As we wrap up our look at the teams ousted from the first-round of the NBA playoffs, let’s take a look at pending free agents from the Clippers and their potential fit with the Timberwolves.
The Los Angeles Clippers have enjoyed a five-year run of 50-plus victories and playoff berths, spearheaded by Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. However, that string of success could be coming to a close.
Both Paul and Griffin have Early Termination Options on each of their contracts this summer, and coupled with unrestricted free agent J.J. Redick, three of the Clippers’ starters could hit the road in short order.
In addition to Redick, other veteran members of the rotation that will be unrestricted free agents include Raymond Felton, Brandon Bass, and Alan Anderson. Also, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Marreese Speights can opt out of their contracts and explore the market.
We won’t focus too much on Paul, Griffin, and Mbah Moute, and Speights, but we’ll do a synopsis of each of their respective situations. When it comes to the unrestricted free agents, however, would the Wolves have interest in Redick, Felton, Bass, or Anderson?
J. J. Redick
Redick nearly became a Timberwolf back in the summer of 2013, but the Los Angeles Clippers were able to land the sharpshooter at the eleventh hour. The Wolves, in turn, signed Kevin Martin to a four-year deal and still brought back Chase Budinger.
Of the three players, Redick is the only one still in the NBA. He’s a career 41.5 percent three-point shooter who has hit long-range shots at a 44.6 percent clip over the past three seasons while launching nearly six attempts per game.
Redick will be 33 years old next season and while he’s never been a good defender, is still useful enough to warrant a sizable free agent deal. He is evidently open to signing with the Wolves — or, he was four years ago, at least. And one would think that the current regime and up-and-coming roster could be attractive to a player looking for that one last long contract but can still be a 25-plus minute-per-game contributor.
Redick would be a great fit, and while the back court would be crowded upon Zach LaVine‘s return, it would give Tom Thibodeau some additional lineup flexibility and allow LaVine to take his time coming back from his ACL tear.
Verdict: Between the likely cost and what no doubt will be Redick’s desire to play for a clear contender, plus the presence of LaVine, a union with the former Clippers guard seems unlikely.
Raymond Felton
Felton has bounced around over the past few years and once again found himself as a rotation player on a fringe contender.
The backup point guard played in 80 games for the Clippers, averaging 6.7 points per game — the second-least of his career — and averaging just 2.4 assists per game while shooting 31.9 percent from beyond the arc.
Felton is a pretty average defender who no longer provides much of an offensive upside. While his turnover and usage rates have dropped as he’s gotten older, his assist rate has plummeted as well. He no longer draws fouls, and doesn’t shoot well enough from the outside to be a true threat in today’s NBA.
The career 32.7 percent shooter from three-point range was mediocre once again in 2016-17. The addition of Felton to the Clippers roster did allow Austin Rivers to slide back over to shooting guard from the miscast role he had played at the point in 2015-16, but neither player was particularly effective.
Once again, L.A. boss Doc Rivers filled his bench with middling veterans and saw the reserves essentially drag down a team with one of the better starting lineups in basketball. Now, Felton is an unrestricted free agent, and there will no doubt be another team wallowing in mediocrity that will have interest in picking him up.
Verdict: There is simply no upside to adding Raymond Felton to the Timberwolves roster. The Wolves have a solid group of point guards already and a mediocre veteran without above-average long-range shooting chops is not a fit.
Brandon Bass
Bass finally found his way back to Doc Rivers, playing for the veteran coach at his third stop as head coach after joining him in Orlando and Boston previously.
After playing a couple more years with the Celtics after Rivers’ departure, Bass played the 2015-16 season with the Lakers before signing with Rivers and the Clippers. It was by far the least minutes per-game that Bass has seen over the past few years, averaging just 11.1 minutes per contest along with 5.6 points and 2.5 rebounds.
He’s still an effective player in short bursts, providing solid defense and just enough defensive rebounding to hold down the power forward spot in certain lineups. The bulk of his offensive game is around the rim mid-range jumpers, but he’s good enough from there (47.7 percent from 10 to 16 feet this season) that he keeps defenses honest.
Bass is useful, but wouldn’t add much in the Wolves’ case, with both Nemanja Bjelica and Gorgui Dieng likely to play significant minutes at the four-spot, plus another likely addition, whether via free agency, trade, or the draft.
Verdict: Don’t expect Brandon Bass to don a Timberwolves jersey in 2016-17.
Alan Anderson
Minneapolis native Alan Anderson is once again a free agent, and once again could be a fit at the end of the Wolves’ bench. The Timberwolves will need someone in a fifth-wing type of role, and Anderson is a decent player who will come on the cheap.
Anderson is simply a solid player; nothing more, nothing less. He’s a 34.4 percent career three-point shooter and draws fouls when he gets into the paint. Anderson isn’t a great defender, and at just 6′-6″ he can’t check larger forwards, but can play well within a team concept.
To be sure, there is nothing special or exciting about the idea of adding Anderson to the fold. But teams could do a lot worse at the end of their bench, and at a veteran’s minimum contract Anderson could add value to the team.
Verdict: There’s no reason to think that the Timberwolves will add Anderson to the fold, but there’s no reason to think they won’t, either. It would be your typical, end-of-the-bench addition.
As mentioned, the Clippers are in a tough spot. They have a total of four player options and early termination options to contend with, including Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.
The others include Luc Richard Mbah a Moute and Marreese Speights — both key members of the this past season’s rotation for Doc Rivers.
Paul wouldn’t be a fit in Minnesota, unless it’s on an odd one or two-year deal and Ricky Rubio were moved in a trade. But don’t hold your breath.
Griffin, on the other hand, would be an intriguing fit alongside Karl-Anthony Towns. In a perfect world, Minnesota would add a four who is a better defender and a more consistent rebounder than Griffin (somewhat surprisingly, Griffin has not averaged a double-double since 2011-12 — his second season in the league). Add in his injury history and the fact that he hasn’t played in 80 games since 2013-14 and it’s certainly a risky add.
So no, it is far from a perfect fit. And Griffin will command a max contract. But a tandem of Towns and Griffin would be beyond dynamic offensively. There would be work to do on defense, however, and that’s putting it mildly, but the offense would be nigh-unstoppable when surrounded with a couple of shooters and Ricky Rubio.
Mbah a Moute was a Timberwolf under Rick Adelman 2013-14, but he’s found his groove as a regular starter in L.A. over the past two seasons. What was always an anemic offensive game has been buoyed by a boosted three-point rate. And what’s changed from his 30.7 percent three-point shooting performance in Philadelphia in 2014-15 to this pas year is simply the location of his shots.
Mbah a Moute is now shooting nearly three-quarters of his threes from the corner, and the former second-round pick of Milwaukee hit on 41.5 of his three-point attempts from the corner in 2016-17. He’s now a legitimately useful wing player, although he was miscast as a starter with the Clippers out of necessity.
Mo Speights joined the Clippers after three years with the Warriors, and continues to be an effective backup center. He’s not really great at anything, but he’s mostly good at everything. Backup center isn’t a huge need in Minnesota, but he’ll land a nice contract and be an important rotation piece for a contender moving forward.
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Verdict: None of the above-mentioned four will land in Minnesota, but Griffin and Mbah a Moute would be the two players to keep an eye on. Good luck to the Clippers, as their roster could very well be completely transformed come fall.