As broken down in this video post, the Clippers are over the salary cap and will not be able to spend more than $2 million on any given free agent this offseason. Their starting frontcourt of Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan is among the best in the league, but if Glen Davis declines his player option as expected they will no other frontcourt players on the roster for next season.
They do have the No. 28 pick in the draft to grab one big man, but they’ll need to add others for cheap. Their options will be limited to veterans looking to play for a contender or young guys who have fallen out of favor in the league. Some options at center have already been discussed, but here are five potential targets for the Clippers at power forward.
DeJuan Blair
Former Pitt big man DeJaun Blair has had the odds stacked against him since he decided to enter the NBA, dropping all the way to the second round because he has no ACLs. He’s been called too short to play center but too slow to play power forward. And the Spurs let him walk in free agency after he started 166 games for them in four seasons.
But he’s still a productive player who may be available at a small price. He earned under $1 million for the Dallas Mavericks this season, and although he’ll want a pay raise, it seems unlikely that a team will invest significant money in him. If the Clippers could convince him to come to Los Angeles, he would bring the ability to play both frontcourt positions and a career field-goal percentage of 53 percent.
Drew Gooden
It looked like Gooden’s career was over, and then he was very good for the Washington Wizards over the final two months of the regular season and in the playoffs. He averaged eight points on 53 percent shooting and added five rebounds per contest off the bench for the Wizards, providing them with a strong offensive option off the bench.
Gooden has earned over $50 million in his career and at least $2.7 million in every season prior to 2013-14, but at 32 his big paydays are over. He averaged nearly 15 points in 24 games with the Clippers in 2009-10—the most he’s averaged with any team in his career—so maybe he’d like the chance to build on that success.
Jason Smith
Smith has been with the New Orleans Pelicans the past four seasons and has developed into a solid offensive frontcourt player. He averaged nearly 10 points and six rebounds in 31 games last season while shooting 46.5 percent from the field. His offensive game isn’t that of a traditional big man—just 74 of his 282 field goals came from within nine feet of the basket, per NBA.com. Instead, he has a strong mid-range game; he made 47.8 percent of the 159 field goals he attempted from 15 to 19 feet.
Byron Mullens didn’t work out as a stretch big man for the Clippers in 2013-14, but Smith is a better rebounder and isn’t as quick on the trigger. If Doc Rivers wants a frontcourt player who can help create space with his shooting, Smith is a viable option.
Elton Brand
Former Clipper All-Star Elton Brand is nearing the end of his career due to quickly waning athleticism, but a second tour in Los Angeles with a championship contender could be a fitting way to close out his career. The 35-year-old played less than 20 minutes per game in 2013-14, but the Clippers wouldn’t require any more than that of him as their first big off the bench.
Brand’s mobility is mostly gone, but he can still score the basketball. He shot nearly 70 percent from within five feet with the Atlanta Hawks this season, 13th in the league among players who attempted at least 50 such shots. He also shot at least 45 percent from from five to nine feet, 10 to 14 feet and 15 to 19 feet. He’d fit really well next to a rim-protecting center off the bench.
Al Harrington
Harrington has had two down years, but if he can return to his 2011-12 self, he could be a steal for the Clippers. That season he averaged 14 points and six rebounds in 27 minutes per game for the Denver Nuggets. He shot 46 percent from the field and made one-third of his threes—enough to make a defense defend him out to the arc.
Unfortunately, that Harrington disappeared. In Orlando in 2012-13 he played in just 10 games due to a staph infection in his knee. He was limited to only 34 games with the Wizards this season also because of injury, and he shot under 40 percent from the field when he did play.
Harrington is exactly the kind of player the Clippers should take a chance on if he’ll sign for cheap. He can stretch the floor and has been a fairly versatile offensive player throughout his career. He had an 11-point, six-rebound performance against the Indiana Pacers in the playoffs that reminded us of the player he can be if his body holds up.
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Tagged: Al Harrington, DeJuan Blair, Drew Gooden, Elton Brand, Jason Smith, Los Angeles Clippers
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