The Los Angeles Clippers had a mission this offseason to get younger and more athletic. They were able to accomplish that somewhat by adding KJ Martin in a trade with the Houston Rockets. The Clippers have been one of the older teams in the league the past couple of seasons and don't really generate many points in transition. Adding Martin to the bench alongside another young gun in Bones Hyland will certainly add an extra element of energy and athleticism the Clippers have been lacking. While Martin or Hyland are both solid candidates for a breakout player, the one player with the best shot at having a breakout season is Terance Mann.
Terance Mann will have a breakout season for the Clippers
As hard as it may be to imagine, Terance Mann is actually one of the older players on the roster now. He's always seemed like one of the younger players, he's only been in the NBA for four seasons. But he was an older rookie having spent four seasons at Florida State.
For his first three seasons in the NBA, Mann steadily improved until he had a breakout year in 2021-22 when he averaged 10.8 points per game and 5.2 rebounds. That was the season where Kawhi Leonard missed the entire year recovering from a meniscus tear and Paul George missed a large portion of the season due to injury as well.
Many Clippers fans thought Mann would have been in line for a breakout season last year, but that never materialized. Despite his strong production in 2021-22, Mann found himself further back on the depth chart for 2022-23. His scoring numbers took a dip but his shooting efficiency actually went up from 48.4 percent from the field to 51.9 percent and 36.5 percent from the three-point line to 38.9 percent from the three-point line.
The main reason why Mann is a candidate to have a breakout season this year for the Clippers is because he may be in line for a bigger role, a bigger role than what might have been expected of him last season. The Clippers power forward spot has been a weakness of theirs and they may opt to shift Paul George and Kawhi Leonard up one spot. Leonard would be at the four and George would be at the three.
That would open up the starting shooting guard spot which would make Terance Mann the player best suited to that spot. The Clippers like Norman Powell coming off the bench and he fits well with the second unit. Mann was actually placed in the starting lineup this past season prior to the All-Star break and the Clippers played some of their best basketball of the season.
He plays well off of Leonard and George with is off ball activity. He's one of the better players in the league at moving off ball and making cuts. He's also worked on his catch and shoot three-point shooting. If Mann ends up as the starting shooting guard, not only will he be playing off of Leonard and George, but he has Russell Westbrook to feed him the ball as well. Westbrook is still among the league's elite playmakers. For an athletic player like Mann who loves to get out on the break, Westbrook feeding him the ball might do wonders for his game.
Overall, Mann is a player who simply puts in the work. He was a second round pick who has outplayed many players from his draft class. He's about his business and is ready to assume a larger role for the Clippers this season.
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