He’s a better option at power forward than Paul Pierce
Jeff Green isn’t the Clippers’ best option as a small-ball power forward because he’s a great small-ball power forward, because he isn’t. He’s just better at that position than 38-year-old Paul Pierce. With Green’s 6’9″ frame, long wingspan, far superior athleticism, and the simple fact that he’s nine years younger, he’s an immediate physical upgrade over the plodding pace of Pierce.
Green is hardly the NBA’s best rebounder, defender, shooter, or slasher to the basket, but he’s still a better option when he shows up than Pierce has been through this season.
One of my columns from a couple of weeks ago discussed how the Clippers need to avoid using Pierce at power forward (and use him less in general), highlighting that the way he’s mismatched inside and on the perimeter removes any benefit that his IQ and defensive positioning may have at times:
"In the Clippers’ lost to the Nuggets, they lost the rebound battle (a near-automatic trend this season) 57-47. [Kenneth] Faried led the way for Denver with 11 — all of which came in a 16-minute span matched up against Pierce. On top of that in this 16-minute spell, he notched 21 points with a barrage of layups, driving dunks and hook shots over the ageing legs and outreached arms of the 38-year-old Truth… This season, the Clippers allow four more points per 100 possessions when Pierce is on the floor. From absent rim protection to the basics of boxing out opposing big man and crashing the boards, The Truth can only make a difference on offense during the rare moments he makes threes. And this still doesn’t justify the minutes he receives. Power forward simply isn’t his position. Over the course of his 16-year Hall of Fame career, he’s never played more than 10 percent of his minutes in a season at the four (according to Basketball Reference). This season, however, Pierce has spent a ridiculous 45 percent of his time there, thanks to the injury of Blake Griffin and Doc Rivers’ small-ball experimentation with the second unit."
However, Pierce hasn’t just been a liability on defense and this isn’t the only area where Green will help.
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The Truth was a sharpshooter with the Washington Wizards last season, making 38.9 percent of his threes and averaging 16.3 points per 36 minutes. He was productive, he could still use his footwork to make his own shot at times, and most importantly he was an efficient spot up shooter. This season, the same cannot be said about any of those attributes. He’s made a mere 31 percent of his threes (the third worst season average of his 18-year career) while shooting a useless 34.6 percent overall.
His poor 93 offensive rating and 105 defensive rating speak for themselves, so there’s no harm in bringing in a younger model until Griffin returns and as another option off the bench for the rest of the season.
Unless the NBA falls into chaos and everything is reversed, we’re never going to reach a point where Jeff Green is a consistent borderline star. Instead, the Clippers will need to accept that his talented skill set, on both offense and defense, won’t appear on a nightly basis.
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Nevertheless, he still serves as an upgrade over other wing players in some of these key areas and those shouldn’t be totally overlooked, no matter how turbulent his time in L.A. will continue to be.