start of the season - how does this team stack up against the rest of the West?
I am a long-time Clippers fan but after last season, I have no hope or expectations for this team. The Max players are always out and especially during the Playoffs when it matters most.

We can not count on Kawhi. When he plays he is an amazing basketball player. Paul George seems to always have something happen at the end of the season and he misses Play In games and Playoffs last year.

Projected starting lineup :

Westbrook - Point Guard
George - Shooting Guard
Zubac - Center
Leonard - Small Forward
Morris - Power Forward

Bench :

Hyland
Powell
Mann
Plumlee
Batum

3rd string :

Boston Jr
Covington
Martin Jr
Rookie
Rookie

i think just having a healthy training camp with our re-upped core of kawhi/pg/westbrook (and plumlee/bones) will mean quite a bit.

obviously morris still needs to go, and literally just having him not on the team would do wonders for us.

i'd be confident in our team being 3rd or 4th-ish best in the west: obviously behind denver, and somewhere in the tier of kings and gs. or lakers, depending on if you're a believer in their offseason moves or not (which has been given a lot of positive praise, fwiw).

PeteyPablo wrote:If no other changes occur from now to the start of the season - how does this team stack up against the rest of the West?
I am a long-time Clippers fan but after last season, I have no hope or expectations for this team. The Max players are always out and especially during the Playoffs when it matters most.

We can not count on Kawhi. When he plays he is an amazing basketball player. Paul George seems to always have something happen at the end of the season and he misses Play In games and Playoffs last year.

Projected starting lineup :

Westbrook - Point Guard
George - Shooting Guard
Zubac - Center
Leonard - Small Forward
Morris - Power Forward

Bench :

Hyland
Powell
Mann
Plumlee
Batum

3rd string :

Boston Jr
Covington
Martin Jr
Rookie
Rookie

Gotta move off of Morris insert Covington into the starting lineup. Gotta move off of Batum and move Martin into the backup roll. We have to get more athletic.

Morris + one Batum/RoCo's expiring contract needs to be traded for something. Ideally for Harden, but realistically i'm trying to figure out what overpaid player with a long term deal that a team wants to get off of, but is good enough to help the squad.

John Collins was one such player, maybe Simons from POR if they want to give the keys to Sharp instead.

Vae Victus wrote:Morris + one Batum/RoCo's expiring contract needs to be traded for something. Ideally for Harden, but realistically i'm trying to figure out what overpaid player with a long term deal that a team wants to get off of, but is good enough to help the squad.

John Collins was one such player, maybe Simons from POR if they want to give the keys to Sharp instead.

Yes, Mook has to go. The only way is our garbage for somebody else's. Mook might even help somebody with a change of scenery. Or at least we can hope somebody thinks so. But he's toxic here.

I think Batum has a little left but can't be asked for more than 20 mpg. When given the starting slot when Mook was benched/"injured", he fell apart too. RoCo, who knows? I can't explain why Ty buried him. But the truth is, he didn't show much in the few minutes he did get. Hit a few shots then he'd disappear. Believe it or not, a worse plus/minus than Morris after the ASB.

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/traditional?TeamID=1610612746&dir=A&sort=PLUS_MINUS


Maybe KJ Martin can hold down a placeholder PF starter role. 15-20 mpg? He's only a little taller than Mann [6'6" barefoot vs 6'4 3/4", about the same weight, but more explosive. Slightly better rebounder [9.3 vs 7.8 per 100 possessions].

https://www.thedreamshake.com/2023/1/3/23536057/houston-rockets-kj-martin-jr-makes-his-teammates-job-easier-nba

I don't know anything about him but this article likes him: Runs the break, cuts to the basket, a plus on weakside defense.

https://www.thedreamshake.com/2023/1/3/23536057/houston-rockets-kj-martin-jr-makes-his-teammates-job-easier-nba

He did start 49 games and played a lot of PF his first year. As the roster stands now, he'll be given a chance to grab it, I'm sure. It's better than sending Kawhi out there to bang with 240-pounders. Let the kid do it.

PF/C is my main concern... health of the wings/guards, of course.

Need Morris outta there somehow.

Covington should start based off his 2022 play, have Batum fluctuate and finish as needed. Save Batum for the playoffs.

KJ Martin, I'm intrigued by at forward, but I don't expect him to earn the main big forward spot (PF). He'll be in the rotation all things are normal.

Still not confident in the overall "bigs" group of this team, though..

But ideally, and if Covington was actually made "present" by the coaching staff, I'd feel better. Covington while limited, is the most well-rounded "big" (a bit undersized) with experience on both ends at his expected play, and should be able to earn the starting spot if things go as they should in camp.

If KJ Martin gets it eventually, I think that would be interesting and beneficial in ways from what he brings; but I do not know enough of him on defense against bigger forwards.. so, I don't know, would have to see in that case.

Batum while capable if healthy, shouldn't be the starter and finisher every game. Needs to coast and pick his spots in the regular season, and should come off the bench. A healthy Batum will be maximized in the playoffs.

Prime-level Marcus Morris, I think is gone for good. I really liked him as a player; but the last 1-2 years has changed that.

I would really like to see some more size (PF), agility (PF, C), and skill (PF, C) collectively at some point. I'm perfectly fine upgrading Plumlee or Zubac, both bring enough things on a regular basis; but they're limited against more versatilite, agile front-courts in the West from the upper-level teams, or teams who are ascending clearly. The gap is notable there between this team and the other team's front-courts, where it is probable to be the difference maker in a series.

A surging Moussa Diabate contributing, would solve basically the issues at PF for this team going forward.. hopefully at some point in the next two seasons. : )

But, I do have decent confidence that the combination of health of the bigger wings and lead guards (Russ, Kawhi, PG, Powell), and then some development results infused from 2, naybe 3 of the youngest-range players -- can have enough of an impact there to offset the obvious limitations that are at C and PF.

PF/C, comparison, where other top teams clearly have an advantage coming in -- Denver, Memphis, Sacramento (because of Sabonis, and no one else yet really).. and probably collectively Utah now (Markannen, J. Collins, Kessler year 2).

The Lakers front-court?? Still a potent threat on most nights with AD/LeBron frontcourt, plus a potentially infused Hachimura who looked very solid in the playoffs; but AD/LeBron are continuning to respectively decline, and LeBron/AD are just not what they were individually or together, as in 2020 -- Media doesn't like to delve into that or admit it, but this has been the progression for a bit now.

I think LAC's ownership of the Lakers continues this season, and if healthy, feel confident that Clippers would also replicate that in the playoffs... maybe we'll all finally get that PO matchup this season : )

Phoenix's main front-court is fairly similar to LAC's with the only difference being a higher peak of play for Ayton, but I'm not worried about Ayton over a series or a bigger reg. season game. Durant will be matched at PF as needed, and has begun to slowly decline since 2022 playoffs.

So PF/C is a definite concern, but development results of 1-2 younger players (Moussa??, Kobe Brown??, Boston Jr??), and health of the main wings/guards is pretty critical for that PF/C issue to be controlled, and compensated for.

Chances of Morris starting, let alone being on the team should be pretty low.

Westbrook / Hyland
George / Powell
Leonard / Mann
Martin Jr / Batum / RoCo
Zubac / Plumlee / RoCo

This gives some balance in terms of giving the starters some more athleticism by putting Martin Jr there. The only concern is that he doesn't space the floor well enough in terms of 3PA, and as a team starting Westbrook, you would want as much spacing as possible.

og15 wrote:Chances of Morris starting, let alone being on the team should be pretty low.

Westbrook / Hyland
George / Powell
Leonard / Mann
Martin Jr / Batum / RoCo
Zubac / Plumlee / RoCo

This gives some balance in terms of giving the starters some more athleticism by putting Martin Jr there. The only concern is that he doesn't space the floor well enough in terms of 3PA, and as a team starting Westbrook, you would want as much spacing as possible.

I really wish we could have gotten brook lopez for 25 million. He adds 3 point threat at the 5 and a leader.

I would like to see Mann play the 4 with Boston Jr at the 3 in the backup roll. Play Batum limited minutes throughout the season. Give Batum little spurts. He is effective when hitting the 3 and worthless without it.

Westbrook/Hyland
George/Powell
Leonard/Boston
Martin jr/Mann/Roco or Mann/Martin Jr
Zubac/Plumlee/Roco

wakelaunch1 wrote:

og15 wrote:Chances of Morris starting, let alone being on the team should be pretty low.

Westbrook / Hyland
George / Powell
Leonard / Mann
Martin Jr / Batum / RoCo
Zubac / Plumlee / RoCo

This gives some balance in terms of giving the starters some more athleticism by putting Martin Jr there. The only concern is that he doesn't space the floor well enough in terms of 3PA, and as a team starting Westbrook, you would want as much spacing as possible.

I really wish we could have gotten brook lopez for 25 million. He adds 3 point threat at the 5 and a leader.

I would like to see Mann play the 4 with Boston Jr at the 3 in the backup roll. Play Batum limited minutes throughout the season. Give Batum little spurts. He is effective when hitting the 3 and worthless without it.

Westbrook/Hyland
George/Powell
Leonard/Boston
Martin jr/Mann/Roco or Mann/Martin Jr
Zubac/Plumlee/Roco

Clippers had no ability to sign other teams free agents outside of minimum contracts, couldn't even do sign and trade due to apron, so it wasn't even a possibility they would have looked into. It would be nice though, but I can't be sad about things that weren't realistic.

The rotations will be interesting, don't love Mann at the 4 much except for random spurts when the team is going small.

Batum is either useful or not, if he's not useful anymore then he just needs to be out of the rotation altogether vs trying to save him for the playoffs or anything like that.

Not making any predictions. Most important is Leonard and George healthy and playing both in the regular season and playoffs. Everything else is secondary. If they aren't both healthy and playing then it's just another wasted season with them as Clippers.