High in the rafters of the Staples Center, giant banners hang down with the faces of Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan. A banner with an unfamiliar face hangs low and to the left of the others, seemingly all alone. The face belongs to Spencer Hawes, the Los Angeles Clippers‘ prized offseason acquisition. The only problem so far this season: Hawes’ play has been more second-rate than award-winning.
Hawes has struggled mightily this season, averaging the worst numbers of his career since his rookie campaign. He is shooting a career-low 40 percent from the field and has already missed nine games because of a nagging knee injury. He seems lost on the court at times and he is still trying to get acclimated to playing alongside Griffin and Jordan.
Despite the awful start, head coach Doc Rivers hasn’t given up on him yet. Rivers defended his big man last week, after a tweet by ESPN commentator Bill Simmons sparked some controversy.
“He’s got it wrong and that’s all I’ll say,” Rivers said in reply to Simmons’ claim that the Clippers made a mistake by signing Hawes instead of Paul Pierce. “I’m sure I’ve made more mistakes, but that ain’t one of them.”
Hawes has demonstrated in past seasons that he can shoot the three ball at a decent clip. He is also a good rebounder and capable defender. Does he dominate the box score? Not really, but he can certainly make an opposing player think twice before driving the lane.
With the NBA All-Star game just around the corner, the pressure is starting to mount for the Clippers. Before the start of the season, they were considered favorites to make a championship run, yet they haven’t lived up to the hype. A lot of that has to do with Hawes’ poor performance, but he still has time to turn it around.
If the Clippers want to have a shot at making it deep into the playoffs, Hawes needs to play up to par. If he is able to do so, he could make all the difference between another early playoff exit, or a spot in the NBA Finals.
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