Why Are The Clippers in First Place?

After the Blake Griffin trade, the Los Angeles Clippers were wildly projected to be in rebuild mode. Doc Rivers head coach of the Clippers who recently held the title of head coach and president of basketball operations was replaced of his president role, with former head coach Lawrence Frank, who most recently was the head coach of the New Jersey Nets. This article isn’t about Doc Rivers. In fact, it’s about what a marvelous job the Clippers front office has done with building a roster. I like to break up the Clippers roster into four separate lineups. A scoring lineup, a defensive lineup, a big lineup and a small lineup.

THE SCORING LINEUP

The Clippers have a deep enough lineup to role five scorers on the floor and hold up with just about any team in the league. Lou Williams, Tobias Harris, Danilo Gallinari, Montrezl Harrell and Marcin Gortat. Lou Williams is just coming off one of the best years of his career. For the first time in his career, Lou Williams averaged 30 minutes per game, which Williams then turned into an amazing 22 points per game average last year which should’ve been good enough to win the sixth man of the year. Tobias Harris is a guy who has always been thought highly of around the league, Tobias has a career average of 15 points per game and currently is averaging 21.5 points per game. Danilo Gallinari is one of the most slept on players in all of the NBA, mostly because all he can do is just score. Gallinari also has a career average of 15 points per game, his 6-10 frame mixed with his ability to shoot anywhere on the court and being able to handle the ball makes him irreplaceable.  Montrezl Harrell, coming out of Louisville was considered a defensive big man with his athletic body, and ability to block shots. Finally, Marcin Gortat started his career in Orlando during the Dwight Howard golden years, he then moved to Washington to team up with John Wall and Bradley Beal. Gortat averaged 11 points per game in his time in D.C. Having 5 players in your starting lineup that are all capable of averaging double figures is something really nice to have.

THE DEFENSIVE LINEUP

The Clippers can also adjust based off of how the game is rolling, they can also throw out 5 solid NBA defenders. They can start off with a lineup of Patrick Beverley, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Avery Bradley, Luc Mbah a Moute, and Boban Marjanovic. Patrick Beverley, he was All-Defensive First Team in 2016 and is widely considered one of the best defensive point guards in the league. Gilgeous-Alexander was the 11th pick in the draft with a very unique build. Alexander stands at a jaw-dropping 6’6 with an amazing 6’11 wingspan. This allows him to guard almost any position on the floor. Luc Mbah a Moute was a free agent acquisition from the Houston Rockets and was also known as one of their best defensive players. Mbah Moute is a defensive asset that can guard 3-4 different positions on the floor. Avery Bradley has been a two-time all-league defensive award winner, including in 2015 being named to the First Team all-defensive team. Finally, Boban. Boban stands at an amazing 7’6, the tallest player in the NBA. With Marjanovic’s tall build it is easy for him to block and alter shots making it tough for opposing teams to score in the paint. The Clippers now have a lineup that can score with anyone in the league, and also have a lineup that has two first team all defensive players in it.

THE BIG LINEUP

A lineup with guys such as Patrick Beverley, Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari, Tobias Harris, and Boban. This lineup can be used for matching up with guys of taller heights, having 3 guys over 6’9 that can guard multiple positions, excluding Boban, can be really helpful. Not to mention, Gilgeous-Alexander’s 6’11 wingspan. The Clippers can match up with any other big lineup in the league.

THE SMALL LINEUP

The Golden State Warriors made the small lineup popular all over the NBA after head coach Steve Kerr decided to go small against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the finals during their first championship. This allows players that are smaller to get around bigger defenders, due to speed, quickness, and agility. The Clippers can not only go big, but they can also go small, which not a lot of teams are able to do. Milos Teodosic, Patrick Beverley, Avery Bradley, Tobias Harris and Marcin Gortat. This is a brilliant lineup because Teodosic who is originally from Spain went viral for his “Steve Nash like” passes. With incredible vision and awareness Teodosic finds it easy to set up his teammates, Patrick Beverley brings extra defensive help as well as Avery Bradley. Yet, they still have a legitimate scorer in this lineup with Tobias Harris who can score from anywhere. Then throwing in Gortat who can finish around the rim and grab rebounds using his massive frame. This is another amazing lineup that the Clippers can throw out on the floor.

Overall, I believe the Clippers can match up with anyone in the league at any time. This is an amazing performance by Lawrence Frank with the roster construction. In reality, I doubt they could beat the Warriors in a 7 game series. However, they not only have the different lineups but they also have the depth to hang around with any team in the country and in a league that’s so amazingly skilled, that’s all you could really ask for.

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