On Friday, the LA Clippers came to an agreement on a two-year deal with free agent forward Justise Winslow, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported. In five years with the Miami Heat and a season with the Memphis Grizzlies, Winslow has shown flashes of his talent, but has also been hindered by other things.

Here are four things that Justise Winslow, the 10th pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, will bring to the Clippers:

1. Ball-Handling

With Kawhi Leonard out to start the 2021-22 season and no return date in sight, the Clippers desperately needed help from a ball-handling standpoint. Paul George and Reggie Jackson showed they were capable of leading the team in the playoffs, creating for themselves and others, but having them do that over an 82-game season is a very tough ask.

That's where Justise Winslow comes in. Winslow has experience as one of the primary ball-handlers and shot-creators for both the Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies.

Winslow's usage rate of 20.8 from his breakout fourth season in Miami has increased to a 21.9 last year with the Grizzlies while his turnover percentage decreased.

All this to say that, no, while the Clippers aren't getting a forward with masterful point guard skills, Justise Winslow is capable of helping this team on the offensive end, taking the playmaking loads off of Paul George and Reggie Jackson.

2. Defense

In Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers had a lockdown on-ball defender, a savvy team-defender, and a good weak-side rim protector. Justise Winslow does a few of the things that Leonard does, just not on that same high level.

The physical attributes — Winslow is 6-foot-6 and weighs 225 pounds —, the foot-speed, and the basketball IQ Winslow has makes him a very useful player on the defensive end of the floor. It's a part of his game that he's shown he's very capable of being dominant at over the last few years with the Miami Heat and Memphis Grizzlies.

Here's Winslow putting the clamps on his now teammate, Kawhi Leonard, and forcing a shot-clock violation last year.

That's just one example, and you can easily YouTube a bunch of other highlights to see his defense on display.

Kawhi Leonard is expected to miss a good portion of this season recovering from his ACL surgery. Having guys like Paul George and Nicolas Batum to do a lot of the defensive work on a night-to-night basis was going to be a tough ask, and that's where the 25-year old Winslow could be tasked with a Kawhi-esque role.

3. Shooting Struggles

If there's one knock on Justise Winslow, it's his shooting efficiency.

Through six seasons in the NBA, Winslow is a career 41.1 percent shooter from the field and 32.4 percent shooter from beyond the arc. He's never been able to shoot the ball better than 43 percent from the field, which came during his career-best season in 2018-19 where he averaged 12.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists, and 1.1 steals. That year, he was also a respectable 37.5 percent shooter from beyond the arc while playing 66 games.

With the Clippers, Justise Winslow really won't be asked to do much from a shooting perspective. As one of the primary ball-handlers, Winslow will be tasked with driving, putting pressure on the rim, and finishing or kicking it out to open teammates.

The biggest problem with Winslow's offensive game is that he doesn't have much of an in-between, mid-range game. 54.6 percent of his shots so far in his career have come from within 10 feet while 27.3 percent of his shots have come from beyond the arc.

Because that's something Kawhi Leonard excelled at and Tyronn Lue built his offense around, it'll take some time for players as well as coaches to adjust to one another.

Here's a look at Justise Winslow's shooting by distance throughout his career, via Basketball Reference. Spoiler: It's… not great.

Justise Winslow's shooting chart basketball reference
Basketball Reference

The upside with Winslow is that he puts a ton of pressure on the rim, attacking to score or find his teammates. With the shooters and cutters the Clippers have on their roster, Winslow should be able to fit relatively well. Off the ball will be the main concern with Winslow, where he's

Winslow was able to shoot 41.2 percent on catch-and-shoot three-pointers during his 2018-19 breakout campaign. He also shot a respectful 38.1 percent on catch-and-shoot threes the year prior, so it's likely he'll get a lot more open looks under Ty Lue's offense. As the guy teams will likely leave open and not close out on as hard, it'll be on Winslow to convert the open looks he gets

4. Health Concerns

If there's a second knock on Justise Winslow, it's his abhorrent and unlucky track record when it comes to health.

Justise Winslow has never played a full, 82-game season in his six years in the NBA. The closest he came was his rookie year, when he played 78 games. Since then, he played 18-of-82 of second year, 68-of-82 his third year, 66-of-82 his fourth year, 11-of-73 his fifth year, and 26-of-72 last year.

That's 267 regular season games played out of a possible 391, so Winslow has spent 31.7 percent (124 games) of his NBA regular season career on the sidelines and in street clothes.

Unfortunately, that's the story with Justise Winslow. He's a very capable NBA player and could very well fill huge needs for the Clippers — and many other teams around the league — offensively and defensively, but will he stay healthy enough to do so? ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported shortly after the agreement was reached early Friday that Winslow is finally healthy and ready to play.

Nicolas Batum and Reggie Jackson are two guys who found struggles in their NBA careers before arriving to Los Angeles and having their careers revitalized under head coach Tyronn Lue. Could Lue and the Clippers do the same for Winslow? It's unclear, but both sides are more than hoping that's the case.

———————————————

While we still don't know the exact terms, Justise Winslow joining the Clippers on a two-year deal is the exact kind of low-risk, high-reward move they needed. Their options heading into free agency were very limited, given how cap-strapped they were. They also got a little lucky that Nicolas Batum was willing to accept the veteran's minimum, leaving the taxpayer mid-level exception for Winslow.