No. 5: Mike Scott
When the LA Clippers made the move to bring in Mike Scott over the summer, some saw it as another “Doc Rivers signing”, which refers to a player that isn’t all the great, but played well against one of Rivers’ teams and ends up on one of his teams the following season.
Scott fit all the criteria for that star-studded list: He had an exceptional, yet surprising, performance against the Clippers during the prior season, he’s a little on the older side, and he generally winds up a journeyman during his NBA career.
But Rivers isn’t in charge of basketball operations anymore, so at the time of the signing, fans were puzzled. Had he influenced the executives? Or was this purely a coincidence?
Now just beyond the season’s quarter mark, it looks as though the addition of Scott to the team was as smart a move as any made this offseason.
Scott, otherwise known as “The Threegional Manager”, has shot lights-out from three-point range this season, connecting on a would-be career-high 43.3 percent. In addition, Scott has hardly had a game in which he posted a negative plus-minus rating, and has been a versatile asset off LA’s league-best bench.
His best game of the season so far came against the Atlanta Hawks, his former team, in what turned out to be an eight-point victory for the LA Clippers. Scott went off for 18 points, all of which came from three-point land. His six makes from deep matched a career-high that he previously set in 2014.
SIX @mikescott 3-pointers for your viewing pleasure. pic.twitter.com/hEFGPv3SSg
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) November 20, 2018
He’s cooled off a bit over the last few games, but there’s no reason to believe why he wouldn’t heat back up in due time.