2009-10 NBA Season Preview: Los Angeles Clippers

Depth Chart:

C: Chris Kaman/Marcus Camby/DeAndre Jordan

PF: Blake Griffin/Craig Smith/Brian Skinner

SF: Al Thornton/Steve Novak

SG: Eric Gordon/Rasual Butler/Mardy Collins

PG: Baron Davis/Sebastian Telair

Head Coach: Mike Dunleavy (7^th year)

2009-2010 Team Salary: $58.9 million

Projected 2010-2011 Team Salary: approximately $39.1 million

Off-Season Grade: Aced

Clips GM/head coach Mike Dunleavy might have pulled off the steal of the summer, dumping head case Zach Randolph’s terrible contract for the expiring deal of Quentin Richardson, who was in turn traded for Sebastian Telfair, Craig Smith, and the king of towel-waving Mark Madsen (who has since been cut by the Clips.) This move saved Los Angeles’ other team more than $8 million in cap space this season and almost $15 million next year.

Getting rid of Randolph made sense since the Clips picked Blake Griffin first overall in the draft. With Griffin, Randolph, Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman under contract, someone needed to be dealt to open up playing time up front. Randolph was the least likely to be shipped out of Los Angeles due to his enormous contract and questionable character, so major props to Dunleavy for finding a sucker like Memphis general manager Chris Wallace to take on one of the worst contracts in the league.

Los Angeles also pretty much stole away Rasual Butler from the Hornets in exchange for a conditional 2016 second-round draft pick. Butler is in the final year of his deal so it was a logical 1-year rental for a team in need of some depth on the wing.

2009-2010 Outlook:

They are the Clippers, so historically, bad things should happen to this team once again. But if the curse of the Clips can be avoided this season, this team should compete for a playoff spot.

They are solid up front, have scorers on the wing, and an experienced point guard running the show in Baron Davis. Davis pouted through most of last season after signing a monster deal with the Clips last offseason. If Griffin can provide some fire for this franchise and motivate Davis to play to his potential, good things should happen for Hollywood’s red-headed step child.

Looking Ahead to the Summer of 2010:

I cannot stress the importance of the Randolph trade enough. As I mentioned, it saved the Clips almost $15 million in cap space and put them in a position to be major players next off-season. Free agent-to-be LeBron James keeps finding his name attached to teams like the Knicks and Nets, but I seriously believe the Clippers could be a darkhorse in the running to sign King James.

Even if they don’t land LeBron, they should be able to sign a big name free agent. There is a solid nucleus of Davis, Gordon, Thornton, Griffin and Kaman which is more than can be said for other teams expected to make a splash next offseason (i.e. the Knicks.) For the first time in quite some years, the Clippers are making the right moves and leaving their franchise excited about the future.

2009-10 NBA Power Ranking: 17th