Los Angeles Clippers
"Their goal should be the 2 seed and they should win 50+ games easily. … They will need home-court advantage in the second round if they want to make the West finals. … It’s the same question every year: Who are they in the playoffs? Something always goes wrong and they always crack. … I don’t like any of their players in the postseason, really. Everyone talks about Paul’s poor postseason record, but Blake’s had injury issues, DeAndre has the free throw shooting and Redick disappears. Needless to say, that bench isn’t going to save them. They still have a hole at three and their back-up bigs aren’t great. Why should this year be any different than previous years? … It’s kinda funny how much the Warriors love kicking their ass. … Paul is starting to get passed by some of the younger guys at his position. I’d rather have Curry, Westbrook and Lillard over Paul this year and I worry about Paul’s health going forward. … Mike Conley is the best defensive point guard in the league and Paul is second, at least when he’s locked in. … Paul takes all the criticism because he has the ball in his hands all the time but who else can Doc Rivers trust? … When he’s healthy, Blake is the best power forward in the league. He can shoot it, play-make, handle the ball, toss lobs, run the offense through the elbow. He’s always a threat. … Doc should think about scaling Blake’s minutes way back during the regular season. He’s not that old but he’s missed a lot of time. … You can win a championship with Jordan as your center thanks to his defense and he’s made great strides year after year. His free throw problems wouldn’t be such an issue if he was on a deeper team. … Mbah a Moute was a nice find for them and no one will even notice that Jeff Green is gone. He’s just one of those guys who doesn’t leave a mark. Going after Green last year was pointless. … I understand why they paid Austin Rivers and Crawford this summer. It was a lot of money, but Crawford is underrated because he’s one of the few guys on that team that can create a shot. You wish he took better shots, but that’s his game and he’s proven that it works for years. Rivers has taken steps forward in terms of his on-ball defense, ball-handling, running pick-and-rolls, and filling minutes in the second unit. He just doesn’t have a high ceiling. … Felton can help run some offense but their backcourt is a little crowded. They might try to go small with Felton, Crawford and Rivers together. I don’t really like that idea but it’s worth trying. … Pierce looks done. … Speights can’t play five because he doesn’t guard anybody. … At least Speights and Bass complement Jordan because they’re both offensive-minded. … They will miss Cole Aldrich."
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