LA Clippers Question 3: What kind of pace will the Clippers play at?
There’s an interesting dichotomy between the two LA Clippers stars based on how fast they want to play.
On the one hand, Kawhi Leonard developed under the plodding Spurs, who rarely escaped the bottom five leaguewide in pace.
On the other hand, Paul George, after leaving the grind-it-out Pacers, had a career year playing fast with the Oklahoma City Thunder, who had the 6th highest pace last year.
How will Ty Lue handle this? Historically, Lue has wanted to tailor his rotations to play fast. When he took over as coach of the Cavaliers, they were one of the most grind-it-out teams in the league, playing at the 3rd slowest pace in the league.
But Lue’s influence would take hold. In his second year, the Cavs were league-average at 16th in pace, and in his 3rd and final year, they were 9th in the league. It’s no mean feat to change the pace of play so drastically, and it speaks to how Ty Lue wants to play.
Last year, the Clippers played at the 8th fastest pace in the league, so Lue is inheriting a much different style than he did in Cleveland. The question, then, becomes how happy is Lue with this pace? Is the speed we played at last year acceptable, or does he want to push the limits of how fast this roster can go?
If Lue wants to go at hyper speed, he has the pieces to do it. A lineup that looks like Beverley/Shamet/George/Kawhi/Green doesn’t sacrifice much on defense, and surrounds Kawhi with four guys who all shot at 37.5% or better, letting him immediately capitalize on the first mistake a defense makes.
The point stands if the Clips enter the trade market for a playmaker. Lue can play as fast as he wants; the question is what’s best for Kawhi? Paul George has succeeded to varying degrees when playing fast and playing slow. Last year was Kawhi’s first year at an above average pace.
One of the big questions facing the team as Lue takes over is what pace the coach wants to play at, and what pace works best for this roster.