NBA: 10 Best Frontcourts In the League
By Brad Rowland
5) Los Angeles Clippers
DeAndre Jordan, Blake Griffin, Matt Barnes
Blake Griffin is, without any question, one of the ten best basketball players on the planet. Some circles have been slow to come around on Griffin (namely, people that haven’t watched him play enough to know he is more than an “athlete”), but the star power forward averaged 24.1 points (6th in the NBA) and 9.5 rebounds (15th in the NBA) per game while shooting 52.8% from the field (16th in the NBA) and his 23.98 PER ranks 10th in the league among qualified players from the 2013-2014 season.
In other words, Griffin is a bonafide number one option, and he is more than worthy to “anchor” an elite frontcourt.
Next to Blake, the underrated DeAndre Jordan came into his own in a big way last season. Jordan is certainly not a thoroughly polished commodity on the offensive end (as evidenced by 42.8% shooting from the free throw line), but the athletic 7-footer did lead the NBA in field goal percentage last season while making 67.6% (!) of his attempts. However, Jordan is known for his defense and rebounding, and his numbers flew off the charts as he led the NBA in rebounds (13.6 per game) while finishing third in blocks (2.48 per contest). Doc Rivers has held nothing back in terms of praising Jordan as the league’s best defensive player, and even if I wouldn’t go quite that far, he is a budding star at the age of 26.
There is definitely a drop-off after Griffin and Jordan, though, and that is why the Clippers do not rank higher despite the star power. 34-year-old role player Matt Barnes appears to be the starter at the small forward spot, and while he is quite solid from a perspective of the average NBA role player, Barnes is nothing to get excited about at his advanced age. He does provide quality defense, which is something that LA desperately needs on the wing, and reasonable 3-point shooting (34.3% a year ago), but ideally, the Clippers would probably like to replace him with a higher-value commodity.
The Clippers are the highest rated team that isn’t stacked across the board at all three positions, but Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan are so good that it doesn’t particularly matter.