Clippers Get Pick 8

18 May 2010

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The NBA Draft Lottery has concluded and the Los Angeles Clippers will select eighth in this year’s draft. Although the Clippers will choose right where they were scheduled to, the rest of the draft got a little crazy. The Washington Wizards will select first and the Philadelphia 76ers will select second, despite neither team being slated in the original top three odds wise.

We’ll have plenty more on the draft and the ramifications of the lottery shakeup in the upcoming days here at ClipperBlog.

First2one00

Any possible chance we swap picks with gs for cash or a 2nd round pick? I see them in need of size which would be available at the 8th
- Chris.
  
  The Pistons desperately need a big because Ben Wallace was their starting Center and that is awful. So the only need to trade with GS would be to stop them from taking a SF (which they may cause they’re crazy).
  
  Sactown takes one of the SF’s and hopefully we get the other (between Aminu or Wesley).
  - Chris.
    
    This is of course if Minny doesn’t take a SF at 4 because they do need one. If they do and Sactown does then there is no need to trade to get GS pick.
- TNT57
  
  We’re essentially starting the season with the 1st and 8th pick not counting Eric Gordon. That’s a nice start.
  - Clipperized
    
    No big deal. Trade DeAndre Jordan for one of the top picks. To make it better yet,
    package a deal consisting Baron Davis as well.
Jeff

The Clippers just need to add Lebron James at the small forward slot Al Thornton left and add another quality player from the draft and, oh yeah, stay healthy and we’d have a monster team. Championship within the next few years. Watch out Lakers.
Chris.

Clippers previous #8 picks:

Chris Wilcox ’02
Bo Kimble ’90
Lancaster Gordon ’84
Tom Chambers ’81

Uh… I think we’re due for a star.
http://www.myspace.com/regretsandbrunettes ghost_ride

I think with any deal here, it should be made in draft, and I would work the phones hard with Minnesota. With Kevin Love already aboard, I doubt they’re too interested in Favors or Cousins.

Wesley Johnson probably isn’t a huge threat to go 3rd, but it could happen. That’s why I wouldn’t simply trade for Minnesota’s pick. I’d have a deal made up prior to the draft, and if Wesley’s there at 4 on draft day, pull the trigger.

Regardless, the more I think about it the more I don’t think we have much of a shot at getting him (Wesley).

Going after Aminu, it could make some sense to try and move up to #6. Even if, for some reason Aminu gets drafted by SAC at 5 or before, you could then take the best available out of Cousins, Favors, or Johnson.

Either way, sitting at #8 I don’t feel confident at all that either SF will drop to us. At the top, it looks like a 6 player draft, w/ Monroe in there as a wild card to make it 7. Extremely inconveniently, we draft at 8.

The only way out of this is if DET takes Cole Aldrich, and someone else likes Greg Monroe, but again this is a long shot that i’m not sure we can really sit back and watch play out.

Drafting Eric Bledsoe, or moving down a little to draft Bledsoe or the best SF available at that point would be the only bail out plan that i’d support.
- Josh
  
  Bledsoe.
  - JaySee
    
    Why the love for Bledsoe? He has nothing but “potential” because of his athletic ability. He’s turnover prone, and doesn’t get to the line. He’s a spot up shooter with a slow shot. He’s basically a SF in a PG body. He doesn’t have much experience playing 1 year on a stacked Kentucky team where he was the 4th or 5th option on offense. Trying to get Livingiston back would be a better option than wasting our pick on Bledsoe.
    - Clipper Derrick
      
      I wouldn’t mind having Livingston back. Dude was pretty solid in garbage time at the end of the season. Any know what his contract status is?
      - First2One00
        
        he’s an unrestricted free agent. He’s made it open that he thanks Washington for giving him a chance but he will pursue which ever team offers him some decent change$$$. Either way he would be available at a bargain price.
    - Josh
      
      He didn’t have the ball in his hands, because of WallHog. When he did, he was electric getting to the paint, leading and making smart decisions.
- http://www.johnpezzetti.com Pez
  
  nice analysis!
Hiretarktheshark.com

Gaurantee 2 random shitty international players will surface in the next 2 months that’ll get picked in the top 7 and never show up in the league. Pick the best available player. I’d take bledsoe early at 8 and cut bdiddys brake line before he goes on a road trip down mulholland….
- Josh
  
  I repeat, Bledsoe.
  - humbleathletics
    
    e bledsoe = r westbrook
    w johnson = t outlaw
http://www.twitter.com/HitFixGregory jgroove

I would trade the pick. We don’t need another young power forward on this roster. A veteran PF to back up Griffin? Sure, but we don’t need more youngin’s…
http://www.firedunleavy.com FD

The good thing is New Jersey didn’t get the first pick, so the odds of Lebron going there go down a little bit.
NRM

Anybody think we should resign Butler, and draft the best player available at 8?
- ghost_ride
  
  Re-sign Butler yes, hopefully as a backup off the bat (Lbj, Iggy), or eventually (w. Johnson, Aminu) Taking the best available at 8 looks pretty iffy at best. See above.
  - kenji
    
    re-sign bulter ONLY as a 3rd string SF, and for the minimum. rasul was way too streaky and given too many minutes just because of our lack of depth as SF. he’s not good enough to be the wing player to spread the floor, and not a glue guy the team needs. his worth is minimal. i’d advocate offering matt barnes a multi-year deal. he’s a good defender, SF/SG capable, hustles, can hit the 3, and most of all i’m sure he’d love to finally sign a contract that was more that the 1 year deals he’s been playing on his whole career. Also, he’s played with baron in college and GS, and is a socal native. I see there’s a lot of things the clippers can offer that would appeal to him. he could play a shane battier type role.
    - http://www.twitter.com/HitFixGregory jgroove
      
      I don’t get the Butler hate and he’s way better than third string. He hit some big and clutch shots during the season. I never thought he quit during the year like some of the other players and he was 10x more effective than Thornton (who by the way, the Wizards appear to be letting walk way for nothing…).
      - Curtis
        
        I like the idea of bringing back Bulter. He’s also a swingman, so he can play the SG position behind Gordon.
      - mario1p
        
        agree with you i think butler would make a good back up though
      - kenji
        
        its easier to hit some clutch shots during the year when he shoots everytime he touches the ball like sasha vujacic. and of course he didn’t quit during the year, why?….Contract year.
      - bigmike691
        
        Re-Sign butler and Gooden to solidify the bench and draft an athletic wing or try and trade for Iggy in philly or sign rudy gay. Either way Clippers looking to have a nice season next year if everyone stays healthy
John

If the Lebron thing doesn’t pan out, which we all know is a long shot, I have one recommendation. Get Kaman to talk to Dirk.
- Hiretarktheshark.com
  
  Ummm Dirk can’t get outta the first round. No thank you. And he’s not walking from 25 mil next year to go to the clippers.
  - Bingo Smith
    
    We can’t even get to the first round as currently constructed.
    - bigmike691
      
      Clipper Nation would go crazy if we got dirk it will never happen but shame on any clipper fan who talks crap about dirk for not getting out of the first round when he has been to the finals and won a reg season mvp. I think we would be ok with winning 50 games a year like dallas
      - Bingo Smith
        
        Exactly. I’d gladly welcome Dirk, even at his age. He’s the best PF in the game, he is a true iron man and he gets his team to the playoffs with 50 plus wins for the last 10 years or so. We’d have to hope that Blake could play some 3, but it’s worth the risk if Dirk was willing to come.
John

It would make for an interesting front line though and definitely could compete with the Laker’s size.
Clipped12

All we can do now is hope that Johnson or Aminu are still there at 8.
clippafan4life

I wanna see gordon hayward in a clipper uni
- Pedro
  
  Second.
  - TNT57
    
    I like heyward too
cg2g

At 8, I really like Xavier Henry long term at the 3.
- dulciusEXasperis
  
  He’s a bit small though for a SF, no? 6-6? Wouldn’t mind trading down a few picks to get him and swap our second rounder with whoever we traded with.
- VH
  
  I love Henry but he is a project. We are really 1 or 2 pieces away from getting back to the ’06 level, I do believe that. Same with Bledsoe, I think we should try and focus on someone who can make an impact right away.
Qlippers

Stay away from Gordon Hayward at #8, the guy was getting shut down by Kyle Singler, a prospect whose weakness is defending. Singler ate Hayward alive, now imagine how useless Hayward would look against NBA competition. Gordon “Adam Morrison” Hayward should not be the pick
- dulciusEXasperis
  
  Agreed. Too slow, not athletic, not a player you want at #8. Period!
- VH
  
  Agreed, there are a lot of question marks around Hayward, especially his poor outside shooting against very poor competition. He was so much fun to watch in the tourney, but he has the makeup of a potential bust. I am not saying he will be, but its too risky imho.
- Clipperized
  
  Gordon Hayward is a LARRY BIRD in the making.
  - Qlippers
    
    Larry Bird who is currently retired with a bad back
Clipped12

If the Clippers draft Hayward at 8, then that would be a typical Dunleavy move. But, he’s not our GM anymore and I don’t see it happening. Or at least I hope not. I’m just hoping that Monroe, Davis, and Aldrich can impress in workouts so that teams like the Kings, Wolves, and Warriors might end up taking either of them which would allow Johnson or Aminu to be available when we pick. Both players would fit in perfectly with this team. I also have Paul George in my radar as well. I look for him to shoot up the draft boards as well once he goes through his workouts.
BG

If I were GM, I would draft Aminu to bring off the bench for a year or two, and for the time being try to pry Tayshaun Prince away from the Pistons to start at the 3.
- Mike Wr
  
  Agree. Prince would be a very good add to the team because he can play the point forward role. I liked Butler last year but the guy can’t or won’t pass. The ball often died in Butler’s hands last year. Prince can guard, he can pass the ball, and doesn’t need lots of shots to be happy. I know we could get Detroit to bite if we offered Kaman for Prince. But, the Clips would have to know that they could find a space eating defensive-minded center to take up some of Kaman’s minutes. I’d draft a guy like Aldrich for the future but he’s not ready for major minutes his rookie season.
  - BG
    
    I think we could get Prince for less than Kaman at this point. Pistons are rebuilding and they have a few young guys at that position who need PT. I think we could get him without giving up any of our core guys.
Qlippers

I would avoid drafting guys who look great in the Tourney. A lot of ppl love these guys because they don’t watch college basketball all year. More often than not, these guys are big time busts.
http://holidaywithdogs.net Holiday with dogs

re-sign bulter ONLY as a 3rd string SF, and for the minimum. rasul was way too streaky and given too many minutes just because of our lack of depth as SF. he’s not good enough to be the wing player to spread the floor, and not a glue guy the team needs. his worth is minimal. i’d advocate offering matt barnes a multi-year deal. he’s a good defender, SF/SG capable, hustles, can hit the 3, and most of all i’m sure he’d love to finally sign a contract that was more that the 1 year deals he’s been playing on his whole career. Also, he’s played with baron in college and GS, and is a socal native. I see there’s a lot of things the clippers can offer that would appeal to him. he could play a shane battier type role.
+1
http://crimelaw crimelaw

It doesn’t matter who we draft. The team is hopeless so long as Kamen & Baron play a major role. We need a coach with the toughness & reputation to control these perennial losers- or LaBron. Does anyone know of a coach who fits that description,& is willing to work on the cheap for an owner who routinely refuses to live up to his contractual obligations? If so, get him in touch with “The L.A. Donald” because he’s our man.
clippman

i agree with crimelaw as Kaman and Davis have to go – they do not and will never have that winning attitude. I just want to see a team put effort out each and every night. With hustle wins will come but you have to have hustle which will instill a winning attitude!!!!
- http://aol ClipperMarc
  
  BGriffin will bring new attitude and Kaman and Davis willl change theres.
TNT57

The clippers are like this sexy girl that you’re walking up to from behind. Wow, she’s so curvy and young then she turns around and she’s got a big nose and one eyebrow. Kaman and Davis. It’s time for some surgery.
http://c JakeC

Trade kaman to Minnie for the 4th and 16th picks. Pick up DeMarcus Cousins (4), Xavier Henry(8) and Paul George(16). This would free up money and give us depth. We gotta trade Kaman while he is at his allstar peak. Then we could pick up some veteran Free Agents.
The Clips need aggressiveness, strength, and depth. These 3 picks provide that. Paul George is projected in the 18-24 range of the draft and could easily be had at 16. Sool provides the offense at the SF; we need defense and rebounding there as well. Depth is needed at the SG behind Gordon, and we need a SG w height to defend the taller SGs in the league.
Clips need to utilize trades in the draft more. Right now, with the fucked up handling of the team from sterling, free agents are reluctant to go near the Clips. Would you want to work for this asshole?
Thats why the team needs to maximize the depth of this team through the draft to provide incentives for players and coaches to want to come near them.
- ghost_ride
  
  Interesting scenario…but I don’t think I want Cousins anywhere near our core of EJ, Griffin, & DeAndre.
  
  Kaman for #4 & #23 is probably more realistic:
  
  I’d take Wesley Johnson at #4, Monroe or Ed Davis at #8, and Bledsoe or Hayward at #23.
  - Josh
    
    Cousins is going to be a dominant big for a long, long time. One or two coaches at a summer camp who double as ESPN reporters have been trying to kill this kid. He was easily the best player on the floor all the time last year. Best hands on a big man I have ever seen.
http://c JakeC

I hear you about Cousins, but we need aggression in the paint. If the celtics thought that way about R Wallace, would they be as far as they are right now in the Playoffs? Some are saying Cousins is the 2nd best value in the draft. I like W Johnson at 4; Davis is injury prone, and I don’t think Hayward will drop that far.
- ghost_ride
  
  I hear that, it’s a tough call and obviously one we probably won’t have to make. Agree that Cousins has more upside, but Wesley seems like such a great fit for us right now.
  - Qlippers
    
    Cousins is good on a veteran team of class act guys, Cousins around Blake will be bad news. Cousins will start introducing him to all the strip clubs. Cousins has talent, but he’s not the right guy to turn around the team unless we want to be the Jailblazers.
    - VH
      
      I like cousins but that guy is destined to anchor a losing team ala zach randolph. I thought he did well at UK but then you think about adding $4MM, less control and 41 road games into the mix and it doesn’t seem like as good of an idea.
tharealcognac

We need to know who is going to coach? What type of offense and defense he is going to run? Before we try to figure out who the Clippers should draft. I don’t think the Clippers should draft the best player available. We should trade the number 8 pick (for a proven 6th man) since this is a power forward heavy draft. Unless there is something we don’t know about Griffen’s injury. Resign Drew Gooden, and Rasul Butler (as a starter) and hopefully land a free agent star that has some heart and wants to be here. If not I would like to see Prince from the pistons as a Clipper. He and Larry Brown as a head coach could bring a lot to the organization.
Hip to Clip

I agree on trading the 8th pick… package that with Kaman to land Chris Bosh. I can bet that’s better than any other package that Toronto will see and will totally give the Clips an advantage to land LeBron.
- chris.
  
  That starting 5 would be sick:
  Baron, Gordon, LeBron, Griffin & Bosh
  
  Problem is it’s extremely unlikely. It would be a dream scenario though. Bosh & Lebron can go to a team together without weakening it (New York, New Jersey, Miami… teams with enough space to offer 2 max contracts).
  - Hip to Clip
    
    It’s possible, the only problem with that scenario is depth. If Kaman gets traded off we have the room to take on another 5 to 6 mil and still sign LeBron. The only thing is we’d have to look for vet to take the minimum to fill our bench.
    - JaySee
      
      You think that would be difficult? Vets will line up to join a stacked team like that.
Dan S.

Don’t forget we might get Sofo this year as well; that’s potentially like another 1st round pick PF coming in.
Robert Lehrer

Sofo?? We don’t even know if he’d make the team!
Robert Lehrer

tharealcognac makes good sense. We’d be able to take a much better guess at who’d be a good fit for the Clippers if we knew what offensive and defensive system they planned to run next season.

Example: You wouldn’t sign Baron Davis to run a half-court offense. He’s a better fit for a system like Nellie’s run-and-gun. Oops! Dunleavy, a half-court kinda’ guy signed Baron to play with a squad that’s not a great running team.

I don’t think Olshey will make the same mistake. I have a feeling that the reason we’ve heard nothing from the Clippers about who they’re interviewing for the head coach position is because the guy they got their eyes on is still involved in the playoffs…
- chris.
  
  Who is that, Stoudamire?
First2One00

Olshey said he wasn’t going to focus on a coach until after the draft but I really think that’s just a cover to see what Phil jackson ends up doing after this season is over. We can also expect Lebron to hold off on signing with a team until Mid July or possibly later when all the chips fall into place. The thing about playing this waiting game is that we might end up in a no win situation and we might have to settle with what ever is available at that moment.
BigBroAl

Here is something interesting:

Clips trade Baron and Kaman
Indiana trade Granger, Foster and Ford

We draft Aldrich or one of the many PFs and go after David Lee and a guard!

Clips 2010-11:
PG – TJ Ford / Blake / another FA
SG – Gordon / Butler / another FA
SF – Granger / FA
PF – Griffin / Aldrich
C – Lee / DeAndre
DFens

@BigBroAl,
No way do you want Lee at the 5, he only has value as a 4, which is what he is. Can’t help feel that trading Camby will haunt us, since Kaman’s defense is less than solid.
- chris.
  
  There was no guarantee he’d resign with us. He probably would want to play for a playoff team and like dropping Cassell so he could sign with Boston we actually did the guy a favor. Yes, trading Camby helped us but at least they were both good moves to help out respected veterans. Now if we can only get Sam I Am to coach us next year!
- BigBroAl
  
  David Lee…a 4…have you seen any New York games this season??? He’s a typical rebounding center. Not the most solid defender, but a certain 15/15 player! His style will fit great with Griffin, because they have different styles and both can score! To me as a 3rd option Lee could score easily 15-20 pts a game! Granger with 15-20 a game, Griffin 15-20, Gordon 15-20 – the most solid starting 5!
TNT57

Why are the Clipper off seasons more interesting than when they’re playing? You have to admit this spec stuff is more fun than watching them lose.
BigBroAl

Does anybody else find Patterson a great possible fit for us? He played some 3 in Kentucky, plus is very aggressive and rebounds well!
- Josh
  
  He doesn’t have the range or handle to be a 3 in the NBA.
kenji

is it safe to assume we’re all getting more than a bit concerned over the fact that everyday there are reports being made of teams interviewing and narrowing down new headcoach choices while there hasn’t been a peep from the clippers?

the top 3 choices all linked to other teams’ priority lists.
http://www.johnpezzetti.com Pez

Apparently Philly is shopping the #2 pick along with Elton. I think we can all consider for a second that evan turner & 3 years of Elton’s contract might not be a terrible thing. We might even be able to retire our first jersey if it worked out nicely…

Also…a nice post compiling some stats on Joe Johnson, essentially arguing that he should be a max contract guy. After reading and watching JJ in the playoffs I certainly hope we don’t end up offering him a 5 year contract. http://www.hoopinionblog.com/2010/05/2009-10-season-review-joe-johnson.html
- http://www.johnpezzetti.com Pez
  
  meant to say should *not* be a max contract guy
- kenji
  
  i don’t think it would work out. with jrue holiday set to run the point, the only trade piece would be kaman. but that would leave a hole for us in the post. i don’t think deandre has developed a post game that can be relied upon right now. And we need a big man with nba experience down low. Plus with blake ready to come back, it would be too difficult to keep the players happy and to justify either elton coming off the bench with backup minutes on such a expensive contract or blake not being given the minutes he should be getting.
  
  if we plan to have blake as our franchise player, we need to put him in position accordingly. my opinion is that having elton on the roster for 3-4 more years isn’t a good idea.
BigBroAl

Bosh narrowed the list to 5 teams and Clips are not among them! To me thats a clear signal to go for youth and trade for picks, because we will end up with ton of room and no quality players!
Lefty

The Clips should just wait and see if either Johnson or Aminu would still be available at # 8. If not, then they can just go for Motiejunas and leave him to play another year in Europe to gain more experience. It’ll be unlikely the Clips can convince LBJ to sign up. Plan B should then be to go after either John Salmons (unrestricted) or Rudy Gay (restricted). If neither works out, then they can seek a trade with Detroit e.i. Prince and Stuckey for B Davis and D Jordan. If that doen’t pan out either then they should just keep their powder dry and wait for the summer of 2011 and shoot for Carmelo.
Gooden, Butler, and Blake are good backups and should be re-signed.

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