National Basketball Association

NBA 2016-17 Team Previews - Los Angeles Clippers: It's Now or Never

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

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Sep 25, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3), forward Blake Griffin (32), center DeAndre Jordan (6) and head coach Doc Rivers during media day at the Clipper Training Facility in Playa Vista. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

NBA 2016-17 Team Preview: For the Los Angeles Clippers it’s now or never!

To prepare our readers for the regular season SCS offers a series entitled NBA 2016-17 Team Preview for each of the Houston Rockets’ 29 opponents. Who will return to the playoffs? Which team will fall from grace and who will be the Cinderella team?

Included in each profiles:

NBA 2016-17 Team Previews now looks at the Clippers who many peg to be a home court seed and many think could be the team to spoil the Warriors return trip to the finals. Repeated years of disappointment surround the Clippers so the other big question on the table is if they don’t reach the Western Conference Finals this season will it finally be time to blow up the core.

NBA 2016-17 Team Preview – Los Angeles Clippers:

2015-16 Record: 53-29

Playoffs: Lost NBA Western Conference First Round (2-4) versus Portland Trail Blazers

Points Per Game: 104.5 (7th )

Opponent Points Per Game: 100.2 (7th)

Oct 27, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) plays with the crowd in the Clippers 114-106 win over Portland at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-USA TODAY Sports

Pace: 95.8 (14th )

Offensive Rank: 108.3 (8th )

Defensive Rank: 103.8 (6th)

Three Point Rank: 36.4% (6th)

Rebounds: 42.0 (25th)

Assists: 22.8 (11th)

Steals: 8.6 (7th)

Blocks: 5.6 (10th)

Turnovers: 13.0 (3rd)

Oct 18, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard JJ Redick (4) during the second quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

2017 Free Agents

Restricted:

Unrestricted

Future Draft Picks

See Real GM for full details:

Incoming:

Outgoing:

Average Age of Team: 29.9 years

Next: Off Season Moves

October 13, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Jamal Crawford (11) moves the ball down court against the Portland Trail Blazers during the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Draft Picks

Round 1: Brice Johnson (25),

Round 2: Selected Cheick Diallo who was packaged in a trade for Diamond Stone and David Michineau

2016 Free Agents prior to July 1, 2016:

Unrestricted:

Moves made following July 1, 2016:

Incoming:

Exiting:

Re-upping:

Next: Schedule, League Pass, Win Projection Rankings

Oct 18, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers (25) during the second quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

Vegas over-under for wins: 53.5

Schedule strength:

As ranked by ESPN: 14th with 1.23. extra wins

As always the Clippers will spend a lot of time in the air (fourth in estimated air miles), but only two teams will play a higher portion of their games with a rest advantage over their opponent.

Games versus Rockets:

Zach Lowe NBA League Pass Rank: 3rd

Same old Clippers, with their scripted precision. You can recite the steps: Chris Paul and Blake Griffin run a pick-and-roll with J.J. Redick curling up the weak side; Paul hits Griffin on the short roll; DeAndre Jordan’s defender slides up to help; Griffin lobs to Jordan for a dunk.

It’s like putting together a piece of prefab furniture: Each step is pretty clear, the final product looks nice, and it doesn’t survive quite as long as you’d hoped. With Griffin back, hopefully Paul spices it up by relinquishing the controls so Griffin can go to work as a point forward in semi-transition; Griffin was tearing up the league before injuries hit last season.

Next: Team Overview

Oct 27, 2016; Portland, OR, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) and Clippers

2016 Committed Salary

2016: $114,756,766 – 4th ranked

2017: $109,866,162 – 4th ranked

Team Salary Ranking as per Hoops Hype, and team salary overview also via Hoops Hype

Starting 5:

Point Guard: Chris Paul – 19.5 points, 10.0 assists, 4.2 rebounds

Shooting Guard: J.J. Redick – 16.3 points, 1.4 assists, 1.9 rebounds

Small Forward: Luc Mbah a Moute – 3.1 points, 0.4 assists, 2.3 rebounds

Power Forward: Blake Griffin – 21.4 points, 4.9 assists, 8.4 rebounds

Center: DeAndre Jordan – 12.7 points, 1.2 assists, 13.8 rebounds

Reserves:

Guards: Raymond Felton, Austin Rivers

Wings: Jamal Crawford, Wesley Johnson, Alan Anderson, Paul Pierce

Bigs: Brandon Bass, Marreese Speights, Brice Johnson Diamond Stone

Injury News:

All injury news as per rotoworld

Oct 18, 2016; Sacramento, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) dribbles the ball during the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports

Strengths:

Existing Core: Undeniably in season the core of Paul, Griffin, Jordan and Redick are solid. Factor in Sixth Man Jamal Crawford and the Clippers have one of the best cores in the NBA. Their problem has been transferring in season success to the post season.

Doc Rivers: Few coaches could have weathered the storm of previous owner Donald Sterling, early playoff ousts or Blake Griffin’s nonsense with the equipment manager better than Doc Rivers. That said, perhaps Doc would be better suited to just coaching as he’s trotted in copious small forwards over his term but never been able to find the one who would push the Clippers over the top.

Motivation: After years of disappointment either due to injury or an inability to step things up a notch there should be ample motivation to win. Factor in Blake Griffin is in his contract season, so he’ll want to put big numbers. Paul, Redick, Anderson and Bass will also be free agents this summer. If that isn’t inspiration for the players to produce, nothing is

Weaknesses:

Lack of Success: Chris Paul may be wondering if someone has put a hex on him given his inability to gain post season success. After a while something like that can begin to play tricks with your mind.

Doc’s GM Talent: At some point surely the powers that be with the Clippers are going to wonder if Doc has the goods to be the Director of Basketball Operations. He’s had years to find one player – ONE. Consistently the absence of a small forward has been the bane of the Clippers. Coincidentally the one position most relevant in this era of basketball is a small forward who can defend, hit from deep and defend multiple positions. The problem now is Doc has used up all his assets unless he’s willing to break up the core. Perhaps he can shop Redick to find the small forward the Clippers so desperately need. But, would losing a strong 3 point presence only open up a can of worms in the backcourt and subsequently put undue pressure on Paul?

Health: Suffice to say the Clippers have suffered their share of injuries. While they haven’t ever dealt with multiple core injuries, their post season injuries have played a huge factor in their failures. Well, other than the year the Rockets knocked them off. I’ve often wondered if the Clippers have the mettle required to take the next step. They are so used to winning easily that when the post season hits it seems they don’t know how to turn their games up a notch.

Prediction: