What we learned from the LA Clippers’ preseason home opener

Landry Shamet returns to form

Prior to Thursday’s game, Landry Shamet hadn’t looked like himself in the preseason. In the LA Clippers’ first two games, Shamet shot 1-12 from three-point range and was scoring just 2.5 points per contest.

That wasn’t necessarily something we were concerned about, but it was worth keeping an eye on. Shamet connected on 45.0 percent of his attempts from range with the Clippers in 2019, so a cold streak like this was unusual.

He turned things around against Denver, recording 11 points and three assists while making two of his five attempts from deep — one of which was a four-point play. He looked a lot more like the Shamet we saw last season, with a few tweaks.

Shamet is expected to take on an increased role in the Clippers’ offense this season, and he’s been impressive in that regard thus far. He isn’t just shooting anymore — instead, he’s bringing the ball up and dishing it around, more like a traditional point guard. He doesn’t do it on every possession, but he’s much more involved in on-ball action than he was with last year’s team.

Even in the preseason, it’s promising to see Shamet do well in his new role. It’s obvious that he’s put in oodles of work this offseason, and he looks better because of it. Not only does he look as though he’s put on a few more pounds of muscle, but his skills on both ends of the floor have noticeably improved as well.

It’s unknown whether Shamet will be a mainstay of the starting rotation this season or not, especially since the Clippers plan on using a “sliding” lineup that has Leonard and Paul George as the only players inked into spots. But his offensive versatility will make it difficult to keep him out of it, and the spacing that should be created thanks to LA’s new star wings should give Shamet plenty of room to connect from beyond the three-point arc.

If he does come off the bench for a majority of LA’s games, he should get those same benefits, but perhaps to a lesser degree. Like George and Leonard in the starting rotation, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell require a lot of the defense’s attention. That should allow Shamet to flourish, especially against lesser defenders.

He’s going to be a problem regardless of where he ends up playing on a given night, and his performance against Denver should serve as a preview of what’s to come once LA gets into the thick of their campaign.