2020-21 Clippers season in review: Patrick Patterson

Welcome to our annual Clippers season in review series. Every day until the end of July, we’ll be taking a look back at the players who ended the season with the Clippers (apologies to Malik Fitts and Mfiondu Kabengele). Today, we continue with Patrick Patterson.

Key information:

Name: Patrick Patterson

Age: 32

Years in the NBA: 2

Key stats: Patterson appeared in 38 games and started five games for LA this season. He averaged about five points and two rebounds per contest in 15 minutes per game.

Future contract status: Patterson is currently an unrestricted free-agent. The Clippers could bring him back at an affordable price, but it’ll be interesting to see how his market plays out this summer.

Summary:

Patterson has served his role nicely during his two seasons with the Clippers. He appeared in about half of the games last season and only started five, but was able to contribute in the minutes he played. When he was asked to start, Patterson averaged 8.4 points and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting 40 percent from deep.

Although he saw lots of playing time during the regular season, Patterson didn’t see the court for a single minute during the postseason for the Clippers.

Strengths:

Patterson was a big off the bench who could knock it down from deep when needed. He gave the Clippers size and length and was able to provide them sparks of offense at times. Patterson knocked down a three in 25 games and shot at least 40 percent from deep in 16 games. In today’s NBA, it’s almost needed to have a big man who can hit the outside shot.

He was also effective inside the three-point line, as he shot better than 60 percent on two-point attempts. His effective field goal percentage of 56 percent.

Weaknesses:

With Patterson being great on the offensive end, he didn’t add any value defensively. He averaged only two rebounds per 15 minutes, something you wouldn’t expect from a forward who is 6-foot-8. Patterson would often get taken advantage of and opponents would capitalize on his inability to provide much defensive pressure.

Patterson wasn’t seeing the court to be a defensive player of the year, so the Clippers lived with the minutes and offense he could provide for them.

Future with the Clippers:

As mentioned, Patterson is an unrestricted free agent. If the Clippers were to bring him back it would strictly be for depth purposes, as I don’t see him playing prominent minutes with the team moving forward.