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Although the Los Angeles Clippers were one of the best teams in the NBA during the regular season, their postseason revealed the prominent effects of the team’s weaknesses. After a seven-game series with the San Antonio Spurs, the Clippers failed to close out their 3-1 series lead against the Houston Rockets. In the end, Los Angeles did not have the adequate depth that a true NBA championship contender possesses. Doc Rivers is to blame for this faulty roster construction, and the Clippers’ general manager should be stripped of these duties.
Last offseason, the Clippers seemingly needed only one or two more quality role players to compete for a championship. However, Rivers failed to add any competent players, and the team exited the playoffs in the second round once again.
To address the team’s needs, Rivers elected to sign Spencer Hawes for the full mid-level exception in free agency last year. During this season, Hawes played 17.5 minutes per game, shooting a dreadful 39.3 percent from the field and 31.3 percent from three-point range. Hawes clearly did not live up to his expensive salary, and now he joins the company of several other Clippers with undeserving contracts on the roster.
This free agent signing, in turn, limited the team in making any other major offseason moves. Instead, the Clippers were forced to settle with Jordan Farmar, who was cut by the team only a few months later. Rivers used the full bi-annual exception on Farmar, once again wasting money that could have went elsewhere.
Rivers then decided that he needed even more cap room, accepting a trade that sent Jared Dudley (and a first round pick) to the Milwaukee Bucks. In 2014, Dudley was one of the two assets received for potential star Eric Bledsoe. The cap room that Rivers opened up in this trade became free agent signings Hedo Turkoglu, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Epke Udoh, none of whom made a noteworthy contribution to Los Angeles this season.
These head-scratching moves prevented the Clippers from making a memorable run in this year’s postseason. After tangling with the Spurs in a rugged seven-game series, the Clippers looked worn out at the end of the series with the Rockets. During much of the series, Los Angeles seemed to have only two offensive options in Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, and in the end, the Rockets posed a nearly unbeatable test. Quite simply, the Clippers’ role players came up small, and not even the illustrious duo of Paul and Griffin were enough to win the series.
Nicholas Sciria is a writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @Nick_Sciria, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.
