Brian Scalabrine on Clippers’ fear of Luka Doncic, Kawhi Leonard’s future if Los Angeles loses series

Former NBA player Brian Scalabrine recently appeared on the K&C Masterpiece on 105.3 The Fan [KRLD-FM] recently to talk about the Mavericks’ series vs. the Clippers and more. Here are some of the highlights.

On the Clippers guarding Luka Doncic…

Scalabrine: “The Clippers can’t guard Luka. Kawhi Leonard can and all they do is set a little brush screen and get him off the body. The Clippers are big, bad and they’ve got their cool uniforms Game 1 and their other uniforms Game 2 and they’re talking ‘oh, we’re different this year.’ Nah, you guys are still afraid of Luka Doncic and you guys are still afraid of trying to guard him one-on-one. And the only way to do it is to help out and then he just picks you guys apart with his passes. So I wouldn’t say it’s over, but the Clippers, they’ve gotta figure things out and they’ve got to figure out how they’re going to stop Luka from getting anywhere he wants to on the floor.”

On where Rick Carlisle deserves the most credit…

Scalabrine: “Rick Carlisle has always kept his point guards accountable from even Jason Kidd, Rajon Rondo, Devin Harris back in the day. He gave the reigns to Luka and he let Luka do whatever he wanted to do and he saw the greatness in him. So the long-term approach from Rick Carlisle was the right approach in letting this special talent do his thing. The short-term approach was ‘I know that the Clippers are going to try and get Kawhi Leonard on Luka and all we’re going to do is make sure we keep running actions to get him off the body, so give him credit for that. But ultimately, you still need a guy to get in the lane, you still need a guy to break down plays, you still need a guy to deliver those passes teed up, on time, on target and that’s all Luka does over and over again. For a guy who played with Jason Kidd back in New Jersey, I know the difference between playing with a point guard who delivers that ball perfectly and some other point guards that didn’t deliver the ball perfectly. For a shooter, it’s a world of difference and then the confidence that grows from that, that’s what we’re seeing now from the rest of the Mavs. We know Luka is good, but he’s making every player around him better.”

On why Jalen Brunson should’ve won the Sixth Man of the Year award…

“As aggressive as he’s playing and getting other people involved, I thought Jalen Brunson should’ve been Sixth Man of the Year. I understand why Jordan Clarkson got it, but Jalen Brunson has one of the hardest jobs in the NBA. Backing up a legend is not an easy thing to do. You’ve got to come in there and you’ve got to make sure that the level stays the same… If Jalen Brunson goes in a game and let’s say the other team goes on a run, automatically you point to the backup point guard, and that’s a lot of pressure. I see a lot of guys falter in that situation, trying to back up the likes of Jason Kidd or Rajon Rondo. He does a good job when he’s out there.

On Tim Hardaway Jr’s elevated play in the playoffs…

Scalabrine: “I was always high on Tim Hardaway Jr. Even when he got that big contract with the Knicks and everyone was like ‘I can’t believe we gave this guy $17 million,’ I was like the NBA is changing. He has a quick release, he shoots a jumper, it’s not a set shot. And he can shoot off the move. When they made that trade, the [Kristaps] Porzingis trade, and everybody was like ‘we needed to get off the money, we needed to clear space,’ to me I always thought that Tim Hardaway Jr. — and I was kind of on an island on this one — I always thought Tim Hardaway Jr. was the type of guy that could play on any team and could be effective on any team. And then you add what I just mentioned before, a guy delivering the ball on time, on target, it’s just going to make him a 5% better shooter. And a lot of people don’t understand the difference between just being a 5% better shooter and what that can lead to. It can lead to having six threes in a game, that can lead to you, when the team is struggling, you can go on a run all by yourself just by three quick possessions where you make three threes and next thing you know it’s a 9-2 run and all of a sudden you can right the ship if things are going sideways.”

On the pressure facing the Clippers and what could happen with Kawhi Leonard this offseason…

Scalabrine: “I think they have a lot of pressure on them because the underlying story in here that nobody’s talking about — which if the Dallas Mavericks win this series it will be talked about — is Kawhi Leonard could opt out. This is a guy who left Toronto after he just won a championship and he went all in on Paul George and they traded all their assets away to get Paul George, knowing that you’re going to get Kawhi Leonard. If this thing doesn’t work out, what if he just opts out of his deal? And now he starts exploring free agency?

“And I wouldn’t put it past him in today’s day and age… I will say that Luka has been impressive and if Kawhi Leonard, who is all about winning, wants to go to a place and win, I think there are a few teams out there that could make a case that ‘Kawhi Leonard, you’re the difference maker.’ Dallas, you have to be living under a rock to think if Kawhi Leonard went to Dallas he wouldn’t make a huge difference there…

“Let’s just say this thing goes south. I would not put it past Kawhi Leonard to pack up and leave and just say ‘my whole thing was about winning. I thought Paul George was going to play at a level in the playoffs that I’ve seen him do in the past. He was the type of guy at one point that went toe to toe with LeBron [James] when he was in his prime in Miami and he’s clearly not that guy anymore.’ So it wouldn’t shock me if Kawhi Leonard starts to look and it wouldn’t shock me if the LA Clippers start to get that sense that if we don’t win this series, Kawhi Leonard might leave and we are in a terrible situation going forward.”

Click here to listen to the full interview.

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