Los Angeles Clippers: Who Should Start At The 3?
The Los Angeles Clippers are stacked with talent in the frontcourt, with All-Star Blake Griffin, beastly rim protector DeAndre Jordan, and newcomer Spencer Hawes, but what about the backcourt?
Chris Paul is an All-Star, and one of the best point guards in the NBA. J.J. Redick is a floor spacer and heady defender who seems to fit perfectly in with this team, but the other wing spot, normally occupied by Matt Barnes, is a question mark. Should he be the Clippers starting small forward?
Barnes is an emotional player, streaky shooter, and versatile if not great defender. He has the size, at 6’7” and 235 lbs, but he is in his 11th year and athleticism was never his best trait. He tries hard on defense, but he fouls too often, nearly four fouls per 36 minutes, which is bad for a player who mainly defends on the perimeter.
Redick, for comparison, only commits 2.4 fouls, and even a shot blocking rim protector like Jordan only fouls 3.3 times. Check out the chart to see how Barnes compared to the other projected Clipper starters.
| Rk | Player | Age | G | GS | MP | PF |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DeAndre Jordan | 25 | 82 | 82 | 2870 | 3.3 |
| 2 | Blake Griffin | 24 | 80 | 80 | 2863 | 3.3 |
| 3 | Chris Paul | 28 | 62 | 62 | 2171 | 2.6 |
| 6 | Matt Barnes | 33 | 63 | 40 | 1735 | 3.8 |
| 8 | J.J. Redick | 29 | 35 | 34 | 987 | 2.4 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/22/2014.
It is not just personal fouls either. Despite playing in only 63 games last year, and averaging just 27.5 minutes per game, Barnes still accumulated four technical fouls, three flagrant fouls, and two ejections. Those put him in the top 11 among qualified small forwards last year in all categories, with him leading the way in flagrant fouls and ejections.
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Among technical foul leaders, the list is full of perennial All-Stars such as
LeBron Jamesand
Kevin Durant. Only
P.J. Tuckerand
Nick Youngcome close to matching Barnes’ penchant for mixing it up among players in similar roles.
This Clippers team is emotional, and that emotion sometimes causes them to melt down in big games. Blake Griffin, for all his talent, seems to justly or unjustly invite scuffles, skirmishes, cheap fouls, trash talking, and general mayhem. You do not need a wild-card, trouble-making small forward like Barnes adding to the chaos.
Offensively, the Clippers small forward only shoots 33 percent from 3-point range in his career, with a mark just slightly above that last season. This despite him jacking more 3-point shots (283) than 2-point attempts(244), with a paltry 1.9 free throw attempts per 36 minutes.
Of course, when he is not shooting the 3, he is a turnover machine, averaging in his career two turnovers per 36 minutes, while acting as basically a catch-and-shoot player.
Even when getting those juicy corner three opportunities that are the rage among NBA stat-heads, Barnes only hits roughly 37 percent of his shots, compared to 50 percent shooting in the same situation for Redick.
It is clear that Barnes is not the answer at small forward for the Clippers, and I outlined the meager trade/buyout options already, but perhaps there is someone already on the roster who can fill in?
Jamal Crawford is certainly an option, although he does seem more suited coming off the bench, where he was the top producer last year. Chris Douglas-Roberts is not a starting caliber player, and the Clippers waived potential replacement Carlos Delfino.
What about C.J. Wilcox, their first-round draft pick?
Wilcox was a fantastic shooter during his career at Washington, hitting 39 percent of his 3-point shots. While he does not have the size of Barnes, he has a good wingspan and could certainly be used in favorable matchups.
Wilcox is about the same size as J.J. Redick, and the shooting offered by a backcourt of Redick and Wilcox might make up for any deficiency in defense, as well as fewer fouls, technical fouls, skirmishes, and meltdowns. It is hard to imagine someone with the shooting talent of Wilcox being unable to consistently hit that corner three, once he is given enough playing time.
Now, there would be some opponents where the Wilcox/Redick wing duo would have trouble. Bigger scoring small forwards would punish such small defenders, but inviting opponents to launch mid-range two point shots over the top of a defender does not sound all that bad, even if they make a few.
Wilcox has not played much in the pre-season, which leads to the idea that Rivers does not intend on him being part of the regular rotation. There is probably a D-League stint or two in Wilcox’s future, but it is certainly questionable whether the Clippers are making the right move in keeping Barnes in the starting line-up.
In fact, you could easily question whether Barnes should have been brought back at all, given his rough demeanor and questionable on-court production.