Los Angeles Clippers: 3 Players that disappointed this season

To say that the Los Angeles Clippers were one resilient squad, would be an outrageous understatement. Having lost their leading scorer to a mid-season trade in return for chump change, Doc Rivers and his team were running out of options with the playoffs approaching quick.

With the lack of the quality talent - let alone All-Stars - the Clippers decided to steer their ship on heart and hustle every game, till they landed the last postseason berth there was. They finished the regular season with a 48-34 (0.585) win-loss record next to their name and drew their first round opponents in the mighty Warriors. In what was a matchup between the 1st and the 8th seed, the Clippers made sure Golden State had to push hard for every win.

They dragged the defending champs all the way down to a Game 6 before bowing out, but in the process, earned the respect of basketball fans worldwide. So much so the mayor of LA had to acknowledge that his city was indeed a Clippers' Town at the moment and not the Lakers'.

With all their achievements for the 2018-19 year wrapped up and done with, let's take a look at the players who didn't actually reap benefits out of this monster breakout year by the franchise.

#1 Marcin Gortat

Marcin Gortat was traded to the Clippers in exchange for Austin Rivers.

When the 34-year-old arrived in LA, he had no idea of what was coming. After playing 47 games for the franchise (and starting in 43 of them), Gortat could only average 5.0 points and 5.6 rebounds per game - both of which were his lowest since 2010-11. He saw a diminishing role with a little over 16 minutes of playtime per game.

According to NBA stats, the 6-foot-11 Polish center posted a career-worst 111.4 defensive rating during the 2018-19 season. Gortat was waived by the Los Angeles Clippers on February 7, 2019.

Cousins' injury hinted at GSW being interested in acquiring him but the fact that opposing teams would've easily exposed his defensive frailties during a deep playoff run prevented it from happening in reality.

#2 Avery Bradley

Avery Bradley was traded to the Grizzlies in February of 2019.

Before falling prey to the mid-season trade drama, Bradley played 49 games with the Clippers during the 2018-19 regular season. He averaged just 8.3 points per game (lowest since his sophomore year back in 2011-12) in over 30 minutes of court-time.

Moreover, it has been argued time and again that his presence was rather detrimental to the Clippers lineup with the stats suggesting that L.A. was outscored by 2.3 points per 100 possessions when he was on the court.

Often used as a spot-up shooter waiting in the corner for his shot, Bradley had an unimpressive 33% conversion from beyond the arc. His production with the Grizzlies did increase to a near-career-high 16.1 ppg indicating he was misused by Doc during his time with the Clippers.

#3 Mike Scott

Mike Scott was traded to the Sixers along with Tobi & Bobi.

In his 52 games with the Clippers franchise, Scott averaged a meager 4.8 points per game (career low/min. 50 games played) along with 3.3 rebounds and 0.8 assists. His major concern was his inability to score from inside the arc, where he shot a subpar 40% in over 4 shots attempted per game.

With defensive averages of 0.3 steals and 0.2 blocks per game, he was never a defensive threat to the opposing team and rather committed a few too many fouls for a bench player. He was inconsistent and unable to juice the offense when the stars didn't get it done.

Not a particularly good free-throw shooter (66%), Scott turned out to be a below-average offensive player with each passing game with the Clippers. However, he did find his stroke with the Sixers and aided in effective ways their late-season runs.