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LA Clippers show they’re looking ahead with McGruder claim

By Garrett Chorpenning

MIAMI, FL - JANUARY 4: Rodney McGruder #17 of the Miami Heat looks to pass the ball during the game against the Washington Wizards on January 4, 2019 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - JANUARY 4: Rodney McGruder #17 of the Miami Heat looks to pass the ball during the game against the Washington Wizards on January 4, 2019 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The LA Clippers officially claimed former Miami Heat wing Rodney McGruder off of waivers Tuesday, a move that signals the team is already looking ahead.

When the LA Clippers waived forward Luc Mbah a Moute on Sunday, they opened up a roster spot that would allow them to sign a player to the playoffs roster, so long as that player hadn’t played for a different NBA team after March 1 of this year.

The Clippers, then, had a few options. The most obvious (and expected) play was to sign someone from an admittedly small pool of playoff-eligible players, which included the likes of Carmelo Anthony and Ben McLemore.

Another option was to convert one of the two-way contracts of either Johnathan Motley or Angel Delgado, since two-way players are not eligible for the playoffs. Both have had incredible seasons for the Agua Caliente Clippers, the LA Clippers’ G League affiliate, as both players were named to an All-G League Team.

However, both of those plans are more short-sighted than they are not — and knowing how LA’s front office has operated all season long, we should have known that they would prefer cheap talent over a player who could be playing as little as four games in a Clippers uniform.

So instead, LA opted for the on-brand move and claimed former Miami Heat wing Rodney McGruder, who, like Mbah a Moute, was just waived on Sunday. By doing so, the Clippers will be able to re-sign McGruder over the summer for a very team-friendly price if they choose to extend him a qualifying offer.

McGruder, who turns 28 in July, is nothing more than a solid rotational wing. This season with the Heat, he averaged 7.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 23.5 minutes per game. He was a particularly effective option early in the season, having averaged 12.1 points and 5.0 rebounds in 33.3 minutes per game, and shooting 36.7 percent from deep through November.

Truthfully, a solid wing is really all the Clippers need him to be, and that’s probably what they expect him to be as well. As it stands, LA has just eight players signed through next season, and depending on what happens over the summer, some of those eight may end up in trade packages. It’s especially important that this team buffs out its bench for cheap, and it’s hard to argue with adding McGruder to do exactly that.

Assuming Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell are still on the roster at the beginning of next season, McGruder will likely be the eighth or ninth guy off the bench, and could benefit from Williams’ ability to facilitate — nearly 94 percent of his made threes this season were assisted.

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Moves like these aren’t the ones that get all the attention, but by taking care of it now, the LA Clippers will have a better opportunity to focus on pursuing big-name players like Kawhi Leonard and Kevin Durant this summer. It should play out as a very low-risk move with a reasonably high ceiling, and one that contributes to LA’s goals next season.

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