LA Clippers: Midseason additions are doing what they should

The LA Clippers are rolling, and they’ve been showing off their depth lately. They’re winning games without Kawhi Leonard, without Paul George and without both. The team’s depth is coming through in games like the Memphis win.

The LA Clippers are playing well against the teams they’re supposed to beat, and that’s helping them make a push for a top 2 playoff seed. Part of that success is the role players stepping up and contributing to big victories. Lately, we’ve seen the guys the Clips acquired in the middle of the season stepping up.

The newest acquisitions are doing exactly what they are supposed to for the LA Clippers.

Since the All-Star Break, the LA Clippers have picked up DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo, Yogi Ferrell and Malik Fitts. We didn’t see much from Fitts, who has since been dropped to make room for Yogi. Fitts just plaayed 11 minutes across his 10 day contract.

The other three, though, we’ve already seen plenty of contributions from. Cousins is playing as well as we could hope from him after his injuries, and he’s showing that he can fit in a locker room and play in a reduced role without making too much noise about it.

I was not a big fan of the Rondo trade when it happened, but he’s proving me wrong so far. He’s active on defense and keeping the ball moving on offense, while pulling out some of the Rondo magic on some unbelievable passes.

Ferrell has only played one game so far, but it was a promising one game. He put up 8 points and 7 assists, all while knowing almost none of the playbook. He seems like he can fit in well in a backup point guard role while guys like Patrick Beverley rehab their injuries.

Really, that’s exactly what all these midseason additions are meant to do. What are the odds that, when the LA Clippers enter the playoffs and the rotation drops to eight or nine guys, that Yogi Ferrell or DeMarcus Cousins (if they’re on the team) see serious time? Sure, they’ll see garbage time minutes, or fill in if somebody’s in foul trouble, but beyond that? Probably not.

Rondo’s a little less certain, and he could see time in the postseason, but even that is iffy. There are several guards who will want to see time, and not so many open spots.

What these news guys are doing is letting our stars rest and play it extra safe with soreness without tanking our playoffs seed. The fewer minutes our main guys have to play against a Memphis Grizzlies or Portland Trail Blazers in the regular season, the more likely they are to be good when the playoffs roll around.

If the LA Clippers manage to push into the two seed or hold onto the three seed, the lion’s share of the credit will go to our starters, but we can’t forget the free agents and trade acquisitions that helped us win games while our stars rested.