LA Clippers forward Danilo Gallinari is slated to return from injury during the team’s upcoming road trip. While the look of the team has changed in his absence, it’s likely to change even more in his return.
On January 18th, versus the Golden State Warriors, LA Clippers star forward Danilo Gallinari–averaging 19pts/6reb/2.5ast on 45/44.6/90.6 shooting splits–exited the game with back spasms and has remained out of the team’s rotation. Since then, the Clippers have managed to do a bit more than tread water, putting up a record of 4-3.
A big reason for the Clippers’ success in Gallinari’s absence has been lineup shuffling done by the team’s coaching staff. Moving Patrick Beverly into the starting lineup, alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Avery Bradley for an energetic three-guard look, has proven to be an effective adjustment. Similarly, utilizing rookie Jerome Robinson and two-way G-League player Johnathan Motley off of the bench has helped to make up for the overall loss of production.
Gallinari’s time away has been illuminating, if nothing else. It’s afforded the coaches a chance to see a little more of what they have in this Clippers roster, as well as ways in which they might be able to improve when Gallinari does eventually return.
Now, don’t get it twisted. Despite any success had with him injured, Gallinari will absolutely have his spot back in the starting lineup. Whatever change occurs will be largely based around his re-integration there. The two biggest question marks for Clippers fans will be who goes to the bench for him and whether the Clippers’ youth will continue to get their minutes.
Let’s first look at the starting lineup. While based on a relatively small sample size, with Patrick Beverly playing in place of Danilo Gallinari, the starting unit has had a net rating that was, on average, 12 points better than normal (4.0 vs -8.0).
This difference in net rating is less an indictment of Gallinari and more an affirmation of what Clippers fans have been saying for months: Patrick Beverly should be starting. And it’s likely that Beverly will indeed maintain his starting role. However, much to the chagrin of Clippers fans everywhere, it will probably be at the expense of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, as opposed to Avery Bradley. Doc Rivers essentially made his plans known in that regard after Monday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks:
Rivers says he likes playing SGA with the second unit because it gives the reserves another ball-handler.
— Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) January 29, 2019
As for young Jerome Robinson and Johnathan Motley, it seems unlikely that their roles will disappear entirely, though they will probably become diminished to varying degrees.
In the case of Motley–averaging 6.8pts/4reb/0.4ast in 11.7mpg, playing basically the same position as Gallinari (PF/C vs SF/PF) will make it tough for him to get minutes in a rotation that’s teeming with talented big men. He’s already seen his minutes evaporate in the last few games, with Doc Rivers going back to Mike “The Threegional Manager” Scott for the spacing he brings to the Clippers’ second unit. As long as he and Montrezl Harrell are also coming off of the bench, Motley’s opportunities may be few and far between.
Jerome Robinson, on the other hand, has gained favor with the Clippers’ coaching staff, as reported on by Andrew Greif of the L.A. Times–most notably over the likes of Ty Wallace and Sindarius Thornwell. The rookie shooting guard maintaining a solid reserve role–averaging 4pts/2reb/0.3ast in 12mpg–ever since Gallinari went down. With Gallo back, Jerome (and all players on the periphery of the rotation) will naturally see a dip in minutes. But unless he does something to lose Doc’s trust, Jerome will probably keep getting his chances as the Clippers roll with three guards in the second unit.
Doc has shown this season that he’s willing to mix and match lineups on a nightly basis, depending on matchups, but this seems like a likely version of the LA Clippers that we could see in a return of the Italian sharpshooter.