Signing Paul Pierce Won’t Solve The Los Angeles Clippers’ Problems
The calendar may read June 2015, but that hasn’t stopped Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers from partying like it’s 2009. In recent years, Doc has shown a tendency to wax nostalgic with some of his personnel moves, bringing aboard prominent characters from the 2009 Eastern Conference playoffs such as Glen Davis, J.J. Redick and the remains of Hedo Turkoglu.
Sure, coaches showing an affinity for re-upping with guys they’re familiar with isn’t unique to Rivers, after all, George Karl appears ready to move heaven and Earth to reacquire Ty Lawson and few would be surprised if, 50 years from now, Kirk Hinrich was named sole executor of estate in Tom Thibodeau’s last will and testament.
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What makes Doc’s situation unique is the fact that when he’s not pacing the sidelines, he’s wielding the kind of tremendous front office clout only equaled by a handful of coaches across the league.
In a move that has been bandied about ever since Doc said “no thanks” to the rebuilding effort in Boston two summers ago, it appears there is now a real chance of Paul Pierce finally heading out Californee way. According to a Monday column by CBS Sports’ Ananth Pandian, citing NBA.com’s David Aldridge, the idea of Pierce signing with the Clippers is gaining steam:
"His decision will become clearer once free agency officially starts in July but according to NBA.com’s David Aldridge, Pierce is expected to leave the Wizards and join the Clippers.“Washington: As I reported as likely to happen a couple of weeks ago, Paul Pierce will opt out of his Wizards contract. The expectation among many around the league remains Pierce will wind up in L.A. with the Clippers”If Pierce does end up signing with the Clippers, he would be the team’s starting small forward."
On its surface, this might not seem like such a bad thing. The Clippers’ roster has long been heavy on top-shelf talent in their front and backcourt rotations, with a glaring lack of depth to fill out the wing position.
Pierce, a future Hall of Famer who has spent the vast majority of his career at the small forward position as a clutch shot maker and savvy defender, would seem to be an ideal fit.
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The issue is, this line of thinking would fly contrary to everything we’ve seen from Pierce over the last two years. Pierce most definitely still has something left in the tank and could contribute meaningful minutes to any number of playoff contenders in need of his veteran presence as well as his more tangible assets.
Paul Pierce is still very much a competitor, shot maker and a leader.
He’s also a power forward.
Both Brooklyn’s late season flourish in 2014 and Washington’s playoff run this past season featured Pierce prominently as a small-ball 4, utilizing his perimeter shooting and ability to drive past slower-footed big men to create super-efficient, well-spaced offensive units that maximized the scoring efficacy of lineups he was a part of.
Defensively, the fact that the NBA is light on true low post, bruising 4s meant Pierce has been able to use his quickness (for a power forward) to be a serviceable cog in team defensive strategies based on hyperactivity, making his offensive contributions more than outweigh whatever he might give up on the boards or as a rim protector.
Though Pierce spent the majority of his minutes as a small forward during the 2014-15 regular season, the admittedly small sample size of him as a power forward was promising. Per NBA.com, the Wizards had an offensive rating of 108.4 when Pierce shared the floor with only one big man, compared to 103.1 when paired with a duo of bigs.
Though the defense took a bit of hit, the net rating of plus-6.2 when Pierce shared the floor with only one big was still more than a point better than more traditional, big lineups.
During the playoffs, as the Wizards took care of the Toronto Raptors with surprising ease before eventually bowing out to the Atlanta Hawks in a competitive six-game series, Washington’s most explosive lineup (by far) featured Pierce at the power forward slot, with springtime revelation Otto Porter at small forward and Marcin Gortat as the lone true big.
Per NBA.com stats, this lineup produced a ridiculous offensive rating of 125.2 and a net rating of plus-21.3.
Obviously young studs John Wall and Bradley Beal were still asked to do most of the heavy lifting, but that didn’t stop Pierce from shooting an ungodly 52.4 percent on three-point attempts on just more than six attempts per game, up from a pedestrian 38.9 percent during the regular season, when he was primarily used at the small forward slot with two big men on the floor (Stats per NBA.com).
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This isn’t to say Pierce couldn’t be a positive influence for the Clippers–setting him loose as a small-ball 4 while Blake Griffin catches his breath could provide a much needed offensive jolt to the Clippers’ mostly punchless bench unit. He’d also be a steadying locker room presence for a team that often seemed to have difficulty controlling their emotions.
It’s also not hard to envision him screaming “That’s why they brought me here!” after ripping out the heart of some Western Conference playoff foe with one his trademark old-man daggers.
However, in looking at the biggest issues facing the Clippers, it’s difficult to see Paul Pierce as any kind of cure-all. In spite of all his positive qualities, Pierce fails to address the greatest weakness in their starting lineup: defense and athleticism at small forward.
The Clippers were an excellent offensive team last year even with the trick-or-treat nature of Matt Barnes‘ shooting percentages, so it would stand to reason they would be best served thinking primarily of the defensive end with whoever they slot as their starting 3.
And with Blake Griffin set to eat up at least 35 minutes per game at power forward, there doesn’t seem to be much room for Pierce to operate from the position he’s now best suited for.
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