Team photos show that Landry Shamet of the LA Clippers spent his summer working out hard, leading him to look more muscular heading into the season.
Ah, the offseason. Players work out, post the results and we speculate how they gained 15 pounds of pure muscle and what additions it means for their game. Guess what? This post is exactly that.
Last week, the LA Clippers posted some pictures on Twitter of their players working out. Most of us honed in on that Paul George has continued his streak of seemingly wearing something Clippers’ related every day since he was traded.
There are other things worth noting. One, the team seems to be all working together which is amazing. Two, Ivica Zubac looks like he leaned up quite a bit. Despite both of those being great for the team, the main thing we noticed is Landry Shamet. That dude got BIG!
https://twitter.com/LAClippers/status/1170073622167212032
Not to stare too much at my dude, but just look at those veins popping on his biceps and forearms! Shamet looks like he spent all summer in the weight room in preparation for the 2019-20 season.
It makes sense when you think about it. According to most projections, Shamet will be running with the bench unit. If that’s the case, he’ll probably see a majority of his minutes running point guard. He can use his new found strength to bully smaller defenders as he drives into the paint, which will not only make them hesitant to play him so tight on the three point line, but will also open up the floor even more for the deadly Lou Williams/Montrezl Harrell combination.
When he’s at shooting guard, he can defend bigger guys better and will also be able to fight through defenses when he’s carving them up with off-ball cuts.
The hard work he’s put in just further shows his maturity heading into the year. He turned down joining the Team USA Select Team this summer to work on his body and game, something we noted made sense with the Clippers’ championship aspirations this season.
Sham getting big is awe worthy. We expect a lot out of the second year player this year as he and the Clips try to bring the franchise that elusive first title.