LA Clippers: The bench needs to be addressed by Ty Lue

The LA Clippers need to address the problems with their bench.

The LA Clippers suffered their fourth loss of the season on Friday, falling to the Golden State Warriors 115-105 in a game that they once led by 22 points. After the loss, calls for change came from both players and fans alike.

Kawhi Leonard said postgame “We’ve got to change it. We’ve got to get better.”

Leonard is not one to mince words and is correct in the assessment. However, it’s the bench that needs the biggest change of all.

Last season, the Clippers’ bench featured the Sixth Man of the Year and the third runner-up in Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams. The bench was a scoring threat despite having some holes on the defensive side of the ball. This season, Harrell is gone, Williams is not yet playing up to his abilities from year’s past and the Clipper bench is the worst in the league.

The bench is still scoring with the additions of Luke Kennard and the now-healthy Marcus Morris but defensively, they are a black hole. From the LA Times:

"The Clippers bench now ranks last in plus/minus. Even excluding a 51-point loss to Dallas, the reserves have still produced the second-worst plus/minus over the last four games thanks to a leaky defense that has seen them outscored by four points per game despite shooting the league’s second-best field-goal percentage."

In games like last night, that type of play can make or break a team. The biggest question now is how exactly will the Clippers fix the issue? The simplest fix that fans always point to is to make a trade. George Hill is the favorite candidate for fans, given his familiarity with Ty Lue, his defensive presence, and his ability to distribute.

The issue facing the Clippers, however, is a lack of assets. Mfiondu Kabengele is a young prospect but the team didn’t pick up his option which is alarming. Terance Mann has looked okay at times but he’s not even cracking this lineup and is “older” for being a young player. Lou Williams might interest some other contenders but does he bring back the value the Clips need?

With trades being a non-certainty, the issue needs to be addressed by head coach Ty Lue. Lue has experimented with lineups all season but now he might just have to face reality and avoid playing a five-man bench unit.

Staggering Kawhi Leonard and Paul George seems like the easiest fix, giving the Clips a two-way presence at the wing at all times. With Marcus Morris coming off the bench, the Clips would have two solid defenders at the wing at any given time while also still having offense available. The rotation would look something like Kawhi coming off the court first for Morris, allowing PG to continue with the second unit. Once Kawhi gets some rest, he would then come in for George, and so on.

This might put a lot of wear and tear on the stars, which is concerning but if the team can hold onto bigger leads, the duo would eventually get rest at the end of games.

The other option would be to never play a three guard rotation of Kennard, Williams, and Jackson. The trio are all bad defenders and are an extreme downgrade from the starting backcourt of Patrick Beverley and Paul George.

Don’t believe me?

When Beverley comes off the court, the team absolutely leak points. The three poor defenders off the bench just cannot continue to happen as they are right now.

Whatever route Ty Lue decides to go, he needs to do it soon. The Clips are still learning and figuring each other out so there’s no need for panic just yet but the bench does need to be addressed sooner rather than later.