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Los Angeles Clippers (Last Year: 19-63)
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 (7th
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
Written by Paul Banks of NBC Chicago and the Washington Times, and David Kay of the The Sports Bank.
Send Paul an e-mail here: paulb05 AT hotmail DOT com.
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