For the LA Clippers, free agency led to a big change in what the playoffs will probably look like for the team, rotation-wise.
After an offseason where the LA Clippers lost Montrezl Harrell and JaMychal Green and Landry Shamet, and added Serge Ibaka and Luke Kennard, things are going to look different in the postseason. Last playoffs, Green, Trezz and Shamet combined for about 55 minutes per game; that’s a lot of on-court time to make up for.
Just what will the playoff rotation look like now? Who’s going to start and, maybe more importantly, who’s going to close games? The truth is, we may not be able to answer that right now. It seem likely that the team has more moves up their sleeves that will have the team looking different after the trade deadline.
But while we’re waiting for the season to start, where’s the fun in patience? Let’s have a look at what the rotations are looking like now.
To begin, it feels like this team has an 8 man rotation once the games matter. Bev/George/Kawhi/Morris/Zubac/Lou/Ibaka/Kennard. Outside of that, I don’t have much confidence that we’ll see anybody else in the playoffs.
On paper, that’s a very quality rotation. 8 players who are all capable of having big moments when it counts. There’s plenty of shooting, and with the addition of Kennard we have another guy who can handle the ball when called on.
I expect that, barring any unforeseen injuries or trades, the starting lineup will be the same as it was last year – Bev/George/Kawhi/Morris/Zubac. In the playoffs last year, the starters were a +10.2, so I see no reason to mess with a sure thing.
I’m curious to see what happens with Lou’s minutes, but I suspect they will be reduced – partly because of age, and partly because Kennard will probably warrant more minutes than Shamet did. In last year’s playoffs, when one of Lou or Shamet subbed in for Bev beside the four starters, the Clippers were +10.1 (with Shamet) and +20.9 (with Lou). A shooter alongside the four starters works, so I would bet we’ll see plenty of that with Lou or Kennard filling in for Bev.
Ibaka’s going to have a very interesting workload. He’s got mulitple shoes to fill with JaMychal and Trezz gone. We’ll mostly see him at the five while Zubac takes a rest, but against teams who have multiple bigs, when rim protection is at a premium, don’t be shocked to see a little bit of Serge at the 4 and Zu at the 5.
What I’m most interested in seeing is lineups with Kawhi at the 4. Something like Bev/Kennard/George/Kawhi/Ibaka doesn’t sacrifice on defense, while letting Kawhi operate against opposing forwards in the midrange spots he loves, with 4 very good shooters surrounding him.
Of course, one trade or signing can throw all of this into question, but with the roster we have now I’m excited for the playoffs. What do you think about our rotations going forward? Let us know on social media, and follow along at Clipperholics!