During the Golden State Warriors’ championship-winning 67-win 2014-15 season, the Dubs beat the Los Angeles Clippers three times, and only lost once.
Since then, however, the Clippers had a very busy offseason, and made multiple personnel changes. This leaves us wondering: how will the Warriors fare against Los Angeles next season?
The Warriors have changed virtually nothing in their roster, and their biggest offseason move was signing Draymond Green to a long-term contract to keep the power forward in the bay for the long run. The biggest subtractions were moving David Lee to Boston in return for forward Gerald Wallace and letting Justin Holiday leave to the Atlanta Hawks. Wallace, however, may be traded to another team soon, in return for cash or draft picks.
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Regarding Holiday, this is the second time that Atlanta has purged the end of the Warriors bench for high-potential young players (see: Bazemore, Kent). Atlanta wants to buy these players cheap, and develop them in their system, instead of letting the Warriors develop these young players into solid rotation players — but that is an issue for another article.
The Clippers, on the other hand, had one of the busiest offseasons in the association. They added Paul Pierce from the Washington Wizards to start at small forward, a position that the Clips had a serious weakness at last year. Pierce will add some scoring and shooting to the position, but will leave Doc Rivers and his coaching staff a little short on the defensive end.
\They also, for some reason, traded for Lance Stephenson from Charlotte, sending Matt Barnes and Spencer Hawes to the Hornets. This was a bad move for the Clippers. Barnes, however angering he may be sometimes, was one of the best defenders in the backcourt that the Clippers had, and added a bit of grind and scrappiness to a roster that is widely regarded to be “whiners”.
They also, for some reason, traded for Lance Stephenson from Charlotte, sending Matt Barnes and Spencer Hawes to the Hornets. This was a bad move for the Clippers.
Hawes also added a lot of shooting to the Clippers frontcourt, and was a very solid backup to Blake Griffin, as he was much more efficient on the offensive end and could stretch the defense better than Glen “Big Baby” Davis.
Stephenson joins a very crowded Clippers backcourt that included Chris Paul, J.J. Redick, Austin Rivers, and Jamal Crawford.
Paul is one of the best point guards — and overall players — in the NBA, Redick started at shooting guard for the Clippers last year, and is one of the premier shooters in the league. Those two will start, but that leaves the question of what to do with the other three.
Crawford will presumably be the sixth man for L.A. again, as he is one of the best sixth men in the league, and can add instant scoring when he steps on the floor. Stephenson is simply more experienced and developed than Rivers, and will probably get more minutes than Doc’s son. However, the Clippers just paid $6.4 million over two years for Rivers, and that is a contract that you give to someone who will not get any playing time. Which leads us to question what exactly Rivers wants his rotation to be.
March 31, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Austin Rivers (25) shoots against Golden State Warriors guard Leandro Barbosa (19) during the second half at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Perhaps the Clippers will give Pierce limited minutes, as he is getting older, and will play either Stephenson or Crawford at small forward when they come off the bench. Rivers will be the backup point guard/shooting guard, as Stephenson and Crawford rotate from small forward to shooting guard, depending on the game situation. This is not the best situation for the team, however, as neither Crawford or Stephenson can guard the small forward position.
The Clippers also re-signed center DeAndre Jordan, despite him initially telling the Dallas Mavericks he would sign with them. After returning to the Clippers however, their frontcourt remains one of the best in the NBA.
Now, how will all of these offseason moves will match them up against the Warriors?
Despite all that the Clippers did in the offseason, I simply can not see them doing any better against the defending champs.
Despite all that the Clippers did in the offseason, I simply can not see them doing any better against the defending champs.
Bringing back Jordan certainly will not hurt against the Warriors, but he is not a center that can run with the Warriors if they were to play small-ball with Draymond Green or Marreese Speights at center. Jordan is fast enough, and can keep up with both those players, but he will be pulled out to the perimeter when guarding either of those players, leaving open lanes for Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson. If he decides to stick to the paint, leaving Green open for three is never a good idea, as he is a good enough shooter to nail an open shot, and he is also athletic enough to throw up a quick pump fake and blow by the defender.
On offense, Jordan is very, very limited, and can only score points off offensive rebounds or catching lob passes, both of which are very difficult to do against the Warriors, as their defense and rebounding are top class.
Blake Griffin will present a problem to the Warriors, as he does to every team, but Green will be able to keep the All-NBA forward in check, and Griffin will not be going off against the Warriors anytime soon.
As mentioned above, the Clippers backcourt is a very interesting situation. Looking at it on paper, it is loaded will good players, but the problem lies in the fact that is simply has so many players, and none of them are as good as the Splash Brothers.
Curry and Paul have had some good battles the past couple years, but Curry has always come out on top (remember Steph making Paul fall down with a nasty behind-the-back move? Yeah, expect more of that), and the Warriors backup point guard, Shaun Livingston, has a distinct advantage on both ends of the floor over Rivers and Crawford, the Clippers’ back up point guards.
Mar 8, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Shaun Livingston (34) passes the ball after dribbling past Los Angeles Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) in the fourth quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Clippers 106-89. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
At shooting guard and small forward, the Warriors, again, have an advantage over the Clippers. Thompson is arguably the best shooting guard in the league on both ends of the floor, and can simply dominate Redick or Stephenson, or whoever plays at shooting guard for the Clippers. At small forward, Harrison Barnes holds a large athletic advantage over Pierce due to Pierce’s age, and will be able to defend Pierce with ease and blow by him on the offensive end.
Overall, the Warriors simply have a more well-rounded roster than the Clippers, filled with better players. The Clippers tried their best during the offseason, making moves all over their roster, but none of the moves will add up to significant change for the team. The Warriors will be able to dominate the Clippers for another year, at least.
How do you think the Warriors will fare against their rival Clippers. Has Doc Rivers done enough to improve the Clips’ roster to contend with the champs? Let me know in the comment section below.