Los Angeles Clippers: One Change That’d Make LAC True Contenders
Just one change is needed to transform the Los Angeles Clippers into true contenders—and not a single trade or signing needs to be made. It’s all about how Chris Paul is utilized.
The Los Angeles Clippers have the pure talent to be a genuine championship contender. There are three All-NBA players in the starting lineup, as well as an elite 3-point shooter, a solid bench, and an NBA champion head coach.
Yet, for as dominant as the Clippers are against lesser competition, they continue to run into trouble against similarly talented teams. Why?
For those unfamiliar with the seemingly unspeakable curse, the Clippers have never once made it past the second round of the NBA Playoffs—and the organization was founded in 1970. The curse is so powerful that Los Angeles blew a 3-1 series lead in the 2015 Western Conference Semifinals.
Despite leading 87-68 late in the third quarter of Game 6, and 92-79 entering the fourth quarter, Los Angeles lost to the Houston Rockets—by 12 points.
It was a testament to everything that’s wrong with the Clippers. Not only did Los Angeles take its foot off of the gas pedal with a first ever Western Conference Finals appearance in sight, but it came out mentally drained in Game 7.
Los Angeles can rewrite the narrative in 2016-17, however, and it rests on the shoulders of one man: Chris Paul.
The Praise
On pure talent and accolades, Chris Paul is one of the greatest players in NBA history. At 31 years of age, Paul already has a resume that outclasses many of the members of the Hall of Fame.
Thus, while there’s a problem that must be addressed, it cannot be done without praising Paul for the brilliance he’s already displayed.
Paul is an eight-time All-NBA honoree with four First Team nods. For perspective, Gary Payton and John Stockton each received two All-NBA First Team selections, and Steve Nash was honored with three.
Paul is also an eight-time All-Defensive Team honoree who has led the league in assists four times and steals on six occasions.
According to Basketball-Reference.com, Paul is in a class of his own statistically. He’s the only player in NBA history with career averages of at least 18.0 points, 9.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game.
Most importantly, he all but singlehandedly elevated the Clippers from a laughing stock to a perennial Top 5 team in the Western Conference. Here’s how he can take it a step further.
The Problem
The Los Angeles Clippers have won at least 60 percent of their games in every season since Chris Paul arrived in 2011-12. During that time, Los Angeles has won three postseason series—more than it’d won in the previous 41 seasons combined.
Here’s the issue: Paul, like the Clippers, has never made it past the second round of the NBA Playoffs.
It’s hard to blame Paul for his teams not making it past the second round when they wouldn’t have made it nearly as far without him. He’s been the heart and soul of every team he’s played for, as well as the best player on every team that he’s played for.
The reality is, Paul has done too much and not enough at the same time—and that’s as much on the coach as it is the player.
In 2015-16, Paul created 23.7 points via assists per game. The problem: three of the Top 5 players in that statistic missed the playoffs and another played with Kevin Durant—and in 2014-15, two of the Top 5 players missed the playoffs.
The reason the Clippers can’t escape the second round is simple: the offense places too much of a burden on one player doing everything.
The Change
Chris Paul is the Clippers’ primary ball-handler, facilitator, and—beyond the numbers—isolation scoring threat. Blake Griffin is being groomed for the latter role, but it may be time that he’s introduced to a more well-rounded approach.
The foundation for this change is found in the time Los Angeles has spent with either Griffin or Paul sidelined by injury.
When Griffin goes down, Paul comes out firing as a scorer—see: 21.0 points per game during a 44-game stretch without Griffin in 2015-16. When Paul goes down, Griffin becomes more of a facilitator.
Doc Rivers was attempting to embrace those strengths in 2015-16, but Griffin went down and the team reverted back to Paul carrying the offense.
Griffin, who ha averaged 5.1 assists per game over the past two seasons, is an outstanding ball-handler and passer who can alleviate some of the facilitating burden. Paul has an elite midrange game, an efficient 3-point shot, and crafty finishing ability around the basket.
If Rivers wants to bring a championship to Los Angeles, then his best option would be to balance Paul and Griffin’s offensive abilities.
The pick-and-roll can still be the Clippers’ foundation, but Los Angeles needs to utilize multiple playmakers instead of letting Griffin’s passing become obsolete in Paul’s presence.
In the modern NBA, the burden of scoring and facilitating at elite levels—for a position—doesn’t work if you aren’t a physical behemoth like LeBron James. Though we paint athletes as superhuman individuals, fatigue is real.
Forget about trades and last-minute free agency signings; the only change Los Angeles needs to make in the short-term is strategic. Stop making Paul do everything, and start utilizing Griffin’s well-rounded game.
By balancing the offensive workload, the Clippers would become a true contender in the Western Conference.