With the departure of Paul George and persistent health concerns from Kawhi Leonard, fans aren’t expecting the Intuit Dome’s inaugural season to be a winning campaign for the LA Clippers. However, Terance Mann is boasting high expectations from their roster – particularly as a defensive unit.
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“I think it’s the best defensive team I’ve ever been on in my life,” the 28-year-old proclaimed after a practice session. It’s certainly a big statement from the guard, who is entering his sixth season as a Clipper.
“I think it’s the best defensive team I’ve ever been on in my life.”
– Terance Mann on the new look Clippers
(🎥 @joeylinn_ )
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 21, 2024
However, with the team’s two-way star Kawhi Leonard out indefinitely to begin the season, Mann’s confidence does raise some eyebrows. After all, the Klaw is one of the league’s best stoppers when he is healthy. So, how does this Clippers roster intend to outdo their defensive showing from previous years when the two-time DPOY was playing over 50 regular season games for them?
The defensive ratings of Mann’s previous Clippers rosters
Well, at first glance, the numbers do portray the 2024-25 Clippers as a robust defense. They won 4 out of their 5 pre-season games and it wasn’t their 103.3 rated offense that stowed the ship, but their effort and hustle on defense. The Clippers’ 94.2 defensive rating during those matchups ranked second-best in the league.
Though the pre-season isn’t always a fair reflection of how a team will fare over the full 82 games, their defensive output has still impressed. And to Mann’s credit, the Clippers have displayed a huge leap in their intensity on that end of the court.
For comparison, the roster did boast a top 5 defensive rating during the 2023-24 pre-season too. But this year, they’ve already improved on last season’s 102 rating by keeping teams to nearly 10 fewer points per 100 possessions.
Unfortunately, their pre-season showing last year wouldn’t translate once the regular season tipped off. With a 114.6 defensive rating, they found themselves in the bottom half of the rankings. The only defensive statistic where the Clippers ranked in the top 10 last year was in steals (7.8), 1.5 of which were credited to George, who signed with the 76ers this year.
During the 2022-23 season, LA held teams to 113.6 points per 100 possessions while allowing the 8th most opponent points off of turnovers. It was a huge drop-off from the 2021-22 campaign when the Clippers finished in the top 10 with a defensive rating of 109.5. This was even more impressive considering that their stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both missed over 30 games during the regular season.
That would also mark their second consecutive year as the 8th best defensive team in the NBA as Mann’s side boasted a 110.6 defensive rating during the 2020-21 season. However, the best defense the Clippers have played during Mann’s tenure in LA was during his rookie campaign (2019-20) when they were 5th best in the league and tallied a 106.9 rating.
Interestingly, last season, 106.9 would have been the best defensive rating in the league. With offenses becoming more efficient and deadly from deep, the benchmark for a great defensive season keeps changing every year.
This season will be no different as the Clippers will have to contain the many high-octane offenses that reside atop the Western Conference if they want a chance at the Playoffs. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the changes Ty Lue has made over the off-season to build a defense-first roster.
Will this be the Clippers’ best defensive season in six years?
Along with a top 2 defensive rating during the pre-season, the Clips also allowed the third-fewest points in the paint while ranking second in steals per game (13.6) and third in blocks (7.0). Against the Dallas Mavericks, they were jumping passing lanes and pestering their opponents’ ball-handlers, creating 20 steals during the 110-96 pre-season win.
Even James Harden, a historically lax defender, reported after the Mavs game, “We’re getting after it defensively.” His performance was testament enough as the Beard would nab 3 steals against Dallas.
Their new assistant coach, Jeff Van Gundy has mostly spearheaded the Clippers’ defensive movement. Brian Shaw, who is also part of LA’s coaching staff, commented on what Van Gundy has brought to the table since signing on in June.
“I think that the biggest thing is that Van Gundy has empowered them to be super aggressive in that they can’t make a mistake as long as they’re playing hard,” Shaw explained. However, without the right personnel, even a veteran coach like Van Gundy cannot make a defense click. This is where the Clippers really excelled during the off-season.
The pickups of Derrick Jones Jr. and Kris Dunn early in the summer should have signaled LA’s intent to the league. They nabbed two of the league’s best on-ball defenders who should fit perfectly within the switchable system they are building.
Alongside Mann, Nicolas Batum, and Amir Coffey, these additions endow the Clippers roster with the size and versatility to switch everything on defense without giving up any mismatches. And anchoring all of their defensive movements is one of the league’s most underrated rim protectors, Ivica Zubac.
Their longest-tenured player is a defensive rebounder in the 98th percentile with rim defense ranking in the 96th percentile. Last season, the Croatian center accounted for 47.4% of the Clippers’ rebounds. His team’s defensive rating improved by 4.8 points when he was on the floor and his 7’4 wingspan held opponents to 49.6% efficiency on their shots.
His prowess as a defender shines particularly bright within 6 feet of the rim, where opponents only converted 51.8% of their shots against him – the third-best rank among starting centers who played over 50 games last season.
With the team losing the offense of both George and Leonard (at least, for the time being), defense will be their only route to success. The additions they’ve made, both to their roster and to their coaching staff, suggest that the Clippers are well aware of this.
However, it’s unlikely that even those changes will enable this team to live up to Terance Mann’s lofty expectations. Given their personnel – or lack thereof – they are bound to surprise opponents with their intensity and pestilent defense. But will they surpass their 106.9 defensive rating from Mann’s rookie season? Unlikely.
