The Clippers brought Ronny Turiaf into the fold today in what one would assume to be the last big man spot available on the roster.
Clippers, Ronny Turiaf agree to 1-year deal. Turiaf gives Clips another big man, LA Times story:latimes.com/sports/sportsn…
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) July 26, 2012
Is there much more to say beyond that? Despite the declining numbers of back-to-the-basket bigs in the NBA, the Clippers seem to be shoring up their “6-fouls and a big body” rotation. And it’s not necessarily a flawed mentality. The Western Conference has seemingly absorbed all the remaining skill bigs: Andrew Bynum, Tim Duncan, Kevin Love, Pau Gasol, Marc Gasol, Zach Randolph, Andrew Bogut, David Lee, Al Jefferson, LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap, Marcin Gortat, Dirk Nowitzki, DeMarcus Cousins and possibly Dwight Howard.
Turiaf is a better rebounder based on last season’s true rebounding rate compared to Hollins – 14.8% v. 9% for Hollins (DeAndre was 18.1%) – so it’s not inconceivable that he eventually overtakes Hollins as the second big off the bench after Odom. But this is about as well as can be expected for a team’s 13th man and 5th big.
