With the signing of Patrick Patterson, the LA Clippers showed forethought and made the right move to insure themselves this season.
If you happened to check Reddit after the signing of Patrick Patterson, you probably saw a lot of negativity surrounding the move. In classic Reddit overreaction fashion, the top comment calls him “literally a waste of a roster spot.” Granted, there has to be some hyperbole coming from the user, but the gist is still there.
Scroll down a little further and you’ll see some more sensible reactions. This one, from u/longjohntanner, hits the nail on the head:
"He’s likely an end of bench guy and as far as end of bench guys go he is above average. At worst he is a not bad defender and he may shoot better if he doesn’t get stuck playing center."
Exactly. Patterson wasn’t meant to be this earth shattering signing. No one who is signed in August is.
Let’s look at some career stats. Spoiler warning: They won’t blow you away.
6.9 PPG, 45.0% FG, 36.7% 3P, 4.1 REB, 1.1 AST, 0.6 STL, 0.5 BLK
His higher production came during earlier in his career and he has been on a downward trajectory over the past couple of seasons with Toronto and Oklahoma City. Last season, he was forced to play a lot of center in ultra-small lineups for the Thunder, which did not play into his strengths. He won’t be doing that with the Clippers. In fact, I’m not sure he’ll have much of a defined role at all.
What he is is a perfect end of bench piece who can be used sparingly for injuries or on nights when load management is happening. The Clippers current depth chart is a little up in the air at this point, but should look something like this:
- PG: Patrick Beverley, Landry Shamet, Terance Mann
- SG: Paul George, Lou Williams, Jerome Robinson, Rodney McGruder
- SF: Kawhi Leonard, Maurice Harkless
- PF: JaMychal Green, Montrezl Harrell, Patrick Patterson
- C: Ivica Zubac, Mfiondu Kabengele, Johnathan Motley
Now, I’m not an NBA coach, but I think it’s safe to say that Patterson likely won’t see many minutes unless the Clippers go past ten players deep. Patterson isn’t a bad player, especially for the role he’ll be given. It could even be argued that as a 11th or 12th man, he’s well above average in his spot. Come playoffs (assuming he’s even still with the team), he probably won’t really see the court in meaningful minutes.
If PG or Kawhi sit, maybe he gets some spot minutes at the three. If JaMychal or Trezz need to sit a game or two out, he can come in, stretch the floor and play defense with no extreme adverse effect to the rest of the team.
This move might be mocked and joked about by Clippers’ haters, but it shows me a smart front office who knows how important having true depth can be.