Three Things to Look Out for this Clippers Season

1. DeAndre Jordan's Improvement

Stop me if you have heard this one before, but this time it is for real...maybe.  Judging off of Doc Rivers' praise, Shaquille Olajuwon is in store for an incredible season.  Whoops, did I get that name right?  I meant DeAndre Jordan.  In all seriousness, Jordan will be a more impactful player for the Clippers in 2013-14.  In each of the last four seasons, Jordan's PER has improved, reaching a very respectable 17.21 last season.  Gaining another year of experience and coming under the tutelage of Doc Rivers will likely result in Jordan becoming an improved defender.  However, even if Jordan does not improve at all, he will still be a much better player for the Clippers this season.  The reason for this is that his 17.21 PER was only utilized for 24.5 mpg last season.  Rivers has already made it clear that Jordan will be part of a "big three" along with Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, so expect Jordan's minutes to go way up.  

Vinny Del Taco refused to play Jordan in the fourth quarter solely because of his inability to hit free throws.  Many of the pundits in the basketball world all seemed to agree that "you can't play this guy down the stretch" until he improves at the free throw line.  While the inability to hit free throws is certainly a liability late in games, there is precedent for this type of player being a crucial cog in closing line-ups.  Remember Ben Wallace? He played 38 mpg on the 2004 Champion Detroit Pistons while providing very little offensively and shooting sub-50% at the line.  Dennis Rodman shot below 55% during his successful tenure with the Bulls.  While these players obviously brought a lot more to the table than Jordan does at this point, the fact remains that Jordan is an efficient player despite his free throw woes.  

2. Floor-spacing Shooters

The Clippers offseason trade of Eric Bledsoe and Caron Butler for J.J. Redick and Jared Dudley was a stoke of genius.  While Bledsoe is a very intriguing piece, he was sitting behind the best point guard in the league and his lack of perimeter shooting prevented him from being a viable option at the two-guard.  A trade was inevitable and the Clippers turned one of its bigger weaknesses in perimeter shooting into a bona fide strength.  Dudley and Redick are career 40.5% and 39% 3-point shooters, respectively (for frame of reference, Ray Allen is a career 40.1% 3-point shooter).  

Not only does these wings' shooting prowess allow the Clippers to take further advantage of one of the most efficient shots in basketball, but it will also spread the floor for Chris Paul and Blake Griffin to navigate the interior.  Chris Paul will have plenty of room to drive into the lane and if the wing defenders collapse, he will find Redick or Dudley for trey.  Additionally, Griffin will be able to utilize the open space to make his awkward looking post moves that are surprisingly efficient.  If the defenders collapse, Griffin's third-highest assist rate among power forwards who played 20+ mpg last year show that he is an adept passer.  

3. Closing Line-up

One intriguing question about this roster is who will be on the floor in the last five minutes of the game?  Paul will obviously be the point guard, Redick will almost certainly be the shooting guard, and Griffin will be one of the bigs.  After that, the situation is unclear.  Last season, Jamal Crawford often played in the backcourt to close games.  The addition of Redick's ballhandling and scoring ability would seem to take away the need to put one of the worst defenders in the NBA on the floor simply to add some scoring punch.  Additionally, it is difficult to imagine a defensive-minded coach like Doc Rivers putting his faith in a guy like Crawford in crunch time.  

There could be a very interesting battle for late-game minutes between Jared Dudley and Matt Barnes at small forward.  Dudley is the better shooter and, by all accounts, a solid team defender.  Barnes is merely an average shooter but is a better slasher, rebounder, and defender.  While the match-ups may dictate which player gets the nod, Barnes seems to be the more likely choice here because of his ablility to defend the opponent's top perimeter scorer. 

While against certain teams, a small-ball line-up including both Barnes and Dudley could be utilized at the end of games, in most situations a true center will need to be in the game.  For the reasons discussed earlier, DeAndre Jordan will have every opportunity to be the man in the middle.