This past offseason the Los Angeles Clippers made it a goal of theirs to add to their bench and make their roster deeper as lack of depth was a major reason they lost to the Houston Rockets in the playoffs a season ago. On paper it seemed like the Clippers had achieved their goal as they added, what looked to be, some nice pieces but so far it hasn't worked out as well as they hoped. Now the Clippers are reportedly considering breaking up their bench unit as they have been gauging other team's interest in Lance Stephenson and Josh Smith, according to Marc J. Spears of Yahoo Sports.
This report comes just about one week after there was another report that the Clippers were not happy with their record, which is 12-9 now, and they were willing to make a big move that potentially involved Jamal Crawford. The Clippers have been playing better basketball lately as they have won six of their last eight games but some of the bench guys haven't contributed as much as expected.
Josh Smith chose to sign with the Clippers this offseason over the Rockets because he felt the Clippers gave him a better chance to win a championship. Smith was expected to be the backup power forward behind Blake Griffin and while he has been, and has appeared in every game, his playing time is lower than he expected. Smith has played pretty well when he has been on the court but he is playing just 15.3 minutes per game and it has frustrated him to the point that he was involved in an argument with an unnamed coach in the locker room after a game.
Lance Stephenson was a key player for the Indiana Pacers as recently as two years ago but he signed a two year $18 million deal with the Charlotte Hornets two summers ago and it did not work out for him in his first, and only, year there. The Clippers acquired Stephenson in a trade this offseason that sent Matt Barnes and Spencer Hawes the other way in the hopes that Stephenson would regain his old form but that hasn't really happened.
Stephenson has started ten games this season and is averaging 18.7 minutes but he has not played well in his first season in L.A. as his PER is just 9.5. Smith and Stephenson are part of a bigger problem for the Clippers that they thought they had solved this offseason and that is bench production. The starters have played well this season, for the most part, but once again the bench has been an issue so in a season where a championship is the expectation it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that they are looking to shake things up.
