(Twitter/LAClippers)
The Los Angeles Clippers have signed SG Alan Anderson to a one-year minimum contract, bringing the roster to 15 players.
Anderson spent the 2015-2016 season with the Washington Wizards, part of Washington’s effort to replace SF Paul Pierce, who left the Wizards for the Clippers in the 2015 offseason. Anderson had a strong run for the Brooklyn Nets playoff teams from 2013 to 2015, but he had a forgettable season in Washington, appearing in a career-low 13 games and 192 minutes as he struggled to recover from multiple ankle surgeries and later dealing with a Grade-2 groin strain.
Anderson will be 34 years old in October, and he will be entering his 12th season as a pro after going undrafted in 2005 out of Michigan State. Anderson began his NBA career with the Charlotte Bobcats, spending his first two NBA seasons with fellow new Clipper Raymond Felton, who was the fifth overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft.
Anderson spent much of his athletic prime playing overseas from 2007 to 2011, and he didn’t return to the NBA until March 2012 with the Toronto Raptors. He made 39.3 percent of his three-pointers to close out the 2011-2012 season, then averaged a career-high 10.7 points per game as a part of Toronto’s 2012-2013 bench.
Anderson’s most minutes came in his two seasons with the Nets after leaving the Raptors in 2013. Anderson also started 45 games in his two seasons with the Nets; he had only 21 career starts before joining the Nets, and he didn’t start any games for the Wizards last season.
While Anderson is coming off a poor season with the Wizards (career-lows of 5.0 points on 35.8 percent field goals in 14.8 minutes per game), his production has rarely been strong in the NBA. Anderson has never averaged 3.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals, or 1.0 blocks in a season, and he has a career 40.6 percent clip from the field. He has three-point range, but he is an average shooter from distance for his career (34.5 percent) and he’s never made more than 95 in a season (2012-2013).
Anderson’s value for the Clippers comes in his positional versatility at 6’6″, 220, his intensity and awareness defensively, and his veteran experience. Anderson also comes to the Clippers in a fashion similar to his arrival in Washington: as a potential replacement for Pierce, who is still taking his time to decide whether or not he wants to commit for the 2016-2017 season.
Assuming Pierce comes back, he would join Anderson as two of the Clippers’ ten players aged 29 or older on the roster. Austin Rivers, who turned 24 years old Monday, is the only non-big man on the roster younger than age 29. While Felton replaces 39-year-old Pablo Prigioni, Anderson nominally replaces 2014 1st round SG C.J. Wilcox. And really, Felton takes the place of 2016 2nd round PG David Michineau.
Head coach Doc Rivers is also undecided on the starting SF for the upcoming season, with Luc Mbah a Moute the incumbent at that position. Anderson could figure into that training camp battle. Here’s a look at the current depth chart as of now (new additions in italics, rookies underlined):
|
PG |
SG |
SF |
PF |
C |
|
Chris Paul |
J.J. Redick |
Luc Mbah a Moute |
Blake Griffin |
DeAndre Jordan |
|
Austin Rivers |
Jamal Crawford |
Wesley Johnson |
Brandon Bass |
Marreese Speights |
|
Raymond Felton |
Alan Anderson |
Paul Pierce |
Brice Johnson |
Diamond Stone |
So the Thunder want BG. Maybe we can get Kantar and a draft pick for him. Better than him leaving and getting nothing.
Maybe this is a discussion to have later in the year depending how the Clippers are looking, but my guess is that both BG and CP3 could leave.
It’s highly likely they both will leave at the end of the season, mainly because of the terrible job GM Rivers has done. Because of Rivers’ GM transactions, there now is no way for the Clippers to get any better, so there’s no reason for Griffin or Paul to stay. Most people eventually will realize that Rivers is the worst thing that ever happened to the Clippers.
I wouldn’t call him the worst thing that ever happened to the Clippers, #1 is Donald Sterling, #2 is Elgin Baylor as GM (although he got better towards the end), #3 is Dunleavy, #4 is Doc Rivers
Well, OK, I see your point. How about the worst thing in the modern Clipper era, which includes when Chris Paul arrived? Rivers ruined the whole Chris Paul era, which had the makings to be great instead of just very good. I think that’s why to me Rivers is the worst thing . . . because he came in at at time the Clippers were the best they’d ever been and had great potential for the future, and then he systematically squandered it with his terrible GM moves.
It was the Clippers one chance for greatness, after years of being a joke, and he singlehandedly blew it.
Oh yeah. I remember I was at first so excited cus VDN needed to go. Never thought I’d miss the days of VDN.
So like ClipperBlog should contact Lawrence Frank and set up an “Ask Larry” forum where once or twice a month fans can ask questions about the franchise direction and planning and all that stuff he’s doing as a desk jockey. It provides the Clippers a venue to reach out directly to the fans in a manageable format and also provides content for the site. It helps Clipperblog, the writers, the franchise and the fans to feel vested in the team.
Ya know, the whole “win-win” thing.
Anyway, just a random thought. Back to No Man’s Sky.
Australia almost beat the USA today. This is why I worry about Dallas being better than the Clippers this season. In the Australia — USA game, Bogut dominated Jordan inside, just like he always does when he’s healthy.
Bogut played 26 minutes, was 7-9 from the field for 15 points and had 3 blocked shots.
Jordan played 20 minutes, was 1-1 from the field for 3 points and had 1 blocked shot.
Yeah, I think Dallas will be very good as well. OKC will for sure be ahead of them.
Clippers have gone from a +1500 to a +2500 odds wise in the offseason, so that tells you right there vegas was expecting more from management.
Australia should have won that game. They lost because of turnovers and rebounds.
Everyone talks about Carmelo’s scoring binge, but really, it was DMC’s rebounding that kept us in that game.