The Nutshell 12/29: Injuries, injuries, and more injuries

Black Friday by Gabriel Ibrahim

Russell Westbrook will miss the next six weeks after another knee surgery

The basketball gods have not shown kindness to the NBA this season. Injuries have already plagued many teams and taken over the headlines across the league. Derrick Rose’s return was cut short with a knee injury just a month into the season. A broken foot put a halt to Brook Lopez’s rise to stardom. Kobe Bryant came back briefly before a bum knee knocked him out until Feburary. Rajon Rondo has yet to play this year and Marc Gasol is missing significant time for Memphis. Rookies CJ McCollum and Nerlens Noel have only watched games from the sidelines with Noel likely out the whole year.

Then, friday happened. The Oklahoma City Thunder announced that Russell Westbrook would miss at least 6 weeks after knee surgery. Westbrook will be sidelined until after the all-star break and the Thunder are left scrambling until then. Just hours after hearing of Westbrook’s injury, fans learned that Al Horford torn his pectoral and is out indefinitely. First off, let’s just think about how much both of these injuries suck. Westbrook ranks among the league’s most exciting players, even after his knee injury last season. He was averaging 21/6/7 in 25 games this year and looked like the Westbrook of old. I mean check out this game winner against Golden State.  I think there are maybe 10 players in the league who could complete that play, and Russ does it with the more passion than any of them. The surgery marks the third time Westbrook has gone under in seven months. Despite his successful comeback this year, people around the NBA are beginning to wonder if he’ll be able to retain his explosiveness. Others question if can ever stay healthy considering his style of play. All of which, while warranted criticism, makes every NBA fan frown. As for Horford, his recovery time is going to be about 4 months, bringing him back just as the regular season winds down. In 2011, he suffered the same injury on the other side of his body and played just 11 games for the Hawks. This time, the injury comes just as Atlanta seemed to be gelling into a Eastern Conference contender. Without him, the Hawks fall right back into the muddled pack of bad teams in the East.

The question for both these teams is “Now what?”. The Thunder have the option to stand pat and wait out the six weeks. Reggie Jackson’s emergence in his first season of major minutes is an encouraging sign for the team.

Reggie Jackson will need to step up for the Thunder while Westbrook heals

He averages 12 points, 3 assists, and 4 rebounds in 25 minutes a game. He needs to shoot a bit better as he’s hit just 30% of his shots in his past three games. But, Jackson can at least stabilize the starting five while Westbrook heals. Where the injury really decimates the Thunder is their backcourt depth. With Jackson starting, Jeremy Lamb and Derek Fisher (yes, he is still playing) will have to pick up the slack off the bench. Lamb has already seen his minutes increase this season and has played pretty well in those minutes (9/1/2 in 21 minutes). Derek Fisher is a corpse that the Thunder medical staff electrocutes every time he needs to play. While the Thunder usually opt against roster moves in season, they will need to consider making one this time. The West is just too strong for OKC to stay on top with Bernie Derek Fisher playing major minutes. They could try trading for a point guard like Toronto’s Kyle Lowry. The Thunder could offer their own first round pick, Dallas’s protected first rounder, and the trade exception they got from Kevin Martin’s departure for Lowry. While that’s a lot to give up, Lowry provides a great holdover until Russ gets back and could allow the Thunder to limit Westbrook’s minutes. Otherwise as Yannis Koutroupis of Hoopsworld points out, the Thunder could sign someone like Shannon Brown or they could wait to see how the team responds without Westbrook. The Hawks don’t have as many options, but realistically could be okay without Horford. They’re currently 3rd in the East and will most likely make the playoffs even without their star player.

The Hawks will have to stay afloat and hope Horford can get healthy for the playoffs

Jeff Teague has seemingly turn the corner toward becoming an elite point guard. Paul Milsap and Kyle Korver are enjoying productive season and should help keep the team afloat this season. The real decision for the Hawks will come in early April when Horford could come back. If Horford is ready in four months, he could suit up for the playoffs. But, Atlanta will have to decide whether to go for a miracle this season or hold Horford out to protect their future. Whatever either team decides to do, these injuries have put a damper on great development for each franchise.

The More You Know 

• Last night, Chris Bosh nailed a deep three with 0.5 seconds left in Portland to give the Heat their Eastern-Conference leading 10th close game victory. ESPN stats and info says it was the seventh game-tying or game-winning three with 10 seconds or less left of his career on 10 such attempts. NBA.com stats points out that Bosh is just 3 of 16 on similar shots inside the three point line. After the shot, Lebron and DWade pampered and caped their fellow superstar.
• John Wall notched his sixth consecutive of 20+ points with a 20 spot in last night’s win against Detroit. Wall has improved his scoring this entire season, but his impressive assist numbers have been more important for the Wiz. Washington is 8-2 when they rack up at least 24 assists like they did last night with Wall contributing 11.
• Al Jefferson put a 24 points and 22 rebounds in the Bobcats’ loss to the Hawks last night. It was just the 7th 20-20 game in Bobcat history, just for reference Kevin Love has put up 15 20-20 games in the past 3 years.

Gif of the night

DOUBLE ALLEY OPP! That’s a Giannis Antetokounmpo-Khris Middleton give and go in midair. The Greek Freak has responded well since gaining starter minutes in Milwaukee, putting up highlights like this nightly. He’s been one of the few bright spots for a very bad Bucks team. Thanks to reddit user /u/kylemramos for the gif.

League Pass Primer

The great point guard battle between Curry and Irving makes Cleveland-Golden State the League Pass game of the night

• LP Game of the Night: Golden State @ Cleveland 6pm Each team is heading opposite directions with Golden State riding a four-game win streak and Cleveland having lost its last four. But, both Steph Curry and Kyrie Irving have played great as of late. Irving has averaged 28.7 points a game while shooting 41% from 3 in his last nine, including 32 points on 22 shots in his last game. Curry has struggled to shot recently (31% in his last four), but he’s developed his game in other areas. He’s totaled 44 assists and 28 rebounds over the last four contests while notching his third career triple double(14/13/16) against Phoenix on friday.
• Atlanta @ Orlando 6 pm The Hawks responded well in their first game with Al Horford, beating Charlotte 118-166 in overtime. Paul Milsap(33) and Lou Williams(28) recorded season high point totals. They’re going for their 12th straight win over Orlando, but could have trouble with the Magic’s backcourt without Horford. Look for Nikola Vucevic to rack rebounds.
• Sacramento @ San Antonio 7 pm While a mismatch on paper, the Kings have a shot in this one. They just took down the defending champion Heat and Boogie Cousins has been on a tear lately. He’s put up a double-double in nine of his last 12 and has averaged 25 points and 12 rebounds in the last five games. The Spurs, meanwhile, have surprisingly struggled at home this season losing four of their last seven games. But, San Antonio has yet to lose to a team under .500.
• Philadelphia @ Los Angeles 9:30 pm Honestly, you probably don’t want to watch this one. The Lakers have lost four straight at home, while Phila has been the league’s worst road team. Pau Gasol and Chris Kaman are game-time decisions as is Evan Turner for the 76ers.
• Not on League Pass: Houston @ Oklahoma City 7 pm NBAtv 

The Nutshell 11/27: Anthony Davis has made the leap

Anthony Davis might be the NBA’s next great power forward

When the New Orleans Pelicans play, you can’t miss Anthony Davis. Last night against Golden State, he picked up his fourth foul with 9:48 left in the 4th quarter. He returned with 6:48 left and simply took over the game. He tied the game at 93 with 3:21 left and racked up 7 points and 3 rebounds in the final minutes. With 1:27 remaining, Davis made a play that really defines his game. After a Warriors timeout, Klay Thompson missed a 14-foot jumper and rebound went right to Davis. He gave the ball up to Tyreke Evans, sprinted out ahead of all his teammates, and reached the paint before most of the Warriors could get in position. Evans drove to the hoop and missed the layup, a normal occurrence for him this season. Davis was in perfect position though and slammed home the rebound.

On the last possession, Jrue Holiday passed to a open Eric Gordon on the wing rather Davis, who was open at the free throw line. Gordon missed the shot and the Pelicans fell to 6-8 on the season. In foul trouble for most of the night, Davis took just 9 shots in 30 minutes. But, he drained 6 of them and finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and 2 blocks. He picked 7 of those points in the last 4 minutes of the game. More importantly, Davis showed last night why many think he’s made the proverbial leap. He has improved defensively, after impressing last year on that side of the ball. He only trails Roy “The Scarecrow” Hibbert (it’ll catch on, trust me) in blocks per game and averages 1.7 steals a game, which is top 20 in the NBA and 8th best among forwards.

Davis’s defense has gotten even better from last season

He allows opponents to shoot just 42.5% at the rim, 5th best among players who face 5 shots at the rim a game. Davis also does a great job of using his long arms to eliminate passing and can effect shots by players of all sizes. His lankiness and quickness allow him to cover every player and every spot on the floor. He is shooting up the ranks of the NBA’s most versatile defenders. Along with his fantastic defense, Davis also rebounds like a monster. He averages 10.6 rebounds a game on 15.5 rebound opportunities, the 6th best rebounding percentage among players averaging 9 rebounds. He always seems to have good position and has a knack for knowing where shots will go. Despite his lack of girth at 220 pounds, Davis rebounds well when challenged by opponents. He ranks 4th in league with 4.8 contested rebounds a game.

While impressive, we knew of Davis’s defense and rebounding skills heading into the season. His offensive maturity from last year is what has raised eyebrows around the league. Davis has acted as the catalyst for New Orleans offense. He averages 1.09 points per possession, 3rd best among Pelicans playing 30% of the time. He has shot 49.7% from the field, not a particularly great number considering 62% of his shots come from within 8 feet. But, Davis really impacts the team’s ball movement. When he is in the game, New Orleans runs its entire offense off Davis’s picks, which are some of the best in the league. His picks are only surpassed by the rolls he makes off those screens. Davis cuts right through the middle of the defense off every pick and forces the defense to collapse on him or give up an easy dunk. Even if the roll is shut down, his picks allow the rest of the offense to flow. When he sits, the offense slows to halt as far as ball movement.

Davis has trouble creating his own shot and needs to work on his post game to become a truly dominant big man, but his progress this season suggest he can improve in those areas. All signs in this young season point to the Brow becoming a superstar. His defense and rebounding already make him one of the league’s most versatile players, but his offense is what will make him one of the league’s best power forwards.

The more you know:

• Chris Paul has my imaginary vote for MVP right now. He generates 37.4 points per game off his assists and averages 19.3 points himself, meaning he is responsible for nearly 60 points a game BY HIMSELF. His assist average of 12.5 puts him almost 4 assists better than anyone in the league. He also leads the league in touches this season. What I’m trying to say is that CP3 is basically the entire Clippers team right now and deserves consideration for MVP despite Lebron’s fantastic year so far.
• Kevin Love is just the perfect white guy. He leads the NBA in rebounds and rebounding chances, despite playing almost exclusively below the rim. He just knows where to be, He’s smart  saavy a gym rat any number of the adjectives that analysts use to describe white players. He also can’t dance. But seriously, check out some of his outlet passes this season. They are a thing of beauty.
  
• Andre Drummond leads the NBA in field goal percentage at 65.9%. He also has the league’s worst free throw percentage for players playing 20 minutes a game at 24%. He has only taken 4 of his 123 field goals from more than 8 feet. I have nothing to add this.

League Pass game of the night:

There are a lot of great games on tonight. Lebron heads back to Cleveland for what should be a blowout at 7:30 on ESPN (making it ineligible for League Pass). Atlanta-Houston and Denver-Minnesota should both be competitive and watching Rubio, Love, and Harden will always entertain. Those two will be at 8 pm. Golden State is always watchable and Monta Ellis has impressed this season for Dallas; they play at 8:30. Portland@Phoenix would probably get the top spot any other night, mainly because I irrationally like teams with twins and the Pacific Northwest.

Timmy and the Spurs head to Oklahoma City for the League Pass game of the night

But the top spot belongs to Oklahoma City and San Antonio. I don’t need to explain this one, just tune in at 8 pm and watch some magnificent basketball.

Random Thoughts on Game 7

Tonight’s game means everything to the Heat and their future.

So tonight is one of the most important nights in recent NBA history. The Heat, at the center of so many of these nights the past 3 seasons, will take on the suddenly validated Pacers in Game 7 of the Eastern Finals. The game no doubt will be amazingly tense, hard fought, and well played. LeBron James may go off for 50 or Paul George could shut him down and hit a game winner. Dwyane Wade could return to 2008 Dwyane Wade and win his way back into the hearts of Heat fans or Lance Stephenson could prove his status as a “Rucker Park Legend”. My point is enjoy the game as a fan and don’t let the announcers, blown calls, pouting, flopping or the rest of the ridiculous stuff take away from the beautiful basketball we seen in this series. Since 2000, only eight of the 36 conference finals and finals have featured a game 7 and most of them were instant classics (somehow the Heat have been in the last three game 7s in the conference finals). So sit down in front of your tv or at a bar, grab a beer (and heart medication for Heat and Pacers), and enjoy the game.

All that being said, I’m terrified as a Heat fan. I know I will not enjoy the game because I’ll be shouting and throwing things. I believe the Heat will win, but the mere prospect of not getting back to the finals frightens me more than almost anything for various reasons. The game should be great and I figured I’d collect some of my thoughts pregame before I collapse into a heap of emotions:

>>This game means more to the Heat than it does for the Pacers. That’s not to say the Pacers won’t play as hard as they possibly can, but rather there’s more consequences for the Heat should they lose. The Pacers have a golden future ahead of them should they stay healthy. They might come in as the favorites next season even if they lose. On the other hand, the Heat have so much riding on this game. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh have not effected this series in any positive way for Miami, the supporting cast outside of Udonis Haslem and Chris Andersen has disappeared, and, for the first time since the Decision, it feels like Lebron is angry with his teammates. Should they lose tonight, Pat Riley (assuming he doesn’t retire) will have a decision on whether to hope this group is enough for one more championship or if he needs to make moves to ensure not only success but also Lebron stays in Miami after 2013. This series has made Wade seem less like a superstar and more like an aging vet. His trade value may not get better than it is this summer and Riley may see a window to bring a replacement in and shed salary without tremendous backlash from fans. The whole bench could change. In short, the entire Heat’s future, and by extension, the NBA’s are on the line tonight. I think the Heat know this and their sense of urgency will be at all time high. (Yeah, this game is going to be a classic)

>>The officiating in this series has been horrendous both ways. Every game has seen the refs ruin three or four key moments by making a bad call. They rob us of a potential great ending by calling a moving screen on Lebron forcing him out of the game with two minutes in game 2. Refs can call moving screens on almost every screen set in the NBA and to call it in that situation was frankly a dick move. They launched a (unsuccessful) Heat comeback in game 4 by calling a shot clock violation after Roy Hibbert clearly hit the rim with a shot.  They stopped a Heat surge with a terrible charge/offensive foul call on Lebron that completely shifted the momentum in game 6. The NBA will have to do a review on these refs and calls because it’s ruining one of the best Conference Finals ever.

>>On the flip side, please everyone stop flopping and whining to refs over EVERY SINGLE CALL. Bitching and moaning to the refs never succeeds in changing a call (Maurice Lucas, the Blazers forward from the Walton era, actually intimidated a referee into changing a call once but that’s different) and it irks me to see this great players ignoring the game to complain. As for flopping, I get it. Anything to win a game and if flopping wins games, anyone would do it. But, come on. Just one game, no flopping, no complaining, just basketball.

>>Go HEAT.

The Bright Side for the Oklahoma City Thunder

Kevin Durant and OKC’s great year ended in disappointment, but hope still prevails for the Thunder

Before the NBA Playoffs began, Kevin Durant graced the cover of Sports Illustrated. The magazine put a quote by Durant on the cover with a photo of him at the free throw line. The quote showed the disgust that Durant has for second place as the second pick in the 2007 NBA draft, the second best high school prospect in his class, and a part of the second best team last season. It ends with Durant professing that he “is done” with second place. This year he didn’t end up in second place, but didn’t even reach the podium as the Thunder bowed out in the second round against Memphis in 5 games.

Despite obvious disappointment, Durant stated that the season, while completely falling short of expectations, was not a waste. In many ways, Durant is correct. Yes, the Thunder looked as close to bad as they could look in the Memphis series. Yes, Oklahoma City General Manager Sam Presti and head coach Scottie Brooks should receive heat for their actions in the preseason and postseason. Yes, it appears the Thunder have digressed from last season. All those concerns have valid roots and we’ll touch on them later, but the 2013 season brought plenty of good for the Thunder. The team captured the top seed in the West for the first time ever and won the most games in franchise history (I know the NBA counts the Seattle years in OKC’s history, but that is bullcrap and we all know it, FOREVER LIVE THE SONICS). Every returning player improved his PER. Durant took two less shots a game while increase his points per average, saw his shooting percentage increase by five, increased his assist average, and improved his defense. Russell Westbrook had similar growth but to a lesser degree as he improved his shooting percentage. We also saw less or at least talked less about instances where Westbrook hindered his team by shooting too much and spoke more of his ability to lead his offense.

Durant’s and Westbrook’s improvements all came as they had to carry a larger share of the team’s burdens due to the trade of James Harden. Serge Ibaka’s emergence on offense and two successful acquisitions by Presti in Reggie Jackson and Kevin Martin also contributed to filling the void left by Harden’s absence. Ibaka transformed himself into a small ball center in the model of Chris Bosh. He took more shots per game and added four more points per game. His biggest improvement was his three-point shooting. He only attempted six three pointers in his first three years in the NBA; this season, he attempted 57 three pointers. Ibaka made an impressive 35 percent of those shots, which beat Bosh’s mark this season by six percentage points. Martin gave OKC 14 points per game after coming over from Houston in the trade and Jackson took over the backup point guard position from Eric Maynor.

The Thunder though fell apart when Westbrook got hurt in the playoffs. Their struggles were visible as the offense fell apart against Memphis as they couldn’t adjust to life without Westbrook and Memphis’s great defense made that life hell for OKC. The tale of the Thunder collapse without Westbrook has been well chronicled and don’t need rehashing (unlike the positives of a great season that nobody seems to acknowledge). Criticism has poured in from every corner mainly on Presti and Brooks. Brooks deserve to be questioned for his inability to create any sort of strategy after Westbrook’s injury and mismanaging a number of situations in the playoffs such as not pressuring ball handlers against Memphis, leaving Durant in for too long against the Rockets, letting Durant play point guard, and allowing Kendrick Perkins to see the floor. The heat on Presti comes from the Harden trade. The decision to trade Harden cost the Thunder a finals trip this season by demolishing the chemistry they built last season. The trio that OKC seemed to build their future around enjoyed playing with each other and truly appeared to loved each other. They wanted to win for each other, they wanted to beat the Heat together. Then, Presti ran a train through their friendship because he was afraid to give up Harden for almost nothing. He could’ve waited and seen what happened this season then make a decision or amnesty Kendrick Perkins to create enough cap space that the tax would not be crippling. He could’ve afforded Harden anyway by amnestying the basically useless Perkins—I’m not a fan of his—and filling out the team with minimum veterans and rookies like the Miami Heat have.

So the Front Office probably cost the Thunder a finals run this year and a big three that would rival any in the NBA including the one on South Beach, but the future is still shining bright as long as Presti gets his mojo back. He can start by making a move he should have before last season: Amnesty Kendrick Perkins. Perkins’s performance in last year’s finals was atrocious and showed that he would no longer be valuable against teams that play small ball. This season, he declined in every major statistical category except assists and on defense. In the playoffs, he finished with a -0.11 PER to become the first player ever to finish the playoffs with a negative PER while playing 200+ minutes. To reiterate, he had THE WORST POSTSEASON EVER by that measure. Perkins will make 8 million next year and 9 million the following and Presti traded Harden because he cost too much. The move would be a year too late, but nonetheless necessary to provide some cap flexibility.

If they amnesty Perkins, the Thunder will have about 62 million in salary among nine players. The salary cap is projected to be about 69 million with the luxury tax at 84.4 million. With that 22 million in space before the tax, Presti needs use his draft picks efficiently and sign a swingman or big man to replace Martin and Perkins. The Thunder own their pick, number 28, and the Raptors’ pick should it fall outside of the top 3 in the lottery. The Raptors pick is hard to project because the lottery will decide who will be there for OKC, but if UCLA swingman Shabazz Muhammad falls to that pick, he could make sense in Oklahoma City. Muhammad can drive, spot up from three, and post up on smaller players, much like James Harden can. At 28, Presti should look at Center Jeff Withey from Kansas. Withey can run the floor, play the pick-and-roll game, and defends better than any other center in the draft. In free agency, the Thunder will have about 5 million in cap space and a 3 million in the taxpayer’s mid-level exception to fill out the roster. They need grab a bench scorer and some are available this offseason. OJ Mayo and JR Smith fit the bill, but might price themselves out of OKC’s market. Marco Bellinelli is a more realistic target and showed that he can score when given the opportunity this postseason. The Thunder will also look for some size after letting Perkins go. JJ Hickson makes sense, but again could be out of their price range. Brenden Wright, who averaged 8.5 points and 4.1 boards, fits for the Thunder this offseason.

The Thunder Front Office failed this season and smothered the team’s chance at a title this year. Their coach failed them in the playoffs. They need to make moves to get back to title contender status. But, the future in OKC will always be bright so long as Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook don a Thunder uniform.

Welcome back Supersonics: Sacramento Kings moving to Seattle

It looks like the Sacramento Kings are on the way to Seattle. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! sports reported yesterday that the Maloof family is finalizing an agreement to sell the Sacramento Kings to a group that hopes to move the franchise to Seattle for the 2013-14 season. The buying group is made up of hedge fund manager Chris Hansen and Microsoft chairmen Steve Ballmer, who have been trying to get a team back to Seattle for the past two years. Seattle already has a stadium deal in place to start building a new arena to replace the Key Arena. The group will try to have the team in Seattle by next season and hope to change the name and logo back to the old Supersonics logo. All the details can be found on Wojnarowski’s original story here.

The NBA returning to Seattle makes me and most NBA fans smile. The city that gave us Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Detlef Schrempf, and a Sasquatch for a mascot is back and I think everyone is ready to see the team again. But, there’s always the other side. The jilted lover,  Sacramento in this case, seems to be the means to an end. Someone had to be robbed to get basketball back in the Emerald City and Sac town got robbed. It is sad to see a fanbase disintegrate and probably will never get back together again. At least when Clay Bennet fleeced Seattle for the Sonics in 2008, there was still a feeling that Seattle would have a team again. Right now, NBA looks like it will never return to Sacramento and that’s a shame to lose a fanbase that is so passionate.

The memories of the late 90s-early 00s Kings will always be close to every NBA fan’s heart. Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Doug Christie, Mike Bibby, and the rest of those teams were a big part in my personal growth as an NBA fan. The Kings were cool, fast, flashy, and everything that made basketball cool. Past that, the success of those Kings created the precedent for what NBA teams are doing now with small ball. Hedo Turkoglu, Peja Stojakovic, and Vlade were outside shooters that happened to be 6-9 or taller. Players like Chris Bosh who embrace play center but work outside the paint come from that fold. The pioneering Kings should’ve gone to the finals in 2000, when they got absolutely robbed by the referees in the Western Conference Finals, and who knows if they stay in Sactown if they win that championship.

The new Seattle Supersonics will have a lot of work to do as they try to remodel the roster. Decisions on Demarcus Cousins’s and Tyreke Evans’s future will be the first hurdle for this new ownership group. I’d think Cousins and  Evans will be on the trading block now as the franchise will look for a fresh start in Seattle. The Kings might be super sellers this trade deadline with a whole bunch of expiring contracts and pieces that don’t really make sense together. But right now, I want to remember the great Kings teams and give a nod to the fanbase that once was.

*Also, remember this deal is tentative and nothing has been signed or promised just yet.

Can the Clippers’ Bench Mafia work in the playoffs

The Los Angeles Clippers are on top of the Western Conference and just came off a 18 game win streak. The streak may have been the best stretch of basketball for the franchise since moving to Southern California in 1978. Chris Paul ‘s leadership at point guard and Blake Griffin’s development have put the team on a new level this season, but what made the team unbeatable during streak is their bench play.

Jamal Crawford, Matt Barnes, Eric Bledsoe, Lamar Odom, Ronny Turiaf, and even Ryan Hollins have given the Clippers solid minutes throughout the streak.. Crawford averages 16.4 points and could take home his second 6^th man of the year award this summer. Bledsoe gives the team extra speed and athleticism. Barnes and Odom bring veteran knowledge and great defense. The quality play of the Clippers’ bench players allows Vinny Del Negro to rest his starters for long stretches in games. No one on LA plays more than 32 minutes a game. Just for a comparison, the Miami Heat, another very deep team, have 3 players averaging over 32 minutes with Lebron James leading the way with 37 minutes a game. 11 players play more than 10 minutes a game, not including injured veteran point guard Chauncey Billups and swingman Grant Hill. The Clippers, when healthy, have 13 players that can all contribute solid minutes. The depth of the Clippers has created championship hype usually reserved for the Lakers.

But what makes this team exceptional, their depth, might also make them vulnerable in the playoffs. The Clippers might have too many good players. Of the past 13 NBA champions, only two teams had 10 players that averaged 10 minutes a game in the playoffs and two others had 9 players in their playoff rotation. The rest used eight players, except for the 2001 Lakers who used seven. So the Clippers will have to cut down their rotation by at least three players, more likely four or five, by the start of the playoffs. Del Negro faces the decision of cutting out players and figuring out where those minutes will go. There is where the trouble comes. For example, Matt Barnes plays his best basketball in 19-22 minutes a game so adding or subtracting minutes from his total will affect his play.

There is another option for the Clippers: Roll with the current rotation. Del Negro and his staff could decide to try being the first team to win a championship with a 12 player rotation. I believe the Clippers will cut down their roster as players like Ronny Turiaf regress to their averages, but they will go into the playoffs with the deepest rotation in the league.  Regardless of what happens with the rotation throughout the season, the Clippers will be a championship contender in the Western Conference.