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Jared Dudley kinda throws Doc Rivers, Clippers under the bus

By Trisity Miller

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This isn’t the first time he’s spoken on his time with the Los Angeles Clippers, but in a podcast with Grantland’s Zach Lowe, Milwaukee Bucks forward Jared Dudley didn’t hold back when discussing his short time in Los Angeles and where (and why) it went wrong.

To sum it up, being forced to play through injury then being buried on the bench when healthy was his reasoning, but here is what the forward had to say verbatim on the situation.

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    • "Here’s the thing about the Clippers. I hurt my back in August training at Impact in Vegas. I show up there in September trying to get with the training staff and sometimes, when you have an injury it leads to another injury, so basically I was nursing my … I thought it was tendonitis at the time with my knee. I thought it was tendonitis … and basically, I really couldn’t bend my knee 90 degrees, so I had to deal with that for the first month or so. I basically went to Doc Rivers like ‘hey, I never had to deal with this, I can’t bend my knee. All [of] my shots are short. I can’t move laterally. I need to sit out.’ And at that time, Matt Barnes was out with a calf injury, J.J. Redick was out with what I think was a herniated disc or whatever, so it was ‘hey, I need you to give me 10 to 15 games and then when those guys come back, I’ll give you a rest.’ But during that time, I just couldn’t guard anyone. I couldn’t make a shot; all of my shots were short. And the confidence happened. It spiked mid-season. I get my x-ray and I had a little fracture in my knee so I knew what I was dealing with was more than tendonitis. By mid-season, [Doc] brought in [Danny] Granger and I was sent to the pine.The trade was the best thing of my career, where I got with a training staff that got me healthy and when I’m healthy you see now and the player you see in Phoenix."

    Ouch.

    But based on everything that happened, Dudley’s account on the situation checks out.

    Jared Dudley did hurt himself in the preseason.

    Jared Dudley did play through the injury because of a lack of depth following Redick’s and Barnes’ absences.

    Jared Dudley did get strapped to the bench following the arrival of Danny Granger (and Hedo Turkoglu/Glen Davis) — Dudley played 14.1 minutes per game after Granger was signed and collected eight DNPs (Did Not Play); in the playoffs, Dudley played 6.4 minutes per game and collected six DNPs.

    It’s unfortunate this all happened because if given a chance, the Clippers would re-do the Dudley-Bucks trade in a heartbeat. After a career-worst season where he averaged 6.9 points on a career-low 43% shooting (36% from three) and a career-low 8.9 Player Efficiency Rating, Jared has bounced back in the best way possible as the veteran, swiss-army knife for the 6th-seeded Milwaukee Bucks team, averaging 8.2 points on 50-44-71 shooting splits, 2.9 rebounds and a PER of 14.4. And defensively, he’s back to his Phoenix form, with a Defensive Real Plus-Minus of 2.42 (31st best in NBA), in comparison to last years DRPM of 0.15.

    “…during that time, I just couldn’t guard anyone. I couldn’t make a shot; all of my shots were short. And the confidence happened. It spiked mid-season.” – Jared Dudley

    Considering how things have changed, you can’t blame Dudley for throwing Doc Rivers and the Clippers medical staff under the bench. There was no reason to trade Dudley without receiving any playable characters back, especially when a first-round pick is attached to him. That same pick, the 2017 first-round pick, could be used to acquire the “missing piece” this team desperately needs.

    Jeff Green was traded for a first-round pick-plus.

    Brandon Wright (from BOS to PHX) was traded for a first-round pick-plus.

    j.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert were traded together for a first-round pick plus fluff that was eventually traded.

    And according to recent reports, the likes of Arron Afflalo, Wilson Chandler, Goran Dragic and other players who could improve the fortunes of an inconsistent 2014-15 Clippers team are available for a first-round pick. Instead, they used their latest and best asset (the second best? Drafted C.J. Wilcox with it this past summer).

    Unfortunate, but it represents everything the Clippers have been as a front office since Doc Rivers gained control over personnel decision, especially in terms of waiting for a player to figure it out without panicking to the trade market (Jordan Farmar was the latest victim of this circumstance).

    But the deed is done and Dudley is well off. Always a likable guy, it’s good to see Jared getting things back in order as he was expected to do for Los Angeles. Timing didn’t work well plus other reasons, but what’s done is done and hopefully the Clippers learn from their mistakes from here on out.

    Hopefully.

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