SI's Enemy Lines Preview

[Ranma]

I look forward to these every year:

The top priority for new coach Doc Rivers has to be getting Griffin and Jordan to buy into what he wants to do. Their mental makeups are not very strong. They have gotten the blame the last two years, and you can tell it has worn on them.

You can talk a lot about what Rivers' system is going to be, but until someone takes the ball out of Paul's hands, it is going to be all pick-and-roll. If they want to go anywhere in the playoffs, they can't run pick-and-roll all the time. The problem is, they don't have bigs to space the floor. They have two who can only roll, can't make free throws and can't pick-and-pop.

Enemy Lines: A rival scout sizes up the Clippers

[Kyle]

No one that can pick and pop... hell, all Mullens and Jamison DO is pick and pop

[mkwest]

I always wonder if these are actually legit (with the input of actual NBA scouts). It's cool to get an outside perspective on the team from someone from an opposing team. The tone on some of the other teams. The west coast profiles were a little more harsh than the few I checked of eastern teams.

[Ranma]

Hey, he got the Okafor trade right (predictions #3 and #4).

Zach Lowe, Grantland (10/22/13)

1. The Clippers Will Lead the League in Points Per Possession

There are reasons to be skeptical of the Clippers. Doc Rivers's offenses in Boston were below-average to awful in every season after 2009. The Clips have zero quality big men behind DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin, and the team has no record of playing contention-worthy defense with those two on the floor. No one has anointed them as "favorites" for anything, and nobody should.

But holy hell will this team be able to score the ball. The Clips have ranked fourth in points per possession in each of the past two seasons, despite running a vanilla offense; suffering through Jordan's (prolonged) growing pains and horrible foul shooting; dealing with occasional spacing issues on the wing; and enduring generally blah coaching. Rivers presents a coaching upgrade and Alvin Gentry, his top bench assistant, ran some cool stuff in Phoenix over the last couple of years. Most importantly, they've got killer shooting in J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley to dot the floor around Chris Paul–Griffin pick-and-rolls, and above Griffin post-ups. Redick's off-ball movement and ability to work as a secondary ball handler will help broaden Rivers's playbook, and Matt Barnes leads a brigade of useful bench guys. The three teams above them from last season — Miami, Oklahoma City, and New York — are all due for some regression. Enter the Clips.

21. The Clippers Will Trade Out of the Luxury Tax

The Clips are about $2 million over the tax line, and when you're that close, you might as well get under the thing and reap the benefits — your share of the tax revenue distribution, ducking the tax itself, and avoiding Year 1 of the repeater clock. This is especially true when you are paying your head coach $7 million. The Clips could limbo under the tax by waiving Maalik Wayns and tossing out Willie Green in a salary dump (likely paying for the privilege), but Wayns's recent knee injury may result in his deal becoming fully guaranteed under the terms of a quirk in the CBA that protects injured players. Salary-dumping Green alone would cut the team's tax bill, but it would still be over the line.

However, the Clips are already slated to be right at next year's projected tax line, which means the team might think bigger. A name to watch: Jamal Crawford. He was essential last season, and Paul loves him. But he makes $5.225 million this season, and only $1.5 million of his slated salary for both 2014-15 and 2015-16 is guaranteed — meaning he's easily tradable. And with the wing so loaded — Redick, Dudley, and Barnes will get heavy run, and Reggie Bullock might earn some scraps — it's unclear how much the Clips really need Crawford. Rivers isn't exactly fond of defensive sieves, either, though Crawford is the best ball handler among those wing players.

The Clips might just swallow the tax, but that seems unlikely.

32 Bold Predictions for the NBA Season

[Ranma]

Here's a video breakdown of the difference between the current offensive scheme to last season's:

Doc Rivers gives Clippers an offensive edge in 2013-14