The LA Clippers have had a rather quiet free agency period.
Other than Justise Winslow, they haven’t re-signed anybody new. It’s not a huge deal, as the main priorities of the team were to simply bring the core back.
They did that, as Reggie Jackson and Nicolas Batum are here to stay, and Kawhi Leonard is set to re-sign with us. There were still a few free agents, however, that could have really benefited this team. I’m not trying to call out Michael Winger at all, but point out some players that would be Clippers in a dream scenario.
No. 3 free agent that the LA Clippers missed out on: Nerlens Noel
Nerlens Noel could have been a big help for the LA Clippers. We don’t have a ton of true big men signed through next year. It’s just Ivica Zubac, Serge Ibaka, and Daniel Oturu.
The Clippers could use some more defensive presence down low. They were given a hard time by Deandre Ayton in the Western Conference Finals, and Ibaka is coming off of an injury.
Currently, they don’t have DeMarcus Cousins signed, or Patrick Patterson. They didn’t upgrade their bigs, and didn’t through the draft either.
Noel is great on defense, and even averaged not only 2.2 blocks per game this season, but 1.1 steals per game as well.
The Clippers had to go small frequently in the playoffs due to them just not being strong enough in the big man department in the postseason.
Perhaps they should have gone after the 6’11” Noel, who would have been able to bring a bit more balance to the roster.