3 NBA teams that could use Iman Shumpert
By Phil Watson
LA Clippers
The LA Clippers picked up their 19th victory of the season Wednesday night when they blew out the defending champion Toronto Raptors in Kawhi Leonard‘s first game in the city after earning NBA Finals MVP honors last June.
The Clippers have a powerful bench unit as well, leading the NBA in bench scoring at 52.0 points per game while ranking seventh in bench points allowed at 34.5 per game,
But the Clips are also banged up on the perimeter. Landry Shamet has been out the last 16 games with a high ankle sprain and reserve wing Rodney McGruder has been sidelined for the last seven contests because of a hamstring strain.
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That leaves the wing reserve options down to second-round pick Terance Mann or last year’s first-round selection, the still very raw Jerome Robinson. While Lou Williams is listed as a shooting guard, that is defined literally as a guard who shoots. At 6-foot-1 and 175 pounds, Lou-Will can do a lot of things well, but wing defense is not one of those at this point.
The Clippers do have one non-guaranteed contract — backup point guard Derrick Walton — and are not hard-capped. However, they are also just $1.69 million below the luxury tax apron, according to Early Bird Rights. That may not be an issue for governor Steve Ballmer, however, who appears to be all-in on chasing a Larry O’Brien Trophy this season.