Clippers must avoid this crucial mistake with Derrick Jones Jr.

With all the new faces joining the team, the LA Clippers have their work cut out for them in determining who is going to fit where to optimize this team's output. There are endless combinations to consider, roles to fill, and skillsets to continue evaluating. Ty Lue and his staff have no doubt already put in a ton of work, but more figuring will be done as the season goes on.

One thing that was clear from the Clippers' first preseason game is that this team thrives at the defensive end. They have multiple players that shine on defense especially. With this being basically a new team compared to last season, LA looks to hang their hat on defense for the time being.

At least, that is what was evident from Saturday night's close loss to the Warriors. The flip side of the coin is that the Clippers had some considerable struggles on offense in that game, most notably from three-point range where they shot a dismal 8-for-35, good for just 22.9% as a team.

That number is hopefully an outlier in a preseason game where the team was just figuring things out, but it was certainly not encouraging. If you look at this roster, there is not an abundance of three-point shooting, which should be cause for concern at some level in a league like the NBA.

LA must avoid over-relying on DJJ's three-point shooting

As we look around at this roster and consider who will end up being the biggest contributors from three, it becomes clear that one trap the Clippers could fall into would be believing that Derrick Jones Jr. can carry a big load when it comes to three-point shooting. Yes, he did shoot a career-best 34.3% from distance with Dallas last year, but he remains a career 31% shooter from outside the arc.

A video from Clippers practice of Derrick shooting from the corner surfaced on Monday, with The Athletic's Law Murray commenting that "Clippers are gonna need DJ to be proficient with this shot." While Murray is correct in saying that is something LA will absolutely need, I do not think it is necessarily a reasonable ask.

In the video, Jones misses two of the three attempts. These of course could have been his only two misses of the entire shooting session, but it simply does not leave a good picture of the situation. Derrick can obviously play well off the ball in several ways, but the Clippers will need to avoid adopting the mindset that he can consistently be relied upon to knock down catch-and-shoot opportunities from the corner.

For reference, Derrick shot right on his season average at 34.3% from the corner specifically last season, attempting 58.6% of his total threes from the corners. So while he is no slouch, the Clippers should be careful not to put too much stock into his contributions in that area.