Clippers Summer League Breakdown: Kendall Marshall

Kendall Marshall showed off his passing abilities and offensive craftiness with the LA Clippers in the Las Vegas Summer League, hoping to earn a roster spot.

Even though he’s only 25-years-old, Kendall Marshall has that old man game. He’s not going to beat you with his athleticism or blast by you off the dribble, but the five-year veteran has crafty moves that he uses to get to the bucket or create a shot for a teammate. Could he possibly earn a spot on the LA Clippers G-League team?

In his four summer league games with the Clippers, Marshall averaged 6.3 points, 7.8 assists, and 3 rebounds and shot 50 percent from the floor. The point guard showed off the passing prowess that got him drafted 15th overall in 2012 by the Suns.

While the Clippers have the starting and back up point guard spots filled with Patrick Beverley and Milos Teodosic, Marshall could still find himself a spot on the LA roster as the third string point guard behind the two. The Clippers won’t need much from their third point guard since they have so many guards on the roster already, but Marshall proved with his summer league play that he could run an offense efficiently in limited minutes, exactly what the Clippers would ask him to do.

Let’s break down a few of Marshall’s summer league plays to better understand how he would fit with the Clippers.

The Pick and Roll Pocket Pass:

The Clippers are going to see a steady diet of pick and roll plays ran in the upcoming NBA season since the team has three of the more athletic big men in the league in Jordan, Griffin, and Harrell. Marshall showed his ability to run the pick and roll throughout the Las Vegas Summer League ad created multiple highlight plays. Many of those highlights came from masterfully ran pick and rolls with undrafted center Isaiah Hicks that lead to Marshall constantly finding the big man rolling to the basket with slick passes that led to easy finishes.

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Marshall uses the screen to force the primary defender to follow behind him and then forces the help defender to slide over in front of him, freeing Hicks up for the easy dunk.  If Marshall can set up Hicks with passes like that, imagine the highlight plays he can create through pick and rolls with Jordan or Harrell rolling to the basket.

Here Marshall takes advantage of a young Lakers defense and draws a double team off of a simple screen beyond the arc. The guard easily handles the double, then steps up and hits Brice Johnson in the hands with a perfect bounce pass for the assist.

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Crafty Layups:

Like I said above, Marshall has that old man game where he uses his craftiness to get to the basket rather than using off the dribble speed or athleticism. Here he uses the screen to get the primary defender behind him but then attacks the basket instead of looking to pass, using a shoulder to knock the help defender off balance and then finishes with a nifty reverse layup.

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Even though the Clippers wouldn’t be asking for Marshall to provide scoring off the bench, the fact that the guard can facilitate the ball while also catching the defense off guard from time to time for an easy basket would make him a valuable third guard for LA on a minimum contract.

Marshall is coming off of an ACL injury in the 2016-2017 season which may hamper him on defense and would cause him trouble if he tried to guard some of the faster and more athletic guards in the league. However, Marshall would be coming off the bench against players who he should be able to hold his own against on both ends of the floor.

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