Clippers Preseason Review

This is how I think the rotation will likely look for the regular season:

             Starter                                       Back-up                                      Third Choice
PG:    Chris Paul                               Austin Rivers                                   Pablo Prigioni
SG:    J.J. Redick               Jamal Crawford/Lance Stephenson                 C.J. Wilcox
SF: Wesley Johnson              Paul Pierce/Lance Stephenson
PF:   Blake Griffin                               Josh Smith                                 Luc Mbah a Moute
C:  DeAndre Jordan                           Cole Aldrich                 Branden Dawson/Chuck Hayes


It is still not clear whether Johnson or Pierce will start in the small forward role. Both have started in the preseason games so far. However, I think that Doc Rivers will choose to have the aging Pierce playing fewer minutes off the bench during the regular season, but he will start Pierce during the playoffs.

The problem that has plagued the Clippers for several seasons since they became a very strong team is bench depth. The lack of good players off the bench meant that the starters had to play more minutes, making them more tired for important games (like the playoffs) and when in important games, the starting five would keep pace with every other strong team but the bench would fall dramatically behind teams with deeper bench depth.

Now have the Clippers solved that problem? I think so. The additions of Smith, Stephenson and either Johnson or Pierce into the bench unit have massively improved it and now the burden for bench scoring isn't entirely on Crawford (I will discuss the trade rumours around him at a later date).


So, the important question is: can the Clippers win a championship this year?

Well, this is a tough question. Chris Paul is on the down but is still one of the very best point guards in the NBA and will want to finally win a championship to cement his place as one of the best point guards of all time. Blake Griffin is in the prime of his career and has consistently improved his jump shooting over the years to the point where he is now a proper stretch four, which will force power forwards to mark him out on the perimeter leaving more room inside for Jordan and slashing guards. DeAndre Jordan is still a defensive and rebounding monster. J.J. Redick is still a laser 3 point shooter. The bench is now strong enough that the big three of Paul, Griffin and Jordan can play fewer minutes in the regular season and go all out in the playoffs (like Blake was last postseason).

If the Clippers are ever going to win a championship, it's going to have to be this season, because by next season (and onwards) the lack of young talent will hurt the team as most of the players will simply get worse.