2016-2017 LA Clippers – Last Year or Lob City: Where are They Now?
Paul Pierce (Small Forward)
2016-2017 served as the final season of Paul Pierce’s storied career. Best known for his time as a Boston Celtic and winning an NBA Championship with Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Rajon Rondo in 2008, Pierce spent two seasons on the Clippers. In his last season, Pierce averaged 3.2 points per game and served mainly as a veteran with deep playoff experience. Since his retirement, Pierce has become an analyst and you can find him talking about the NBA and it’s happenings during the halftime break of games on ESPN.
J.J. Redick (Shooting Guard)
J.J. Redick started out on the Orlando Magic teams that were led by Dwight Howard and went to the NBA Finals in 2009. He was traded the Milwaukee Bucks and then traded by them to the LA Clippers. In 2016-2017, Redick averaged 15 points per game. That was his final season as a Clipper, as he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers where he has had the two best seasons of his career. He is averaging 18.2 points per game and has never missed the playoffs in his career.
Austin Rivers (Shooting Guard)
The pick used to select Austin Rivers in the 2012 NBA Draft had been acquired by LAC in 2005 along with Sam Cassell from the Minnesota Timberwolves for Lionel Chalmers and Marko Jaric. Years later, the pick was sent by the Clippers to the New Orleans Hornets in the first Chris Paul trade. By way of two three-way trades in three days, the Clippers traded Chris Douglas-Roberts and a 2017 second round pick (Jabari Bird) to the Celtics and Reggie Bullock to the Phoenix Suns for Austin Rivers to come play for his dad, Head Coach Doc Rivers. Austin was disappointing at times for the Clippers, but developed into a very well rounded player and effective bench scorer in his later seasons. In 2016-2017, Rivers averaged 12 points per game. In the 2018 off season, the Clippers traded him to the Washington Wizards for Marcin Gortat. The Clippers needed Gortat to fill the role of starting center as DeAndre Jordan was as good as gone. So far this season, Rivers is only averaging 6.5 points per game for the struggling Wizards.