The Clippers exercised their respective options for the 2010-11 season on both Eric Gordon and Al Thornton. Gordon’s option runs $3.02 million, while Thornton will cost the Clippers $2.81 million.
Extending Gordon, of course, is a no-brainer for the Clips.
While I suppose you could make an argument that Thornton has plateaued and doesn’t warrant further investment by the team, $2.81 million seems like a bargain to insure that there’s someone on the roster who can play small forward at the start of the 2010-11 season. Furthermore, even if Al never improves another iota, he’s still a $3 million player.
Assuming Sebastian Telfair picks up his player option, the Clippers 2010-11 spreadsheet looks like this:
- Baron Davis (PG) $13.05M
- Sebastian Telfair (PG) $2.70M
- Eric Gordon (SG) $3.02M
- Al Thornton (SF) $2.81M
- Blake Griffin (PF) $5.36M
- Chris Kaman (C) $11.30M
- DeAndre Jordan (C) $0.85M
TOTAL: 7 players, $39.09M
33 Responses
I think Al being “still a 3 million dollar player” is debatable. A 3 million dollar player, though perhaps not having a great impact, should have a niche that at least HELPS the team in some small way. Considering Thornton is often a LIABILITY, I don’t see what exactly makes him worth 3 million dollars, especially when you have aspirations of securing a free agent or two next summer, and every dollar under the cap counts. I think you may be confusing a 3 million dollar talent, or 3 million dollar potential, with what this guy actually brings. At some point he may prove his value to be such, but currently I see that as a hard argument to make when he’s more often a detriment than an asset. And isn’t this the guy that was always unfairly crushing Zach Randolph?
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Kevin Arnovitz Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 5:43 pm
Junior:
Your point is well-taken, and I’m not someone who has a favorable view of Al as a starting NBA SF. But the decision to pick up his option isn’t merely a question of quantifying his value a year out. The SF crop in free agency is quite thin after LeBron James. There’s Joe Johnson (who one might argue is more of a SG), and a bunch of post-prime vets with Early Termination Options. So in sizing up Al, we have to consider the question of insurance, namely what do the Clippers do if they can’t find a guy who’s worth giving 2,500 minutes as a starter at the 3?
I agree: A $3M player must have a niche, and I think this year might reveal that for Thornton and the Clips: A bench scorer who doesn’t have to be burdened with the responsibility of guarding the opponent’s most dynamic (or even 2nd most dynamic) perimeter scorer. That guy in this league is generally paid in the $2.5M-$3M range. And that guy for the Clippers in 2010-11 might be Al Thornton.
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D.J. Foster Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 5:45 pm
Al Thornton, even with some of his downfalls, provides great value at 3 million a year. He’s a tremendous scorer and still has some time to develop the other aspects of his game. I know I’m very critical of Al in a lot of my posts, but he’s useful when placed in the right situations and lineups.
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bongstradamus Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
$3m is cheap in the NBA and Al can still provide some offense when needed. $6m is too much, but $3m? Theres players getting paid ridiculous sums of money that barely produce at the level Al does.
Now, if we could parlay his $3m into something…
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Posted on October 13th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
Clipper fans kill me. He’s first team all rookie and he’s a steal and great pick. He plays 82 games in one of the worst basketball environments ever and he’s a bum. This will only be his 2nd year. Translation: we won’t know shit about him until the end of this season.
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Cappy Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 5:21 pm
Agreed.
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Newtybar Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Thank you btc, that needed to be said.
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bongstradamus Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 6:30 pm
Third year. And hes 26 in December, the age most people think the potential runs out and what you see is what you get.
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Q.D. Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 8:21 pm
I don’t know if they are calling him a bum, but they just want to see more from him.
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Ian Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 9:59 pm
Worst basketball environments ever? Hardly. He was just on a shitty team that passed poorly, took bad shots and played little defense. And ya know what? He was part of why the team had all of those characteristics. I lobbied hard as hell for them to draft him when he was in college, but now that i’ve seen him a good amount I’m not sure that a relatively low-efficiency scorer that needs the ball in his hands to be effective is the right thing for this team. Once you factor in that he’s a terrible team defender & somewhat turnover prone, I think you receive a picture of a player that’s going to cause some fans to be dissatisfied. Especially since he’s just not going to get better at some of the things that he’s not good at — he’s just too old.
I don’t think he’s a bum, but i hope he’s not playing any major role on the team 2 years from now.
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jesus Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 12:34 am
Clipper fan since 1990.
I agree, we will know what Al can become by the end of his third year.
This year’s team is better with AL not without because that’s the way
most of you sound like. I’m glad none of are the GM of the Clippers.
my starting five
pg baron davis
sg eric gordon
sf al thorton
pf blake griffin
C chris kaman
next four up
telfair, camby, butler, novak
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Posted on October 13th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
/\ and i’m by no means ignoring his deficiencies. I am just saying that when you’re in a bad environment, it’s incredibly tough to give your best effort. That just doesn’t apply to sports, it applies to all walks of life.
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ghost_ride Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
The “bad environment” actually helped Al. He had free reign to jack up as many shots as he wanted w/ playing time a plenty, and with no real expectations. We all thought, what a great scorer, until last season we realized how detrimental his play could really be. The ball just tended to stop when it got to him, and his outside shots hit at about 35% at best.
If he could concentrate more on taking it to the rack and learn to pass rather than forcing up shots, he has a chance to really help the team. If not, he’ll turn more would be wins into losses.
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Curtis Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
I agree with BTC. It’s hard to be motivated and not think selfishly when you’ve been on a very below par team your whole career. You also have to consider that he is coming from the Florida team that won back to back championships.
To be frank, 2.8 mil for him is a great deal; afterall, he was on the all-star rookie and sophomore teams.
Now, that all the pieces are starting to come together, I’m optimistic we’ll start to see the true potential of Thorton.
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Ian Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
He’s definitely not coming from that Florida team. He went to the other big Florida school…
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Beard The Curse Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 9:36 pm
And what veteran leader on the team was here last year to show him? Donut Davis? Sticky Icky Ricky? Achey Breaky Camby? The Ghost[never around] Kaman?
And don’t give me the age thing. He’s still heading into his third year. There’s a learning curve. If no progress is shown this year, then blast away. But at worst he’s well worth the 2.8 (it’s not even 3) mill a year.
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Beard The Curse Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
That reply was directed above to ghost_ride
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ghost_ride Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 11:29 pm
Not saying picking up the option wasn’t a good call. But AT, for one reason or other has been in the hearts of a lot of Clipper fans the last couple of year, for no real good reason. He’ll be in a more limited role this year it looks like, and that’s a good thing.
Posted on October 13th, 2009 at 5:46 pm
I think the consensus on this site is that Al would make a nice scoring 6th man, that would be well worth the $3MM they are paying.
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Posted on October 13th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
Assuming the league picks up the option to extend the term of the collective bargaining agreement, will the cap for 10-11 be $57.7 million (the same as this year)? That would give us about $18 million to play around with for next year?
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Q.D. Reply:
October 13th, 2009 at 8:22 pm
What to do with that $18 mill?
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Posted on October 13th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
Where was I?
When did fans started worrying about how much a team should spend on a player?
The same people are going games.
I can notice at games, who are real Clipper fans to the followers.
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VH Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 10:55 am
since expiring contracts became more valuable than decent players.
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bongstradamus Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 9:11 pm
When Chris Kamans deal was signed, I started worrying.
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Posted on October 14th, 2009 at 12:40 am
Kevin Arnovitz,
this is a waste of space. just from the title of this blog
i could assume it was going be the same kind of crap I hear at work
and from my cousins. And they don’t even like the Clippers.
So, Kevin Arnovitz .
Do you like the Clippers?
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Posted on October 14th, 2009 at 12:44 am
I will give Al this year to prove himself, you never know he might be the X factor to get us that 8 spot for the playoff.
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Nuclips Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Ditto.
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Posted on October 14th, 2009 at 12:51 am
Al always been my favorite player, since EB left us
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Posted on October 14th, 2009 at 1:15 am
Personally, I think we’ve seen about 95% of what Al will be as a basketball player…he is 26 after all, even if it’s only his third year. Whether or not he’s worth 3mil will depend upon how effective he is as a scorer in the second unit. I think he’ll be good.
I was flipping through some of his stats at 82 games: http://www.82games.com/0809/08LAC10.HTM
His PER jumps from 13.3 to 17.7 when he plays the PF spot. Perhaps this is something mdsr should experiment with…since if he isn’t standing 20 feet from the basket, he wont be able to jack up 20ft jumpshots. Unfortunately when he plays the PF, the opposing teams PF has a PER of 19.9. Of course when he plays SG, the opposing SG has a PER of 33.3…truly terrifying.
Don’t disregard the notion that Al may not be worth 3mil. The clippers were 5 points worse per 100 possessions when he was on the floor….and it’s not like we were replacing him with ‘quality’ players. This is a telling stat…I don’t care how hard someone plays or how athletic they play, if your team is worse with them, then don’t pay them. 3mil could be a big deal when it comes to landing a 2010 free agent.
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Posted on October 14th, 2009 at 11:18 am
Seriously some of you need to relax. Going back to the point Kevin made, Al is the only SF who will be back on the team next year. You never know what FA will bring, but at 3M it’s not a lot of money and should’ve been done with no hesitation. This is a no brainer and for those of you to turn it against Al who was the only positive thing going for us 2 years ago is BS. Maybe he had a sophomore slump, but he at least played with heart everytime which is more than some other Clippers have in recent years. Al is not the starting SF on an NBA Championship team, we aren’t even considered a playoff team by many people so give it a break, 3M is cheap and those haters need to shut it.
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SamMays Reply:
October 14th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
The average salary is a bit over 4 million. Al has started the last two years and will be an important figure this year. He’s easily worth the money. Add to that, the third year is where most players prove their worth. Since Al is in his third year, it was a fairy easy decision to keep him. If he improves, he’ll be a bargain next year. If not, he’s still worth the money.
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Posted on October 14th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
I can understand extending his rookie deal. I just dont see us giving him big money once the cheap labor period ends. We should try and trade him for an asset while his perceived value is relatively high.
Then again I called Al for what he was his rookie year and mentioned trading him then as well. I like the guy, hes just not going to be attending many, if any, all star games.
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Posted on October 14th, 2009 at 9:14 pm
Everyones freaking about Al’s $3m.
HELLO! LOOK AT KAMANS $11.3M!
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Posted on October 14th, 2009 at 9:25 pm
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