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Far from bursting a bubble, the NBA last summer told its 22 teams invited to the league restart near Orlando, Florida, to pack light. Teams used to tour groups of more than 50 people had to reduce their rosters to 37.
The teams responded by planning like travelers in the hope that, with enough versatility, carry-on luggage would be enough for a long trip. Everyone should have one clear purpose, if not two.
The Clippers, meanwhile, were loaded with medical personnel to aid championship hopes from an injury-riddled roster. A security officer also made the cut. To make room, they were one of 11 teams that didn’t use their 17-player allowance. Johnathan Motley, a center in the final season of a two-way contract, and Mfiondu Kabengele, a rookie center, were not, in effect, considered essential workers.
Motley was not part of the team’s future plans. Just 13 months earlier, the Clippers had traded a first-round pick to climb to No. 27 in the 2019 draft to draw Kabengele, Dikembe Mutombo’s nephew 6-foot-9 with a reliable outside shot, out of Florida State. . . Kabengele had yet to break the rotation or play significant minutes, but a trip to Orlando could have meant weeks of development in individual workouts and group practices.
Lawrence Frank, the team’s president of basketball operations, said the decision was one of many “tough decisions” the team made, but also one that he has not wavered as he enters a second season in which Kabengele is still fighting for. find a foothold.
“Obviously we were in a championship and we are still in a championship competition mode, and we prioritized performance and medicine for the playing group,” Frank said. “You would have loved to have brought Fi there. Fi has a contagious personality. He stayed engaged the entire time. I’d jump on Zooms and watch the practice. He was talking to his teammates. He spoke to the staff. He lived the trip remotely. “
The Clippers’ championship focus hasn’t changed since the bubble, raising the question of whether Kabengele can find opportunities on a roster that already has established centers and forwards, or if he will once again find himself on the outside looking in.
“He’s very versatile, he can shoot basketball, he talks a lot on the defensive side, where we need to get better and better,” said coach Tyronn Lue. “Having him around, the way he talks and the way he gets along with everyone on the court is contagious.”
Kabengele averaged 18 minutes of play in three preseason games, hitting 35% of his shots but 40% of his 3s. He also blocked Utah 7-footer Rudy Gobert at the rim twice Thursday, after which Lue said the young center was “in a good space.”
“I love his energy and his passion, so he has to keep building on that,” Lue said.
Lue hopes 23-year-old Kabengele will learn from seeing the example of Serge Ibaka, the 31-year-old who has been a mainstay of the NBA for a decade by shooting 3-pointers reliably and protecting the rim, the two areas in which that the Clippers expect Kabengele to show progress.
There are signs that the mentoring has begun, with Ibaka pushing Kabengele out of preseason meetings to emphasize a specific technique.
“His game is one that I want to model, being a five that can throw the ball, defend, be a great playmaker, so I’ve really been watching how he performs,” Kabengele said. “He’s very vocal in defense, he talks a lot about schemes and stuff, which I really admire.”
Kabengele’s hopes for a breakthrough depend not just on Ibaka’s lessons learned, but on his own development. It is not the first time that he has had to bet on himself to continue his career. The Canadian-born Kabengele was not a highly recruited prospect until the end of his high school career, when he moved to the United States and flourished as a great man. At Florida State, he alternated between starters and reserves to suit the Seminoles’ needs, then became a first-round pick.
“You look at Fi’s hard work background and just the culture he comes from in college,” said Julius V, a Los Angeles-based coach who worked with Kabengele and his Florida State and Clippers teammate Terance. Mann, during the off-season. . “It comes from doing whatever it takes to win, from doing whatever it takes to improve.”
V said Kabengele showed versatility in pick-and-roll sets, whether that’s stepping back to shoot after setting up the screens or making passes while rolling. His shooting accuracy was consistent with the perimeter players.
“He’s going to hit 14 3-pointers in a row,” said V. “He doesn’t have the mentality of a guy who throws the ball like, ‘Oh, I’m big, so I’m happy to shoot down a three here and there.’ He shoots like he thinks he’s one of the best guards in the league. “
Although the Clippers have made player development a priority and hired assistant Kenny Atkinson, a coach credited with his ability to achieve remarkable improvement, creating meaningful playing time for younger players could be tricky not. only because of its stagnation on the front court, but also because of COVID. 19.
The league’s health and safety protocols, and a proposal that could see the G League play in its own “bubble,” could make it cumbersome to move players around for more opportunities between the NBA and the development league. . It’s unclear how eager teams will be to send players around. As a hedge against the possibility of COVID-19 protocols leaving teams understaffed, active rosters have been expanded from 13 to 15 this season, and teams could choose to keep their young players nearby out of caution.
Kabengele played 27 G League games last season, averaging 18.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in 31 minutes, with 48% overall and 32% on 3s.
“I feel like last year was a big learning curve for me, [under] lots of expectations and stuff, ”Kabengele said. But this year, I feel more present, more fluid. My goal is to contribute in any way that I can.
“… We have enough scoring, we have enough playmakers. Just filling in additional glue dots is something I really look forward to when bouncing, being a vocal voice in defense. Those are the main things I focus on all the time. “
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