Grading every roster move the LA Clippers made at the deadline
Gortat bites the dust
The Bradley trade put the LA Clippers over the roster limit by one player, meaning there had to be a roster casualty in order to allow the trade to go through (and since it’s hard to really grade a roster move like this, neither “waive” slide will have one).
At the time, the decision to waive Marcin Gortat came as a bit of a surprise. There had been rumblings almost all season that Milos Teodosic had plans to return to the EuroLeague in the near future, and there was a stretch of nearly two months — from December to February — when he almost completely disappeared.
However, we saw later on that Teodosic would be waived, just in the result of a different trade (more on that next).
Gortat had a relatively productive season for the LA Clippers, but for the most part, he really wasn’t that good. There were far more games this season that he was dominated in than there were games that he dominated, and often times, his performance left us wondering why he was still on the court.
But at some point, you have to hand it to the big man — despite being outplayed at times and being completely removed from the rotation at others, Gortat continued to play hard when his number was called and was a true professional though it all. Not once did he not give his all when he was on the court.
Gortat was also an effective piece on offense, even when the box score didn’t show it. Widely regarded as one of the NBA’s best pick-and-roll men and legal screen-setters, Gortat was leading the NBA in screen assists per 48 minutes for a large chunk of the season, and it showed. There were countless times when his actions would completely open up a teammate for an easy look, and that kind of effort shouldn’t be understated or undervalued.
Now that he’s back on the market, Gortat is expected to join a contender and has a chance to make an impact in the playoffs this season. I truly wish him the best in his next venture.