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Last Season: 56-26 (Finished 4th in the Western Conference)
Prediction: 60-22
Key Losses: PG Eric Bledsoe, SF Caron Butler, PF Ronny Turiaf, and PG Chauncey Billups
Notable Free Agent Signings: PG Chris Paul (resigned with the Clippers), PG Darren Collison, SF Jared Dudley, SG J.J. Redick, and C/PF Byron Mullens
Welcome to the NBA’s most deadly three-point shooting team for the 2013-2014 season. I would absolutely hate to be an opposing coach against the Clippers this year and figure out a defensive plan to contain the league’s best point guard and some of its best three-point shooters. The Los Angeles Clippers lost some key players like Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler, but they came away this off-season with a more talented, cohesive roster. I’m still shocked that a team owned by Donald Sterling can be this good.
One of the Clippers biggest signings this year wasn’t a player. Early on in the off-season, the Clippers managed to land head coach Doc Rivers. Rivers previously coached the Boston Celtics, leading them to the NBA finals twice, winning the Larry O’ Brien trophy once. He is considered one of the best at drawing up plays under pressure, and is well loved by all of his players. His signing all but solidified the re-signing of Chris Paul and the two should work quite well together this upcoming season.
Eric Bledsoe was an explosive point guard with solid passing skills and scoring ability. He was young and had tremendous potential to develop into one of the league’s best playmakers. However, he would have never gotten the playing time he needed to develop fully behind Chris Paul and was thus traded to the Phoenix Suns along with Caron Butler. In return, the Clippers received SF Jared Dudley. A Boston College product, Dudley is your classic “3 and D” player. He is extremely effective on the defensive end (perhaps not as good as he used to be, but still above-average) and is a lights-out three-point shooter (career 40.5% from beyond the arc). When he’s inserted into the Clippers rotation, Dudley will spread the floor much better than Butler did, and should be able to lockdown his match-ups (better than Butler did).
While on the subject of three-point shooters, the Clippers managed to steal J.J. Redick away from the Milwaukee Bucks. A legendary college player, Redick struggled to adapt to the NBA as well as he would have liked but has since emerged as an elite three-point shooter and decent passer. With Redick and Dudley on the floor together, the Clippers front-court should have no trouble operating in the paint, as opposing players wouldn’t dare leave Redick or Dudley open to double team a post player. Both players will be well utilised by coach Rivers, as he is used to running a team with two elite shooters on the court at the same time (Ray Allen and Paul Pierce). Clippers fans should get ready to see more screens set in a game than they have in franchise history.
While the loss of Bledsoe is certainly a blow to the Clippers highly touted bench, the signing of PG Darren Collison should make-up for some of the lost talent. A speedy quick guard who is a superb passer, Collison has been Paul’s back up in the past when they both played for New Orleans. They had a great working relationship then and were an efficient 1-2 punch. Collison is an excellent replacement as Paul’s back up as they both have such different styles of play that they should keep defenders on their heels. Another addition to the Clippers bench is C/PF Byron Mullens. The lanky Mullens had his best year with the Charlotte Bobcats last season and averaged close to 11 points and 6.4 rebounds per contest. Mullens is also a decent three-point shooter but I imagine the Clippers would rather have Redick and Dudley shooting the ball than Mullens. It’s unclear whether Mullens or Ryan Hollins will emerge as the primary big man back up but either should be able to give a solid 15-20 minutes a game off the bench.
Even while losing some of their role players from last year’s campaign, the Clippers still kept their core of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul. They still have sixth man of the year candidate Jamal Crawford anchoring the bench and Lamar Odom contributing too. While I’m not ready to hand over the title of best LA basketball team to the Clippers (they still have to win in the postseason to be considered a real threat to the Lakers), they are certainly better equipped this season to make a run at that title.
