Jodie Meeks
The rumors of Jodie Meeks drawing interest from the Clippers have come up recently, and it’s not hard to see why. While he has dealt with injury problems in the past, a reduced role should keep him healthy and ready to play whenever Doc Rivers chooses to utilize him.
One may think that a reduced role will also bring a reduction in player efficiency, however that is not the case with Meeks.
Fellow Clipperholics writer, Ryan Snellings, summarized that while Meeks did not see too much of floor with the Raptors last year, he was still able to be very efficient when his number was called:
"Meeks was not a major contributor, putting up just 6.4 points in his regular season appearances and 1.6 points during the playoffs. Yeah, those scoring numbers are paltry, but it’s worth noting that when he did shoot, he was pretty darn accurate. In the 8 regular season games for the Raptors, he shot 53.8% from the field, including 44.4% from deep on 2.3 attempts. In the playoffs, the shooting percentages were nowhere near as good (31.0% from the field and 15.4% from deep), but were on substantially lower attempts."
Meeks has been with his fair share of NBA teams. The Clippers would be the fifth team in the last five years that Meeks has laced up for. But, when looking at what the team truly needs, Meeks fits that role quite nicely.
He most likely will not be an everyday player, only needing to suit up when there are injuries to the starting rotation. That is a role that he filled for the Raptors last year and should have no trouble filling for the Clippers this year. He is a positive locker room addition and can prove to be a good mentor for young two guards like Landry Shamet and Jerome Robinson.
In a league where you can never have too many shooters, the veteran’s minimum seems like a small price to pay to have an insurance policy like Jodie Meeks. Plus, it’s always nice to poach a former Laker.