The Clippers are a Trainwreck

On October 31st, the Clippers completed a blockbuster trade for perennial All-Star guard James Harden. The Clippers gave up Marcus Morris, Robert Covington, Nic “Why the F*ck” Batum “in”, KJ Martin, as well as two firsts, two seconds, and a pick swap. The Clippers also acquired PJ Tucker in the trade, who is most known for shooting corner threes and holding your favorite All-Star to 30 points on good efficiency. The move immediately divided the NBA fan base, with many arguing that the Clippers had just become true contenders, while others argued it was a move that could implode their season. I fell in with those who believed in the latter, and with the Clippers boasting a 2-5 record with Harden on the floor, I’m liking my stance so far.

The roots of the Clippers' early struggles are pretty apparent based on the eye-test alone; their half-court offense is atrocious and honestly painful to watch. James Harden said upon joining the Clippers, “I am the system,” and this system seems to be everyone on offense standing around while the ball appears glued to someone's hands. The Clippers' ball movement with Harden through 7 games sees the team bottom 3 in overall passes made and bottom 10 in total assists. This insane lack of passing greatly limits the effect of having 4 perennial All-Stars and a glorified tree with hands, “Zubac,” on the floor at the same time. Similarly, the Clippers have also begun to pull away in the amount of dribbling that occurs on offense. This is clear with the team boasting a league-high 3.35 seconds per touch. This iso-ball often does not even have well-placed shooters though, with the players not named James Harden wandering the half-court lifeless. This combination of no passing and a lot of dribbling often results in Harden calling the tree for a screen while the other 3 players try to bump into each other, huddled in the same corner.

Outside of the staggering lack of ball movement and mind-numbing over-dribbling, the other key features of the Harden-led offense of the past are an insane amount of driving and three-point shooting. This is due to D’Antoni’s influence on Harden’s play style that emphasizes efficient basketball consisting of layups, free-throws, and three-pointers. However, this more positive side of Harden’s game seems to have been abandoned. Prior to the Harden trade, the Clippers were 12th in paint touch points, but they are 23rd in the 7 games so far with James Harden. The three-point shooting also has been negatively impacted by the Harden trade. It is true that the Clippers are now shooting more efficiently on catch and shoot threes, as they rank 7th in the league with Harden. But the volume is way down, with the Clippers attempting the 3rd least in the league per game since the trade. This is mainly due to the personnel not fitting the Harden play style. The most played 5 since the trade consists of Harden, Westbrook, George, Leonard, and Zubac. This five contains two players in Zubac and Westbrook who opposing defenses don’t really need to worry about on the perimeter. Westbrook is shooting a not terrible 30%, but on 3 attempts per contest it's something opposing defenses can live with and Zubac just can't shoot to save his life. And the changes made by once great head coach Tyronn Lue have just created more despair. New starter Terrence Mann is shooting 14% from 3 on the season, the same percentage as notorious sniper Evan Mobley. And the efficient three-point shooter Bones Hyland has been demoted to a healthy scratch in the last two contests.

The offensive mess that the James Harden Clippers face has created 4 major problems: too much dribbling, not enough ball movement, barely any drives to the basket, and unskilled three-point shooting. Any one of these issues could greatly limit a team's offensive output, and the Clippers have managed to do all 4 at the same time. As a result, I believe we are headed towards the inevitable Russell Westbrook scapegoating, Kawhi and PG13 just simply not playing, and James Harden demanding a trade after blowing up yet another Super team.