The New Kings of LA?

Will star power win out, or are the Clips destined to fizzle?

The NBA already has a new superteam. Certainly didn’t take long. This week’s stack du jour is none other than the LA Clippers, who completed a blockbuster trade to bring the disgruntled James Harden back to his hometown after a disappointing stint in Philadelphia. For those keeping track, their starting five is now Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Ivica Zubac, and Harden. On paper, they are easily the best starting five in the NBA, and it’s not even close. But can these stars really mesh together? After all, there is only one ball, and the guys listed all operate at their best with the ball in their hands. It is way too early to tell if this new experiment is tenable in the long term, but after their first game together, they have to be feeling pretty good despite a loss, and because of that, we have to ask the question: how good does the team look?

Shocking no one, they look really good offensively. Tyronn Lue is one of the best coaches in the NBA and it seems to me he doesn’t get the flowers he deserves. If anyone can balance the egos and skills on this team, it’s him. He has already found some foundational elements for his offense that will be an absolute nightmare to guard. For example, their second possession saw Westbrook bringing the ball up and getting Harden the ball near the slot. From there, Harden served as the playmaking hub. From this possession, Westbrook was able to get downhill thanks to a Zubac back screen, but Harden didn’t like the look. Westbrook then screened for Kawhi in the weak side corner with some help from Zubac, allowing Kawhi to pick his spot with a creative horns action. Poor communication from the Knicks and a great screen from Zu got Kawhi a wide open three from the wing. He won’t miss many of those in the future.

Their next possession used the same design, but Zu got into a pick-and-roll with Harden instead of screening for Kawhi. They ended up getting free throws out of it.

Of course, not everything ran smoothly. Hard to imagine any team becoming a well oiled machine in only a couple days. That said, even some of the stuff that didn’t work had promise. Still in the first quarter, the Clippers ran another play which saw Westbrook get Paul George the ball after a baseline pindown. Russ immediately ran P&R with PG, and just as immediately ghosted the screen to get the ball in space and moving downhill. If not for great anticipation from Quentin Grimes, he would have connected with a wide open Harden in the corner. And if Robinson had committed to stopping the drive too hard, Russ could have lobbed it to Zu. The Knicks defended the play well, but there were options. Good ones, too. In the future, look for Russ to give a hard head fake or even get in the air to feign shooting before firing his pass into the corner.

A theme from their first game together was getting Russell Westbrook into space. Much has been said about Russ in the media, but the guy can still play. It’s not like he’s barely holding on to a roster spot. He’s dangerous with a head of steam, and for the sake of his confidence, I like that his coaches and teammates are willing to give him room to operate. Even with some of the poor shot selections or ugly turnovers, he has a good ability to make reads out of drives. Take for example the play below.

This one is nothing crazy, but it is a nightmare to guard. The pass to Russ triggered the Spain P&R, where Mason Plumlee screened for Russ while getting a back screen of his own from PG. It was really well defended, but Plumlee’s defender had to respect Russ’ drive to the point that he allowed just the faintest window for Plumlee to get the ball back. He got it in a great position and was able to capitalize on the opportunity. The Knicks have started the year as arguably the best defense in the NBA. This action will not be well defended every night, and it will put immense pressure on defenses. Notice how when Plumlee made his move, Julius Randle lost Kawhi and let him drift to the wing completely undefended. If Plumlee would have kicked the ball out, it almost assuredly would have been three points for the Clips.

There were other things to like of course. PG was aggressive in posting up with smaller defenders on him and Harden led the bench well when he was the only superstar on the floor with them. But there were concerns as well. The most obvious being defensive. In fairness though, there were a few really good defensive stops for the Clips that were more than promising. Cleaning up some communication issues and coverages will keep them operating at a high enough level to potentially take them to the Western Conference Finals. The addition of PJ Tucker certainly doesn’t hurt the versatility either. There were also some visible frustrations on the offensive side as players were left unsure about a play call or had to direct their teammates to the right spots. All things that will come together as the team spends more time in the lab.

The Clippers are going to be really good. If not for some exceptional Knicks defense down the stretch, they would have won their first game together. On November 10th, they’ll have to face a scorching Dallas Mavericks team led by the best version of Luka Doncic we have seen to date. That matchup will prove to be a true test of their worthiness to compete at the top of the West, and the NBA world will be watching very closely.