The Los Angeles Clippers came up short in their pursuit of a championship. They will look to reconfigure the roster around Kawhi Leonard and Paul George after a disappointing first season with the superstar duo.
One of the main weaknesses the Clippers experienced was their staggering lack of effective passing. Within the half-court, it was difficult for Los Angeles to create easy shots and the ball didn’t move well among many players with a shoot-first mentality.
According to Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s First Take, Leonard has ‘clamored’ for the Clippers to address the point guard position during the offseason.
“They clearly need a point guard. Everybody knows it and Kawhi Leonard privately has clamored for one,” Smith said.
“It’s not that he wants them to get rid of Patrick Beverley, but Patrick Beverley is basically a defensive ace who’s small and has to play opposing guards. So, they need a point guard that can run a team and can shoot.”
It will be challenging for the Clippers to make a substantial move to address the point guard position this offseason. They exhausted their supply of future first-round picks and that will require them to get creative in their approach to address this area.
The Clippers lacked a reliable option at point guard to run their half-court offense with Patrick Beverley and Reggie Jackson. Overall, it’s clear that Jackson was a bad fit as a shoot-first player without much impact while Beverley’s impact mostly occurs on defense.
The upcoming NBA free agency class features a few options the Clippers could pursue to satisfy this area of need. There isn’t enough cap space for Los Angeles to land one of the top options. However, Jeff Teague and D.J. Augustin each stand out as options.
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