Los Angeles Clippers: The season-altering Patrick Beverley injury
The Los Angeles Clippers have struggled after a hot start to the season. Those struggles will only worsen with Patrick Beverley now out for the season.
The Los Angeles Clippers entered the season without Chris Paul, but with a plan to replace him. The team acquired one starting point guard in Patrick Beverley in the Paul trade. Then, they signed another one in Milos Teodosic. The Clips may have lost their franchise player, but they did all they could to replace him.
Unfortunately, the point guard replacement plan has not gone as planned this season. Teodosic played just 32 minutes in two games before suffering a plantar fascia injury in his left foot that continues to keep him on the sidelines. Patrick Beverley missed five games before returning to play against the New York Knicks.
That return did not last long. Beverley had surgery to repair a microfracture and torn meniscus and is expected to miss the rest of the season, per ESPN‘s Adrian Wojnarowski. After an offseason that saw the Clippers build up a deep and talented back court, the Clippers are left now with a ragtag band of young players and veterans to fill the void.
Defensive disaster
The Los Angeles Clippers have been a solid defensive team in the past few years. They prepared to continue that with Patrick Beverley pairing up with DeAndre Jordan. With Beverley out for the year, however, the defensive outlook is rather bleak.
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The Clippers fell to 20th in Defensive Rating prior to their game against the Sacramento Kings, per NBA.com. Sindarius Thornwell is a capable defender for a rookie, but one can only expect so much from a first-year player. Austin Rivers is a solid wing defender, but he is overmatched against most starting point guards and some of the league’s larger shooting guards.
Unfortunately, the Clippers do not have much in the way of other defensive options at point guard. Milos Teodosic will boost the Clippers’ offense when he returns, but his defensive aptitude is questionable at best.
Jawun Evans is another rookie guard who struggles far more on defense than Thornwell. He is also still only 5’11” despite his impressive 6’6″ wingspan. While health concerns have submarined the team’s defense up until this point, it does not have many options outside of the trade market to supplement its defensive backcourt.
Future outlook
Patrick Beverley’s contract is one of the best deals in the league. He will make $5.5 million this season. Next year, Beverley is set to make $5 million in the last year of his deal. Furthermore, the deal is unguaranteed for the 2018-19 season.
The Los Angeles Clippers have every motivation to pick up the final year of Beverley’s deal. He is getting paid end-of-the-bench money to be a solid starter and one of the best 3-and-D players in the league.
However, the injury concerns might throw a wrench into those plans. Beverley is about to turn 30, and just had major surgery on his knee. Depending on his recovery, he could be limited for much of next season even if he makes a full recovery.
The Los Angeles Clippers lost their franchise player in Chris Paul, an elite defensive and offensive point guard. They managed to replace him with an elite offensive point guard and one of the best defensive point guards in the league.
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Now, both of those players are on the bench and one of them will not return until next season–if he returns at all. A guard rotation that looked deep and dangerous to start the year is now desperately trying to piece itself together as the playoffs continue to recede from view.