After their early elimination from the NBA Playoffs, the LA Clippers could look at adding another center to the roster.
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00:00The L.A. Clippers were knocked out of the playoffs a bit early this year, losing in
00:04Game 7 in Denver Nuggets with a 3-1 lead.
00:07One of the main reasons for that was L.A.'s lack of depth at the center position.
00:10Ivica Zubac did his best to defend Nikola Jokic, and it fared mostly okay, but Mantres
00:15Harrell struggled to keep him contained.
00:17On top of that, Harrell had trouble producing on offense outside of the pick and roll.
00:21He'll become a free agent this offseason, and it's hard to say how likely it is he
00:24re-signs with the franchise.
00:26On top of that, Marcus Morris, Jermichael Green, and Patrick Patterson could all test
00:30the market as well, which would leave the team with sizable holes at the 4-5.
00:34In the event that happens, the teams might want to have a few bigs in mind that could
00:38help move the needle as much to contend for a title next season as well.
00:41Here are a few players that could be a good fit, beginning with Aaron Baines.
00:44He's probably best known by Clippers fans for being the victim of a few Blake Griffin
00:47posters in 2015, but the 33-year-old has vastly improved his game since then.
00:52Baines has tracked a career year with the Phoenix Suns, posting averages of 11.5 points,
00:585.6 rebounds, and 1.6 assists in about 22 minutes per game.
01:02Additionally, Baines made a career-high 35% of his 43.0 attempts per game this year, which
01:08is a really great number for someone of this size.
01:10He's a solid rebounder and a big enough body to be able to play against the league's
01:14more physical centers like Jokic, but he's nowhere near as good a defender as Zubac,
01:18which makes him a bit of a liability on that end.
01:20As a backup, though, he's one of the best options available, especially for the price.
01:24Moving on, we're looking at Serge Ibaka.
01:26Even though he's not the shot-blocker and defender that he used to be, though he's
01:30still efficient on the end of the floor, Serge Ibaka has more than made up for it with his
01:35defense.
01:36His 39% clear from the three-point range this season is among the best of his career, and
01:40it was good enough for him to rank in the 83rd percentile among bigs, perkling the glass.
01:45He's still a terrific mid-range shooter as well, ranking in the 77th percentile there.
01:49One of the most important factors bringing him to L.A., though, could be his relationship
01:52with Kawhi Leonard.
01:53The two won a championship together with the Toronto Raptors last season, and when Ibaka
01:57was asked about their friendship in March, he said Leonard was still his guy.
02:01Given the chemistry concerns the Clippers reportedly have right now, adding someone
02:05like Ibaka might not be such a bad idea.
02:08Moving on, looking at New Orleans' Noel, if defense with the Clippers are making a
02:12priority off the bench at that position, they should look no further than New Orleans' Noel.
02:16Noel, a 26-year-old, just finished up an impressive campaign with the Oklahoma City
02:20Thunder this season, and he's not so much to be overlooked in free agency.
02:23Relative to his position, Noel ranks in the 98th percentile in steel percentage and 94th
02:28in block percentage, perkling the glass, and while he's only an average rebounder, he's
02:32proven capable of getting them in on both ends of the floor and extending possessions.
02:36Noel doesn't provide much on the offensive side of swinging the paint, but fortunately
02:39he is a fantastic finisher.
02:42On the year, he made close to 85% of his attempts at the rim and made 68% of his field goal
02:46attempts overall.
02:48For a backup big, it's hard to find somebody as efficient on both ends of the floor as
02:52Noel.
02:53Next, we're looking at Jakub Pertl.
02:54He's both the youngest and tallest player on our list, coming in at 24 years old and
02:587 feet tall.
02:59He could command a larger salary the Clippers are willing to pay because of that, but that
03:04said, the former top 10 pick is still worth a look.
03:08Like Noel, Pertl is a strong defender in more traditional big, where he really excels those
03:12on the offensive glass.
03:14A little over a third of Pertl's 5 points of rebounds per game this season were offensive,
03:19which makes him a great option to play in lineups full of perimeter shooters.
03:23Not only can he extend possessions, but he's good at finding the open man as well.
03:26On offense, Pertl takes a majority of his shots up the rim, but that doesn't mean he
03:30can't step out and take a jumper every now and then.
03:33You won't see him shoot 3-pointers, but he can step out to the paint and hit from the
03:36midrange when need be.
03:37It may be hard to draw Pertl away from the San Antonio Spurs.
03:41The prospect of winning an NBA title can strengthen any team's argument to yank someone away.
03:49The last player on our list is Tristan Thompson.
03:51He's easily the best player on our list.
03:53He's one of the most obvious for-agent fits in the Clippers team as well.
03:56The 29-year-old big has never hauled in less than 6.5 boards per game, and plenty of them
04:01come on the offensive end of the floor.
04:03He doesn't add much as a scorer, and he's never been the most efficient big once he
04:06gets inside the paint, but Thompson has seriously upped his passing game in the last few years.
04:11His 2.1 assists per game in 2020 are a career high.
04:14He likely would have had a lot more than that had he been surrounded by better shooters
04:17than he had in Cleveland.
04:19With options like Landry Schammett and Lou Williams coming off the bench for LA, Thompson
04:23can help create some easy scrying opportunities in the second unit without being too ball-dominant
04:26himself.
04:27If a 65 playoff starts under his belt, Thompson is more than capable of stepping into this
04:31tournament lineup as well, something that can come in handy if Zubats finds himself
04:35in foul trouble or a difficult matchup.
04:38Thompson and the Cavs seem primed to break up this offseason, and his hit with LA just
04:42makes too much sense.