LA Clippers: Landry Shamet Should See More Time With Starters

The LA Clippers have had to experiment with lineups in the playoffs, with Beverley on limited minutes. Landry Shamet should see more time with the starters.

After getting injured against the Suns in the bubble, LA Clippers guard Patrick Beverley has missed a lot of time – he fought through the injury in game 1 against the Mavs, then wouldn’t see the floor until the Nuggets series, in which he’s seeing limited minutes. Beverley’s absence forced coach Doc Rivers to experiment with lineups; at first, he played Reggie Jackson at point guard in the starting lineup, but would later move to Landry Shamet at that position.

Per NBA stats, the Clippers’ most-used lineup against the Mavericks was Landry Shamet + the other four starters. That lineup was also the best in terms of +/-, with a +22 in 51 minutes. After Beverley’s return in the Denver series? The Shamet + four starters lineup dropped to third, seeing only 17 total minutes in 4 games.

Shamet’s game just fits so much better with the starters than it does with the bench unit. A high 30s percent three-point shooter, his presence can open up the midrange or the drive for the starters, and they can be trusted to find him if his defender helps on the ballhandler.

Shamet has also been improving as a playmaker, and he’s shown off some impressive athleticism in the playoffs – including a poster dunk on Boban. In general, Landry can be expected to make the right play most of the time, and that slots in very well beside our stars.

By contrast, when he’s playing with more ball-dominant scorers like Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, or Reggie Jackson, his strengths aren’t used as well as they could be. Shamet’s defender can be more willing to help off of him onto a Lou drive or Harrell postup, because they’re looking to create their shot more than make a play (and this isn’t a knock on those guys at all! Our bench scorers are a huge reason we are where we’re at in the postseason).

On defense, Landry is a much easier fit with the starting unit than the bench. Nobody would call him a lockdown defender, by any stretch, but at least the guy gives effort and, in general, knows what to do on defense.

When he’s playing with the defensive clamps we have on the starting unit, he doesn’t have to do a whole lot more than give effort and be in the right place. He’s not going to be asked to make a snap decision – do I help on a blowby or do I stay on my man? – very often. As long as he can generally stay in front of his man and defend a passing lane, he’s done his job.

On the other hand, if he’s in a lineup with more negative defenders, just giving effort isn’t enough. If he’s in a lineup with Reggie, Trezz or Lou Williams (to whom I have to give credit; he’s playing some inspired defense against the Nuggets), then we start to inch into some scary “Landry Shamet could be the best defender on the court” territory, and that’s not territory we want to be in.

To be clear, I’m not arguing for Shamet to replace Patrick Beverley in the starting lineup… just yet. Rather, I want to see the Landry + starters lineup making appearances throughout the game. And we might be headed that way; in Game 4, Shamet was the first off the bench, replacing Beverley.

The Clippers’ playoff rotations are already starting to tighten; I’m interested to see what lineups Doc ultimately lands on as he settles into his deep playoff lineups.