National Basketball Association

LA Clippers: The key takeaways from NBA media day

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

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We learned a lot about the status of Blake Griffin, the LA Clippers’ positional battles and more from NBA media day, so here’s a look at the key takeaways.

September 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; LA Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) speaks as forward Blake Griffin (32) listens during media day at Clipper Training Facility in Playa Vista. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

NBA media day arrived and gave everyone around the basketball world a sense of excitement that we haven’t felt in too long. The 2016-17 season is rapidly approaching. At long last, it’s almost time for more NBA basketball. We saw guys like Kevin Durant and Dwyane Wade stand alongside their new teammates in new jerseys that still don’t feel quite real. We heard bold quotes. We saw the Golden State Warriors super team duo of Durant and Stephen Curry together in uniform. There was a lot to enjoy, or worry about in terms of the latter if you’re an LA Clippers fan. Or a fan of any other team, for that matter.

So, now that media day has come and gone and training camp is underway, let’s take a look back.

For the LA Clippers, there was plenty to pay attention to. Blake Griffin was able to update us on his health situation and the state of his surgically repaired quadricep tendon. New members of the team such as Alan Anderson and Brandon Bass were around. We’ve heard about the early stages of positional battles in the rotation. And Doc Rivers was making some super confident statements about super teams.

Essentially, Clippers media day has started priming us for the new season, so let’s get straight to it and look at some of the most important takeaways.

September 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) reacts during media day at Clipper Training Facility in Playa Vista. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Blake’s 100 percent with a newly improved quad tendon

Blake Griffin is 100 percent healthy again. After dealing with the toughest season of his career, first struggling with a partial quadriceps tear longer than expected, then breaking his hand in the infamous Matias Testi incident, and finally being ruled out the playoffs early as his quad flared up again, Griffin and Clippers fans want nothing more than good health.

Well, that’s exactly what they have now. And Griffin may even be in better condition than before.

Rowan Kavner of Clippers.com reported some comments from Doc on how Griffin has looked in practice at the start of training camp, saying that Griffin was often insistent to stay on the court:

“He looked great. He went the whole practice, which I didn’t like, actually. Three or four times, someone tried to get him out and he wouldn’t come out. That tells you he’s feeling good, but you have to be careful with that.”

Griffin himself spoke on the matter, and said that his quad tendon could be in its best condition since high school:

“It just looks like a brand new tendon,” Griffin said, after seeing the results with his doctor. “No tendinitis, no anything…The doctor was like, ‘This is probably as healthy as your tendon’s been since high school,’ just because of the nature of how much basketball we have to play…

“I’m just excited to be healthy, to have a full summer of really good workouts and just to get going. When basketball’s taken away from you, it makes you hungry for it again.”

While a player saying they’re “100 percent healthy” may be a fairly mundane and cliché media day response, hearing that Griffin’s quad tendon is in such good condition is particularly promising. After struggling with poor diagnosis in the season and the injury lingering for far longer than it should have, this is exactly what Griffin needs to resolve the issue for good and move onto the new season with good health and a clear mind.

Next, the matter of starting small forward. Which, as of right now, is completely up in the air.

September 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Alan Anderson (9) and Diamond Stone (0) play a free throw game during media day at Clipper Training Facility in Playa Vista. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The starting small forward spot is up for grabs

In the absence of Blake Griffin for 47 games last season, Luc Mbah a Moute became the starting small forward and was often accompanied by Paul Pierce at power forward. We could see a repeat with Luc next season if Doc opts for his reliable defense to support the starters again, but as of right now, nothing is final.

In fact, as Doc said at media day, per Dan Woike of the Orange County Register, the starting job is “wide open”:

“It’s the first day. I think that job is wide open. I’d say Luc, Alan [Anderson], Wes [Johnson] would be the three, but we may go small. Like I said last year, and didn’t follow through on it, that position will change a lot. Last year, we ran a lot with the small lineup, three guards, and we may do that to start games.”

Thanks to the signing of Alan Anderson on a minimum deal this summer, a player who’s switched between the two and three over the course of his career, the LA Clippers have even more options at small forward. There are benefits to each.

While Luc is unable to space the floor (there’s no hiding that it’s a real problem — 13 made threes all season is as bad as it sounds), he’s one of the Clippers’ best defenders and their best defensive small forward without question. If he starts, that’s something the team can rely on.

Wesley Johnson was a fairly streaky shooter last season, finishing the year 33.3 percent from three with most of his success coming from the corners. However, with the surprising defense he showed at times over the last year, he contributes at both ends of the floor.

Finally, it’s Alan Anderson, who Doc said (in addition to Luc) has spent time playing with the starters already. Anderson certainly isn’t as strong defensively as Luc and brings slightly less size at 6’6″, but Anderson has shot a far better 34.5 percent from three for his career and can attack fairly well when he needs to put the ball on the floor.

As someone who can space the floor to add an extra threat from three while Griffin and DeAndre Jordan are playing together, Anderson starting at small forward over Luc sounds like a possibility at this stage.

It all comes down to Doc’s experimentation as the season draws closer and what he wants coming off the bench: a needed scoring punch in Anderson, or defense only in Luc. Both have their pros and cons.

September 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers head coach Doc Rivers speaks during media day at Clipper Training Facility in Playa Vista. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Doc sees ‘no gap’ between the Clippers and Warriors

An NBA coach exuding confidence in his team? What a surprise. That’s exactly what we’d expect on media day, especially from Doc Rivers, who’s had to maintain strong, positive leadership through some tough times since joining the LA Clippers.

However, some of Doc’s confidence on Monday was particularly strong.

When he said that he doesn’t think there’s a gap between the Clippers and Kevin Durant’s Golden State Warriors, many were rightfully startled.

ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne reported what Doc had to say about how close the Clippers are to the Warriors:

“I think we can play with anybody, and we don’t feel like there’s a gap. That’s all we have to prove, and I think everyone has to prove that.

“I know history very well in this league, and there’s been a lot of superteams put together, quote-unquote, superteams, and I know the history. I feel comfortable where we’re at.”

When the Warriors essentially swapped Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut for Durant, their leap forward was undeniable.

Sure, they’ve lost some size and rim protection with the loss of Bogut and Festus Ezeli, but they’ve gained someone in Durant who showed in the playoffs how elite he can be with his length defensively.

And when he’s the dream piece to create the “Death Star Lineup” as a drastic upgrade over Barnes, adding immense shot creation, length, and a highly dominant post-up game as well (something Golden State could have used in the Finals), the Warriors’ offense became so good, more than their 73-9 good, that there’s no denying they’re ahead than everyone else (light years ahead, you could say).

I won’t go into all the reasons and analysis now, because I think we can all agree that the LA Clippers aren’t better than these new Warriors.

To continue from Doc’s bold words, his son, Austin, has set some big personal goals for himself in 2016-17. How he progresses is one of the most important stories of the bench.

Mar 5, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers (25) is defended by Atlanta Hawks guard Kyle Korver (26) during the second quarter at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

Austin wants to win Most Improved Player

Austin Rivers improved last season. It was easy to see.

First and foremost, it was as a defender where Rivers took a step forward. He was one of the Clippers’ top few guys at the perimeter and closed out on shooters and covered drives to the rim well all season, upping his aggression to help the team rank 4th in defensive efficiency.

It was the best part of his game, and while he’s still not much of a marksman from range, he did shoot 39.6 percent from three with 1.2 makes in his 21.9 minutes per game from the start of 2016. If he can turn an improved three-point trend into more success next season, his offensive value increases immediately.

And that’s what Rivers wants. Not only does he want to assert himself at such a level on defense that he makes an All-Defensive team, he wants to be named as the 2017 Most Improved Player.

It will be hard for Rivers to win the award when it typically goes to players such as last year’s winner C.J. McCollum, whose playing time and role drastically increased from the previous season to help his production leap from 6.8 points per game in 2014-15 to 20.8 last season.

Rivers won’t be receiving that kind of responsibility and it’s hard to see him heavily improving his scoring (McCollum is clearly better in this regard), given the ability of the starters and the likes of Jamal Crawford staying on the bench.

Even still, Rivers setting these goals for himself and pushing for an All-Defensive team only shows his drive to succeed. That’s nothing but good for his future.

Finally, let’s take a look at how the LA Clippers may approach protesting for social change.

September 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) speaks during media day at Clipper Training Facility in Playa Vista. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

How the Clippers will protest for social change

The LA Clippers may be doing their part next season to protest against the racial issues and inexcusable shootings from police in America. Players are interested in doing so, and they have the full support of head coach Doc Rivers.

Doc has said that the team have been having discussions about what they may do, and he’s hoping that they organize something as a group. Rowan Kavner of Clippers.com has reported a comment from Doc:

“It’s a very relevant and important issue. Whatever we do, we’ll do as a group; we’ll do together, hopefully, but I’m happy that we’re having those discussions.”