Basketball is a team sport. If a team has a hole in its roster, it will be exposed over the course of 82 games. The LA Clippers experienced this last season — their first without DeAndre Jordan since 2007-08. Without DJ to meet opponents at the rim, the Clippers struggled mightily challenging inside scorers. In fact, the Clippers allowed 51.1 points per game in the paint, the eighth worst in the NBA last season.
This was due to Jordan’s replacements. Marcin Gortat, Ivica Zubac, Boban Marjanovic, and Montrezl Harrell soaked up most of the team’s minutes at the five.