Now that the LA Clippers are firmly in the offseason, we look at how the forwards performed throughout the 2019-2020 season.
Last week, we gave out season grades for the guards for the LA Clippers. Moving forward, I want to look at our wings and forwards today, and later in the week we’ll check in on our centers.
I’ll give the same reminder I gave for the guards. A player needs to have been really really good to get an A, and really really bad to get an F. Let’s go!
LA Clippers Forwards Grades: Kawhi Leonard – A
Our number one guy, the Klaw comes in at (spoilers!) the only A I give to the team. It’s hard to argue anything other than this for him.
Kawhi Leonard put up career highs in points and assists while keeping his rebounding steady, averaging a cool 27/7/5 in 32 minutes per game, along with playing defense at an All-Defense level.
He was a consistent presence throughout the regular season, guiding the Clippers to their first ever second seed in the Western Conference. His performance continued in the playoffs, where his averages were an incredible 28/9/5.5 on a very efficient 59% True Shooting.
He only had two subpar games in the playoffs; it’s just unfortunate that one of them was Game 7 against Denver. But without Leonard, there’s no way we get to that situation in the first place, and his overall performance in the playoffs was incredible.
The one complaint about Kawhi would be the load management; his resting on back-to-backs was a source of consternation for fans throughout the season, but it’s a price you pay 10 times out of 10 to get a player on the level of Kawhi, and there’s absolutely no reason to ride him into the ground in the regular season, especially with his injury.
His place as one of the absolute best players in the league was further solidified by his making an All-NBA second team. We can’t give him anything but the best grade here.
LA Clippers Forwards Grades: Paul George – B+
Paul George statline in 2018-2019 (pts/reb/ast): 28/8/4 on 44% from the field, 38.6% from deep. 3rd in MVP voting.
Paul George statline in 2019-2020: 21.5/6/4 on 44% from the field, 41% from deep.
The difference here is just minutes. In 18-19, Paul George played 37 minutes per game, and in 19-20 he played 29.6.
If you look at the per 36 minutes production, those statlines become 27.4/8/4 vs. 26/7/5. And when you take into account the better shooting, you could easily argue he played just as well this season as he did last season.
That said, we have to take into account that he did not, in fact, play 36 minutes. Coming off of double shoulder surgery, he also only played 61 games when you combine playoffs and regular season.
We also have to accept that, as understandable as struggling mentally in the bubble is, he still didn’t play at that same level in the postseason. I’m not hating on the guy, but we can’t ignore that.
Availability is the best ability, so as great as it is that he was still playing at a Paul George level, I’ve got to deduct points for time missed and for a playoffs dropoff.
LA Clippers Forwards Grades: Marcus Morris – B-
This is really a playoffs grade. Marcus Morris only played 19 regular season games after being traded to the Clippers for a first round pick. In those games, he struggled shooting and scoring, and played defense at a level you’d call decent, if you’re in a good mood.
But then the playoffs started, and Morris was suddenly transformed into a flamethrower, shooting 47.5% from deep. He also stepped his defensive game up, although we had some standard Mook extracurricular activities, especially involving Luka Doncic.
It’s tough to grade somebody who played 32 games total. He was a 44% three point shooter before the trade, so I’m inclined to believe his regression as a Clipper was just getting used to a new team.
As the Clippers decide whether to bring him back or not, they’ll need to figure out whether it was new-team jitters or not.
LA Clippers Forwards Grades: JaMychal Green – B
What can I say? I have a soft spot for guys who know their roles and excel in doing what the team needs them to, without trying to do too much more than that.
JaMychal Green followed that to a T. In 20 minutes a game, he only shot the ball 5.5 times a game, 4 of which were threes. He played JaMyke defense; he was able to bang down low against backup bigs and he was able to at least hold his own on the perimeter.
He grabbed rebounds and on the whole contributed to winning basketball. All of this added up to our belief at Clipperholics that JaMyke is an important free agent to retain.
All that said, he did shoot significantly worse this season compared to last year for us (48% from the field, 41% from three last season vs. 43% from the field, 39% from three). Not enough for me to give him a bad grade, but a B sounds about right here.
LA Clippers Forwards Grades: Patrick Patterson – C+
Patrick Patterson is a tough grade, mostly because he didn’t get a ton of run from Doc Rivers, so we didn’t get to see much of him. In the playoffs, he played a total of 10 minutes.
He basically did what we expected him to when he joined the Clippers. He hit threes and not much else. It’s hard to be too upset at a 6’8 forward who shoots threes at a 39% rate, but you’d like to see some defense or rebounds or basically anything else. But, that’s basically the Patrick Patterson experience, so we shouldn’t expect much more.
In the playoffs, Doc clearly felt like Pat couldn’t contribute – maybe he was right, and maybe he was wrong.
Either way, for a guy who didn’t do much but wasn’t asked to do much more, a C+ sounds about right.
LA Clippers Forwards Grades: Johnathan Motley – C
Remember, when I graded Terance Mann with the guards, I gave him a C+ with the caveat that for a rookie, that’s a solid grade. I’m keeping that same energy here with our youngster Johnathan Motley.
Motley saw a grand total of 41 minutes for the LA Clippers. That basically makes it impossible to grade him.
He made 11 out of the 14 shots he took total in the NBA last year. He grabbed 10 rebounds. But 41 minutes – it’s just impossible to say what kind of NBA player he is. We can look at the Agua Caliente Clippers to see how he performed in the G-League.
With the ACC, he was uber efficient, with a TS% of 61.9%. He put up a statline of 24/8 per game in 33 minutes per game.
But I don’t want to take too much from G-League performance, and that’s about all I have to say on Johnathan Motley.
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