The Los Angeles Clippers seem to be on their way to finally making it to at least the Western Conference Finals. The Clippers have depth on their roster this year which was their biggest detriment last season and they don't see any holes in their roster at all. This offseason they traded Matt Barnes away and he was the guy that would defend the opposing teams best wing player which left a big whole defensively. Believe it or not the Clippers think their defensive stopper this year is going to be Lance Stephenson, according to Zach Lowe of Grantland.
Stephenson has a reputation as an eccentric player who can be a bit of a wild card when he is on the floor. At his best he does a little bit of everything to help the team win but at his worst he makes plays that will have you shaking your head. Stephenson signed a big contract with the Charlotte Hornets last offseason and that one season experiment didn't go well. His numbers were down across the board and even his defense took a hit.
In his last two years with the Indiana Pacers though, Stephenson was every bit of a lock down defender as he compiled 3.6 and 4.8 defensive win shares respectively. Although Stephenson is unlikely to start, Doc Rivers plans to use him against guys like Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James.
"Lance is absolutely our no. 1 option against all those guys," said Rivers and he also said that he might be asked to guard opposing point guards to give Chris Paul a bit of a breather.
Stephenson is a 6 foot-5 shooting guard who has the quickness and length to be able to stay with just about anyone in the league. Last season was not a good one for him as one of the focal points of the Hornets but now that he will be in a supporting role he should be able to get back to the way he played with the Pacers when he was very good and earned that big contract.
Stephenson was a somewhat low key pickup for the Clippers this offseason as DeAndre Jordan and Paul Pierce got a lot of the headlines but he could end up being the most important. As long as he stays within what the Clippers want to do on offense his defense could be a massive asset to Rivers and the Clippers.
