Although the possibility of signing Sessions is still out there, the trade that netted the Clippers Sebastian Telfair, Craig Smith and Mark Madsen should bring some sense of finality to a surprisingly wild offseason. Yes, there are still a few holes that could stand to be filled, but as a whole the Clippers arguably improved themselves more than any other team this offseason. The way Dunleavy brilliantly flipped Zach Randolph for a valuable 7 million dollar trade exception and two talented young players in Craig Smith and Sebastian Telfair should have him considering a career in real estate once he’s done with this basketball thing. No matter how you feel about Dunleavy, you have to hand it to him for swinging a few great deals that actually puts the franchise in much better shape than it was around this time last year.
We’ve already talked a bit about Bassy, and his story is pretty well publicized. As the backup point guard (for now, anyway) to injury prone Baron Davis, Telfair is likely to play a huge role next season. With the Clippers front court being relatively crowded, Craig Smith doesn’t appear to have an easy route to playing time, but for the man they call “Rhino”, that is nothing new.
Joining the Clippers is a homecoming for Craig Smith, who was born and raised in Inglewood. Collegiate basketball fans may remember Smith for his illustrious career at Boston College, where he teamed with fellow Southern California native Jared Dudley to become one of the most formidable duos in the NCAA. Smith would finish his career as the second leading scorer in Boston College history, and despite being named a second team All-American, he would fall to pick 36. Smith is your classic draft day dropper; if he stood at 6′9 instead of 6′7 he would have likely been a lottery pick.
Despite Smith’s vertical deficiencies, he’s been an effective role player off the bench in his first three years as a pro. Smith is the definition of an efficient scorer, shooting 55% from the field on his career. His per36 minute scoring numbers are equally impressive, as Smith clocked in at 18.4 PPG last year in that category. Maybe most impressive though is the frequency with which Smith gets to the line, going 3.4 times a game last year in only 19 minutes a contest.
The knack on Smith however is that even though he gives you a lot offensively, he’s prone to giving everything right back on the other end. In many ways, Smith is oddly similar to the player the Clippers ultimately gave up to get him; the much maligned Zach Randolph. Smith shares many of the same defensive issues Randolph does in that neither are quick enough to guard 3’s, and both are too small in the post to contest shots against 4’s. Randolph was primarily exploited last year in pick and roll situations, and Smith has been known to struggle in that area as well. Smith is listed at “250″ pounds, but he’s reportedly closer to 275, and that’s a lot of man to get going in different directions. He’s not terrible at it, but don’t expect Smith to be leading a seminar on “how to hedge a pick and roll” anytime soon. The main difference between Randolph and Smith is that Smith is just a sub-par defensive rebounder, while Randolph is one of the better defensive rebounders in the game.
Smith and Randolph aren’t terribly different offensively, either. Similar to Randolph, Smith carves out space for himself inside by using his incredible girth, and then flips in shots from strange angles with a soft touch. Of course, Smith doesn’t have the jump shooting capabilities that Randolph posseses, but you can’t exactly leave him open either. The guy has some range.
But how does “Rhino” and his unique talents fit into the Clippers front court? In theory, pretty well. The Clippers are one of the few teams in the league that have three shot blocking talents like Camby, Kaman and Jordan. Because of this luxury that the Clippers have, Smith will never be without a true big man in the lineup with him, even if it’s Griffin. Offensively, Dunleavy’s post centric offense appears to be tailor made to Smith’s talents. Similar to the thought process with Randolph last year, the pairing that makes most sense is putting Smith alongside Camby, as they seemingly fill the holes in each other’s games as a duo.
Acquiring Smith and Telfair is a low risk, high reward move by Dunleavy. Even Michael Scott would surely deem this a “Win-Win-Win situation”. Basically, we knew what Quentin Richardson was going to bring to the team; a bad back, a bit of nostalgia, and an expiring contract. Smith, 25, was widely regarded by Minnesota fans as agreat role player who worked hard and was a good locker room presence. If he performs well, he could end up being another addition to the emerging young Clippers core. If he doesn’t perform, the Clippers still stand to lose nothing, except for salary. If Smith can stay healthy and play up to his talent level, he’ll be a more than welcome addition to the Clippers.
27 Responses
i hope he can continue to bring the good attitude each and every night! the more quality character guys we have on the bench the better!!!
[Reply]
Posted on July 28th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Bill Simmons says in his latest column about Dunleavy,
“If you’re not gone by Valentine’s Day, I am organizing “Throw Bags Of Your Own Urine” Night” – This is in reference to Dunleavy “coached more than 300 games consecutively for the same franchise and won less than 40 percent of those games” And he’s done it twice.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090728
[Reply]
yep Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 10:51 am
And this is relevant to Craig Smith how?!
[Reply]
brad Reply:
July 30th, 2009 at 8:29 am
bill simmons is a joke. some of his stuff is funny but the rest of it is just for entertainment. I also like how dunleavy just wrote him off as a joke during an interview. The guy gets clipper season tickets a few years back and now he thinks he is the “voice” of the franchise. I think ill reserve that title for mr lawler
[Reply]
Posted on July 28th, 2009 at 6:46 pm
Dunleavy makes some great deals as GM. He should stick to that.
[Reply]
Posted on July 28th, 2009 at 8:09 pm
I have to laugh at the comment with regard to Dunleavy being a genius for getting rid of Randolph. Umm, last time I checked Dunleavy was the genius that brought Randolph here in the first place. Doh! The standards set for the Dunleavy fan boys on this site are not high. The other oft used statement about Dunleavy’s greatness is that “he got the owner to open his wallet.” Wow! That’s really amazing stuff. If the Dunce is so great why don’t his teams ever win? Why is everyone always “injured”? Why do the teams quit on him? Anyone promoting the Dunce has some all-time low standards.
[Reply]
FireDunleavy .com Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Yeah, no credit for fixing your own screw up.
[Reply]
yep Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 10:50 am
How has this been a screw up.
He cleared out cat at TT for Zbo, made room for gordon…the team won with ZBo on the floor.
The biggest issue was his contract and how it would affect this year’s free agency…well guess what? It didn’t.
That’s what you FD guys don’t get. You pick and prod at every move looking for something to bash that you don’t see the big picture.
Big picture: He turned TT and Cat into Telfair, Smith and Madsen while clearing salary for 2010. We got to rent ZBo for a season, got Camby for nothing, drafted really well with Gordon and DJ.
Our team on paper looks better than it ever has.
Dunleavy as a coach it’s hard to argue, but as a GM I think everyone but you FD guys can concur that he’s done a decent job.
[Reply]
John Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 11:46 am
I with you Yep. You can nitpick individual moves, but big picture dunleavy has done good job as GM.
Personally, I think the Korolev pick ranks as the worst move of the last few years…especially in retrospect…although I don’t know whose call that was.
[Reply]
FireDunleavy .com Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Yeah, last season was a real success.
[Reply]
MC Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
Lottery success.
[Reply]
bongstradamus Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 2:18 pm
Im willing to let him be GM, he’s done some brilliant stuff with what seemed like immovable contracts. Coaching on the other hand….I dont think he’s done anything to dispell our ire over having teams give up before tip off, or micromanaging in the 4th quarter and leading to 8 minute scoring droughts where his best shooter inbounds balls to a donut dunking fatty who chucks a 3 from 30 feet. On paper we look phenomenal. On paper, Coach D’s win-loss record makes Tim Floyd look employable in the NBA.
[Reply]
Posted on July 29th, 2009 at 12:20 am
As a Wolves fan, I have to say that Craig took a bit of a step back this year, but there’s no reason he can’t be an energy guy off the bench. He’s too slow to guard 3’s and too small to guard 4’s, but his greatest talent is grabbing offensive boards. He can get between defenders and just has great instinct when a ball comes off the rim. For his size, he also has a remarkable handle, and you can thank Kevin McHale for teaching him some of those cutesy painted-area shots that he can make in traffic.
Like I said though, he’s not good enough of a defender to warrant extended minutes, but he’s fun to watch when he gets rolling offensively.
[Reply]
Posted on July 29th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Mike Dunleavy should fall back to full time GM & hire former Clipper Mark Jackson to coach the team. That would be the start of something great!
[Reply]
Posted on July 29th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Good breakdown KA. Smith seems like a very good option coming off the bench for us.
[Reply]
John Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 12:00 pm
Marc Jackson has been such a heavily discussed coaching candidate for the last couple of years now. I don’t get it… Here’s a guy who has no coaching experience whatsoever, here’s a guy who has yet to say something interesting in all his years of broadcasting…and yet, here’s a guy who is assumed to be a great coach. I don’t see it. Great players rarely make great coaches.
[Reply]
RL Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Magic John is a perfect example of what John is saying.
[Reply]
bongstradamus Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Yea but something tells me if John Stockton ever coached he’d be one of the greats.
Most of the time, its scrub players that make great coaches. Mo Cheeks, Scott Skiles, Rudy T, Rick Adelman, Larry Brown, Phil Jackson, Avery Johnson, etc.
Given the above examples, Kurt Rambis should be the next Red Auerbach.
[Reply]
Chris. Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 3:59 pm
cause it’s the scrub players who are watching all parts of the game.
wasn’t dunleavy a scrub, though? i’d say his son is one, now.
[Reply]
Posted on July 29th, 2009 at 11:54 am
Minnesota’s GM David Kahn is sucking even worse then mchale right now.. you absolutely do not trade telfair, the rhino, and mad dawg for a F*cking expiring contract
[Reply]
bongstradamus Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
I thought it was actually a smart deal for Minny. Remember, they got Corey Brewer coming back from injury and he’s going to need floor time. You guys have a ton of young talent up there and trading for Q freed up cash for next years FA market and gave playing time to guys who need it. Hes also not a bad shooter from range, and you just dont pass up shooters even if on rental for an ADHD head case, a one dimensional (yet very promising) player and a blogger.
Minny’s only 1 peice away from an amazing team…hopefully they can hire a coach before the season.
[Reply]
Posted on July 29th, 2009 at 12:20 pm
The Clippers did not win with Randolph in the lineup last year. They were probably the worst team in the NBA and certainly unwatchable. That’s how bad they were. It’s amazing that someone would credit Dunleavy with seeing the big picture when his every move has been calculated to address the “small” and immediate picture, the prime example of which was the panic move to get Randolph. The fact that the Dunce found someone more of an idiot than he in Memphis is hardly reason to celebrate his skill. The Dunce was extremely lucky that he got a “do over” with Randolph. The drafting of Griffin was luck and something that not even a man who could wreak a bowling ball could screw up.
The bottom line is that the Dunce is a horrible coach in every way possible and his record proves that. His record as a GM is not in any way notable except for screw-ups. The undertaker would be canned in any competent organization.
[Reply]
yep Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
The Clippers were indeed .500 when ZBo was in the lineup.
Maybe you don’t know the Clippers enough to differentiate the games he played in vs the ones he did not. We all know that FD.com sure doesn’t know jack when it comes to the actual Clippers other than his usual non-insightful rhetoric.
He came to the team later on in the season, he missed a good amount of games due to injuries and his father’s death. However, when he was playing they won.
[Reply]
Posted on July 29th, 2009 at 2:02 pm
What about that Charlotte deal? I think they ripped themselves off, they traded Emeka (under contract for 5 more very affordable years) AND a 1st round pick for Tyson Chandlers back problems that expire at end of next season.
Either MJ has some serious gambling debts and needs to save money, or Charlotte is thinking Chandler is carrying them to the playoffs. I cant really figure out why they traded their franchise for a 7 footer with a chiropractor in his entourage.
[Reply]
Clipper Speakeasy Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 5:36 pm
Two guesses: (1) To make it easier to sell the team, as Chandler’s deal expires after the 10-11 season; or (2) to get Larry Brown to stop complaining about Okafor.
[Reply]
Mank Flipfort Reply:
July 29th, 2009 at 5:51 pm
Flipping OKafor for Chandler is hardly trading away the franchise. Talk to anyone who knows anything about the NBA and none of them will say that Okafor is a franchise center; he’s a decent 2nd option or a very good 3rd option on offense, and merely a somewhat above average player on defense; Chandler is his mirror image, being a good defender and a very limited offensive player. And Okafor is the one with back problems; Chandler’s problems have recently been with his foot. It’s pretty clear that this is a cost-cutting measure by Charlotte (5 years at about 12 mil/year is not that “affordable” if your team isn’t winning and in a small market), probably because they’re not making much money (any surprise there?), and possibly making the team more enticing for potential buyers.
[Reply]
Posted on July 29th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
[...] Just Sports. Amare says on Twitter that he’s the new ambassador of Sierra Leone.7th: ClipperBlog. How does Craig Smith and his unique talents fit into the Clippers front court?8th: RU. Former NBA [...]
Posted on July 29th, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Add A Comment