Our first player grades of the season drop with the Clippers sitting at 2-1 after excellent back to back wins on the road against the Nuggets and Warriors.
James Harden: A-
The Beard is leading the Clippers in scoring (25 points), leading the entire NBA in assists (11.7), and is chipping in 8.7 rebounds per game in his 37.7 minutes. That’s quite a lot of production for a 35-year-old guard, and Harden has undoubtedly been the best player on this surprising Clippers’ squad. However, he’s shooting 36.2% from the field and 19.2% from three (8.7 attempts) while turning the ball over a ghastly 6.7 times per game. Harden’s saving grace efficiency-wise is that he’s getting to the line 10.3 times per game (shooting 90.3%) and is shooting 50% on two-pointers. Still, while he has to be aggressive with Kawhi out and PG gone, he’s settling for either too many stepback threes or wild drives to the paint rather than taking simple midrangers or floaters, and that has killed his efficiency. I hope that even if the production dips, the efficiency rises and turnovers decrease in the coming games. Still, it’s hard to really complain given the immense offensive load he bears for this team.
Norman Powell: A
Norm has been on an incredible heater to start the year, averaging 24.7 points while shooting 51.9% from the field, 40% from three (8 attempts per game) and 83.3% from the line (4 attempts per game). His scoring almost single-handedly won the Clippers the Nuggets game in the 4th quarter, and his big 3rd period against the Warriors helped stave off a run by the bad guys. He won’t continue shooting this well forever, but I love how many threes he’s taking and how aggressive he is in getting to the rim. The only reason this isn’t an A+ is for classic Norm reasons: he’s barely contributing on the glass (2.7 per game in 33.7 minutes) or as a playmaker (1.3 assists). His defense on the whole has been better than normal, though he’s still a weak link on this defense-first Clippers squad. Great start for Norm.
Derrick Jones Jr.: A
The Clippers are getting exactly what they signed up for from DJJ, who is averaging 13 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 1.7 steals in 30.3 minutes per game to start his Clippers career. The 60% from three (6-10 will not hold, but he’s taking open looks with confidence, and is not hesitating on attacking closeouts either. The main reason the Clippers added Jones is for his defense, and he has not disappointed, serving as an absolute pest at the point of attack and forcing turnovers while still playing smart and disciplined team defense. Outside of Kris Dunn and Zu, he’s the next most important piece to this ferocious (3rd ranked) Clippers’ defense early on. And his ability to finish above the rim on lobs and as an offensive rebounder has been great to see, as the Clippers have lacked such an athletic wing for years.
Terance Mann: D
After a solid opening game against the Suns that was marred mostly by foul trouble, Terance had complete duds against the Nuggets and Warriors. He’s averaging 3.3 points, 3 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 22 minutes per game and is shooting 33.3% from the field (5-15) while not making a three (0-4) or free throw (0-3) through three games. His defense, outside of aggressive over-fouling, has been decent, and that keeps his grade in the D instead of F range, but the passivity on offense has been really bad to start the year. The Clippers need Terance to play better, and based on his career, he will do so. But it has been ugly to see him pass up open looks or not push the pace on drives.
Ivica Zubac: A+
Zu is not just the story of the Clippers’ season so far, he’s one of the stories of the entire NBA. Averaging an insane 22.7 points, 14 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in 36.7 minutes per game, Zu is dominating on both ends of the court. On defense, he’s protecting the rim as well as ever, gobbling up rebounds, and even switching out onto the perimeter effectively at times. On offense, he’s acting as a legitimate hub and go-to presence, overpowering smaller defenders and nailing seemingly all of his little push shots and floaters around the basket. The patience, footwork, and vision by Zu on offense are all things that weren’t quite there just a few years ago, and really show his development. He almost certainly won’t continue playing at this level, but if he can keep this up even at 90% for the rest of the season he will be in consideration for All-Defense teams and maybe even the All-Star Game. That’s how good he’s been.
Kris Dunn: A+
While Dunn has not been the best player on the Clippers through three games, he has perhaps been the most fun to watch. I am not sure if I’ve ever seen a better perimeter defender on the Clippers, and while that might sound like hyperbole, Dunn has really been that good so far. He’s averaging 2 steals in just 22.3 minutes, and is doing so without gambling wildly or compromising the team defense. He gets deflections, he almost always make the correct rotations, he’s a lockdown one-on-one guy, and his 6.3 rebounds have been crucial for an undersized Clippers team. On top of all that, Dunn’s offense has been pretty good! He’s averaging 7.3 points on 60% shooting and 44.4% from three (4-9) with 2.3 assists to 1.3 turnovers per game as well. If he keeps this up, he’s well on his way to a legendary Clippers’ role player season.
Kevin Porter Jr.: F
There’s an argument to be made that Kevin Porter Jr. has been the worst rotation player on a good team to start this season. He’s averaging 4.3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 turnovers in 15 minutes per game, and is shooting an ungodly 20% (5-25) from the field and 11.1% (1-9) from three. Worse than the results on offense is the process, which consists mostly of him overdribbling and then launching contested jumpers. His defense has also been bad, with a few nice steals on gambles not making up for poor point of attack defense or sloppy off-ball play. I was not high on Porter Jr. as a signing, but this stretch of play has been abominably bad, and if it continues for even a couple more games than he has to be pulled from the rotation. The shots probably will drop at some point, but if the process doesn’t improve I really don’t care. Advanced metrics usually need a reasonable sample size to be meaningful, but it’s indicative of how bad he’s been that he has a -16.7 BPM and -0.262 WS/48 numbers on basketball reference, when anything below -4 or 0 respectively are considered abysmal (Avery Bradley was a -4.6 BPM and -0.011 WS/48 in his atrocious 2019 Clippers campaign). An absolute eye sore on the court.
Amir Coffey: B
Amir has been solid so far. Averaging 6.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, and 0.7 steals in 23 minutes per game, Amir has shot well from the field (7-14) and three (3-6) while contributing some of the best defense of his career. His grade isn’t higher because I do wish the Clippers were getting a tad more offensive punch from him with Porter Jr. struggling so much, but a lot of that isn’t Amir’s fault. He’s been getting heat from fans on Twitter (largely because he’s playing over Jordan Miller) which I think is undeserved. It’s been a nice start to the season for Amir.
Nic Batum: B-
As always, Nico’s stats don’t jump off the page. He’s averaging just 3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in 20.3 minutes per game, and is a total of 2-6 from the field in that span. However, his defense has been as good as ever, and is one of the reasons why the Clippers’ team defense has been so stout. Moreover, his ability to play small-ball center in small doses has helped immensely when the Clips have gone away from Kai Jones in the second half of games. The shots will start falling sooner or later, but Nico brings defense, smart passing, and all the little things.
Kai Jones: C-
Kai has only played 21 minutes across three games, and just 9 in the last two, so his sample size of play is tiny. In those minutes, he’s largely failed to stand out one way or another, but the coaching staff’s lack of trust in him is notable. I’ll knock him down to a C- because of his complete lack of impact over the last two games, even in limited minutes.