6. LA Clippers
X-Factor: Milos Teodosic
LA Clippers fans were shocked to hear star Chris Paul was headed to Houston via trade. Now that the dust has settled from the deal, the Clippers roster is now deeper than it was with Paul in town. Patrick Beverley, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell, Darrun Hilliard, DeAndre Liggins, Lou Williams, Kyle Wiltjer, cash considerations and a first round pick for next season was the big return LA landed.
Beverley will most likely earn the most minutes out of the former Houston players. He will start at one of the guard positions, depending on where Milos Teodosic fits best. Teodosic, brought over from CSKA Moscow in the offseason, averaged 16.1 PPG and 6.8 APG while shooting 89.7% from the free throw line. Beverley has played the 2 before, so my guess is he moves over to SG for the 30-year old Serbian.
Health permitting, Danilo Gallinari will start on the wing. Gallinari was a force last season in Denver scoring 18.2 PPG and shooting 38.9% from deep and 90.2% from the charity stripe. Expect a big boost in production at SF over last season in LA.
Finally, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan are the tandem once again down low. These two bigs are absolute bruisers, combining for 33.4 PPG and 21.9 RPG last year.
LA’s bench got some major help from Houston in the offseason. This year it includes Austin Rivers, Jawun Evans, Lou Williams, DeAndre Liggins, Sam Dekker, Wesley Johnson, Montrezl Harrell, Brice Johnson, and Willie Reed. The Clippers went from having a rather weak bench, to a very formidable one out West.
Coming off of a 50-win season, LA can expect another trip to the playoffs. While Paul was one of the top point guards in the league, the Clippers will enjoy the added depth.
Final Record: 44-38