Clippers’ Doc Rivers has a lot to prove as GM
The Doc Rivers era doesn’t look like it will be coming to an end with the Los Angeles Clippers anytime soon. According to multiple outlets Rivers and the Clippers agreed to a five-year, $50 million contract extension for him to stay on as head coach and president of basketball operations through 2018-2019.
There’s no debating Rivers’ coaching credentials. He’s won a championship, made it to the finals twice and led top-10 defensive teams (by defensive rating) the past seven years.
The question is if he can put the personnel in place for Los Angeles to take the next step. Last season the Clippers lost in the Western Conference semifinals to the Thunder. In the two previous years under Vinny Del Negro, LA was bounced in the first round and semifinals.
The first big move Rivers made in 2013 was trading guard Eric Bledsoe to the Phoenix Suns in a three-way trade bringing back J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley. The Bucks acquired two second round picks, while Phoenix also picked up Caron Butler.
Redick is an excellent player and had a strong season when he was healthy, but Dudley regressed significantly.
Bledsoe ended up forming a deadly two-guard tandem with Goran Dragic that took the league by surprise. If you paid attention it really shouldn’t have.
In 2012-2013 Paul and Bledsoe played 185 minutes together posting a 115.9 offensive rating and 104.7 defensive rating
In 2011-2012 Paul and Bledsoe played 76 minutes together posting an 11.4 ORtg and a 93.5 DRtg.
The sample size is small so you can’t just go by the numbers, but it’s not reactionary criticism to say Del Negro should have given the pairing a longer look, many called for it during those seasons.
It’s at this point I remind you when the Clippers were eliminated in the playoffs by the Thunder in six games, Russell Westbrook averaged 27.8 points with a .618 shooting percentage. None of LA’s guards were capable of defending him.
In 58 minutes with Bledsoe on the court last season Westbrook’s true shooting percentage was 37.8 percent from the field and 59.3 percent when he didn’t play during the four Suns vs. Thunder matchups.
Did Rivers trade away the perimeter defensive presence Los Angeles needed to complement the threesome of Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan?
It’s not an unreasonable argument to make.
After the Bledsoe deal the other moves that have gone down under Rivers watch include signing Byron Mullens, Antwan Jamison, Hedo Turkoglu, Glen Davis and Danny Granger. Jamison and Mullens both got dealt midseason because they weren’t useful contributors.
All five were cheap, buy low candidates, and not one panned out.
This summer the two main additions were center Spencer Hawes and point guard Jordan Farmar.
Farmar was a replacement for Darren Collison, who got an obscene three-year, $15 million contract from the Sacramento Kings. Farmar received a two-year, $4 million deal and will at minimum contribute as much as Collison with the potential for more.
The other move was a little more interesting. There’s nothing wrong with paying Hawes $22 million over four years. Big men with his shooting range and general skill set have value – the curious part is how he fits on the Clippers roster.
Offensively, Hawes paired with Jordan or Griffin will be deadly. Hawes will space out to the three-point line, where he’s a career 36 percent shooter, allowing Griffin/Jordan space to dive hard out the pick and roll with “CP3.”
Defense is where the concern lies.
When Hawes is playing with Jordan neither seem capable of defending athletic power forwards with the ability to create shots off the dribble.
When Hawes takes the court with Griffin there will be a lack of rim protection to scare teams from relentlessly attacking for layups and dunks.
Rivers must believe in his defensive scheme so strongly they can play good enough team defense to get around these flaws or the offense will be so good being average to below average in these groupings won’t matter.
Rivers the coach has earned the benefit of the doubt to get the most out of the roster he has access too. Rivers the executive is still an unproven commodity with lots of questions to answer.
Two offseasons isn’t a fair time span to make a definitive statement about Rivers ability to construct a team. Having Griffin and Paul can cover up for a lot of weaknesses over the course of a regular season. How Rivers maneuvers in the margins of the roster is what will decide if their ceiling will eventually be reached.