National Basketball Association

LA Clippers: It's time to stagger Blake Griffin and Chris Paul

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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For the LA Clippers to improve, it’s time to stagger the minutes of Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, and use Griffin as the second unit anchor they need.

Nov 30, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; LA Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) and forward Blake Griffin (32) during an NBA game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The thought of Blake Griffin taking on more responsibility as a facilitator for the LA Clippers isn’t a new one. It’s just that we’re reaching a point in the Lob City timeline where more of the offense running through Griffin with slightly less emphasis on Chris Paul seems like a necessity for multiple reasons.

Most of the time, and certainly through the regular season, Paul being the primary controller of the offense isn’t a problem. That goes without saying. After easily averaging 19.5 points and 10 assists per game last season, leading the NBA in assist percentage with 52.7 to help in the maintenance of having the highest offensive rating in league history (122.4), it’s safe to say Chris Paul knows a thing or to about running an offense. The vision, intelligence, and poise at which he plays with separates him from other point guards as the best floor general in the game.

Obviously, he’s the primary leader of the LA Clippers. And rightfully so. Last season, the Clippers scored 14.2 more points per 100 possessions with Paul on the floor. In 2014-15, they scored an incredible 19.9 additional points with him leading the way.

With this group, Paul couldn’t have done much more to prove how well he picks his shots, finds good looks for others, and simply creates offense that wouldn’t be there without him.

However, employing a different tactic could be seriously beneficial to the Clippers heading into 2016-17. Both for the regular season and the playoffs in particular.

Changing Griffin’s role

When you have two elite playmakers, it makes sense to use them. Armed with the best floor general at point guard and one of the very best bigs (if not the best) — in terms of ball handling and passing ability — the Clippers are fairly fortunate to say the least.

Griffin recorded a career-high assist percentage of 27.2 last season and 26.2 in 67 appearances in 2014-15, which is nothing shy of impressive. Especially for a power forward who used to be regarded as an dunker over anything else. But now that those days are long gone, Griffin accounting for around half the assists as Paul indicates how he isn’t being maximized. And, yes, that’s going to happen by being a teammate of Paul.

Griffin could do more in order to alleviate some pressure from Paul through a gruelling regular season, though, not to mention diversify the Clippers’ attack and help anchor the second unit.

Paul doesn’t get a ton of chances to play off the ball when he’s assisting on a league-leading 52.7 percent of the Clippers’ baskets while on the floor. However, even in a season where he didn’t have Griffin by his side, Paul became more aggressive as a scorer, destroying opponents with his clinical mid-range game, shot 37.1 percent from three and a terrific 45.7 percent on catch-and-shoot threes (per NBA.com).

If Griffin is enabled to operate more from the elbows as a face-up/post-up threat and facilitator, Paul spending more possessions off-ball not only adds another more frequent dimension to the offense, but gives Griffin another great shooter alongside J.J. Redick to pass to.

Remember how much of a force Griffin was in the 2015 playoffs when Paul missed a couple of games? He averaged 30 points, 14.5 rebounds and 8.5 assists in the first two games of the Houston series that Paul missed. For the entire postseason, he averaged 6.1 assists.

Fully unleashed by himself, Griffin was on a versatile level of scoring, physical prowess and playmaking that almost no one in the NBA can match.

To add diversity to the LA Clippers’ offense and allow Paul to operate a little more as the catch-and-shoot three-point threat he can be, Griffin’s role increasing makes a great deal of sense (even though he won’t be by himself as he was in last year’s playoffs).

Against tougher competition and opposing defenses in the playoffs in particular, Griffin taking more of the offensive mantle needs to be something Doc Rivers considers. At least, that’s what we’ll hope to see.

Next, there’s the matter of the bench.

December 21, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) controls the ball against Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (9) during the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Using Griffin to anchor the bench

While helping in the regular season by giving Griffin more touches from the top of the key and the elbow to operate as a face-up threat and as a passer, it’s staggering his minutes to leak into time with the bench that is key.

As of right now, heading into 2016-17, it’s Austin Rivers (who still needs to work on his poise running the point), Jamal Crawford (who plays with the high volume, wavering efficiency we’re used to) and Raymond Felton (in more limited minutes as the third point guard) who will be leading the second unit.

Marreese Speights helps offensively by providing a three-point threat and level of spacing that Cole Aldrich never could, but the loss of Aldrich’s rim protection is an issue. Not having a great playmaker to run the second unit show is the next issue, which is where the Clippers staggering Griffin’s minutes — similarly to what Oklahoma City Thunder coach Billy Donovan did with Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook last season — to keep an elite playmaker, scorer and leader on the floor as much as possible.

Last season, the Clippers’ most used bench lineup and third most used lineup overall — Pablo Prigioni, Rivers, Crawford, Wesley Johnson, Aldrich — had a net rating of -16.6. Scoring can be an issue even when Crawford has one of his heat-check games, and the loss of Aldrich’s size and rebounding is one of the biggest problems with the Clippers’ summer.

More size in Brandon Bass at power forward helps alter the heavy use of wing players shifting to the four, but there will only be so many minutes he receives.

Griffin is needed. To take away some of the low efficiency and high volume, off-dribble creation from Crawford away, also alleviating pressure from Rivers. Griffin spending more time with the bench has too many benefits to ignore, and it’s not like the starters can’t score without him a little more often.

Just take a look at last season; finishing 6th in the NBA in offensive efficiency after losing Blake for 47 games isn’t bad at all.

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During the 35 regular season games Griffin could play in, he didn’t receive many minutes with purely backup players. Six of his seven most heavily used five-man lineups featured Paul and all of the top nine featured DeAndre Jordan (per Basketball Reference). However, his 10th most used lineup — with Austin Rivers, Jamal Crawford, Wesley Johnson and Josh Smith — had a positive net rating of 7.8. That’s fine, although them spending a mere 26 minutes together hardly offers the kind of sample size that can be relied upon.

This is the point, though. Griffin isn’t used enough to carry the bench, either operating at power forward or shifting to center. And he should be.

The drop off whenever Paul went to the bench last season was clear, leading to likely spells of offensive struggle, reduced ball movement, and ultimately the team’s offensive rating falling to a mere 99.5. This can be counteracted with Griffin.

Of course, Griffin’s minutes with the starters won’t disappear with the amount he’s playing, but more minutes with the bench needs to be experimented with. There’s no way him running the offense won’t help. Again, remember the 2015 playoffs.

The starting lineup can survive offensively without Griffin. No, they are not better without him, but they can still score incredibly well with Paul, Jordan and Redick at the helm. The same can’t be said for the second unit. However many minutes Griffin spends with the bench will help. It obviously doesn’t need to be constant, but it just needs to be a present tactic heading into next season.

Having a go-to scorer and elite playmaker on the floor as much as possible would be a major improvement. It’s that simple. Griffin, being unleashed by himself more often without Paul running the point, will do wonders for the LA Clippers’ bench.

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