Draft Chatter

14 Jun 2010

2010 draft

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From Chad Ford for TrueHoop:

“We just unloaded 2000 plus words of the latest draft talk on our NBA Draft Blog today. We covered the DeMarcus Cousins-Derrick Favors workout in Sacramento and gave the latest updates on what the Wizards, Sixers, Nets, Timberwolves and Kings were all up to. As we get closer to the draft the info just keeps rolling in. Here’s a few bonus nuggets that came in after the blog published :

A number of NBA sources are telling me that the Denver Nuggets are in the hunt for a Top 10 pick. Nuggets GM Mark Warkentein has been calling around trying to gauge interest in teams selling the pick. According to sources Warkentein is offering Ty Lawson for the pick. A Nuggets source said they are looking for a big man to fill up their front line. Several bigs including Cole Aldrich, Ed Davis, Ekpe Udoh, Patrick Patterson, Daniel Orton and Hassan Whiteside could be there at 10.

Butler’s Gordon Hayward is getting serious looks from the Clippers, Jazz, Pacers and Bucks. But could he go even higher than No. 8? The Sacramento Kings (drafting at No. 5) have been pushing to get Hayward in and will have Hayward and Nevada’s Luke Babbitt in for a workout on June 23rd, the day before the draft. Could the Kings take Hayward ahead of the two guys we have highest on their board — DeMarcus Cousins and Greg Monore? Probably not. But the Kings have been talking to several teams about moving down in the draft. The Kings are looking for veterans and have been shopping Andres Nocioni and Francisco Garcia to see if they can get any takers. If they do move down a few notches, both players could be intriguing.”

Got all that? In a recent article on NBA.com, General Manager Neil Olshey addressed some questions on the Clippers moving the eighth pick in the draft:

“I’ve had a few of those,” Olshey said of approaches for the eighth pick. “It’s very preliminary. Guys are checking in to see if the pick’s in play at all.”

If Denver is indeed inquiring about moving up in the draft, pick eight wouldn’t be a bad place to start. If the Clippers could lock up a young, talented point guard for the future in exchange for pick eight, that’s something they have to consider.

Something else to consider in this equation, as always, is money. Whoever the Clippers select at pick eight will be slotted to make 2.13 million in their first year, while Ty Lawson will make only 1.43 million. It sounds like a small chunk of change, but since the max contract amount has not been definitively declared due to all the variables involved, that 700,000 dollars in cap room could end up making a difference.

The Clippers may not bite on anything before the draft, but it appears as if Neil Olshey is definitely listening.

clipper101

Ty Lawson for the 8th pick.. I think not.. Lawson is going to be a career back up.. If the clips could get Melo then we should be listening..
laknights

And what about Jarrett Jack, who is being shopped too?
jlewis

Lawson had a .169 WP48 last season, which is higher than your overpaid starter. He will be a solid if unspectacular PG for the next 10 years. He was overlooked and fell in the draft due to his size when his college production gave strong indications he would be a good pro. When you consider the importance of getting cheap production out of rookie contracts and the fact that he will save $700k over the crapshoot at the 8 spot, it sounds like a good deal. If you don’t think $700k means a lot, try building a roster with the 2011 cap. You need productive rookie contracts and a bird in the hand is worth more than…
- D.J. Foster
  
  Have to agree with everything you just said, nice post.
- MannyA
  
  First of all, Lawson and Gordon would be too small a backcourt, so I already think this is a bad idea. $700,000 savings would be nice if the Clippers actually had a chance at using the max slot, but since they don’t have a shot at a max player, I don’t think saving $700,000 justifies
  wasting the 8th pick on a back-up pg.
- http://www.firedunleavy.com FD
  
  Yeah, I’d wouldn’t be opposed to taking Lawson for the 8th pick.
  - TNT57
    
    I wonder what our coach has planned for the team because that might make a difference in who…oh, wait, we don’t have a coach, just an ex lousy actor making all our teams decisions. GO CLIPPERS!
    - TNT57
      
      BTW, wasn’t this a movie with Whoopie Goldberg? Life imitates art. What a bunch of idiots.
    - Hip to Clip
      
      I know… And what is this Kelvin Sampson crap! This guys destroyed the Indiana program and he is going to lead our young stars and get the attention of Baron and Kaman. Give me a break.
      
      I am petitioning for coach Sam Cassell. I trust him and I think he knows how to get the most of any player. He himself was never the fastest or had the most talent, but was a key part in 3 championships.
      
      He is the poster child of the LA Clippers!
- Mike Wr
  
  +1. I like the way Lawson plays in an uptempo game. BD’s not getting any younger and would be more effective playing 30 minutes per game versus 35 or 36.
- Jax
  
  I agree with everything except the reference to WP. All you have to do is watch the guy play and look at basic stats to know that he’s a talent.
- VH
  
  Ty Lawson is legit. When Chauncy went down with an injury he stepped in and played extremely well for the Nuggets. I think we definitely need to consider that. Nocioni would also be an interesting look at the 3, very different from the players we’ve been using there.
Ignore 2 to 8 picks

Clippers should ignore current top draft picks(#2 to 8) and pay attention to following players:

Avery Bradley
James Anderson
Willie Warren
Dominique Jones
Elliott Williams
Larry Sanders
Luke Babbitt

These 7 players are going to stand out. And they’re for real.
madglove

Love the idea of trading out of the 8th for Lawson. The Clips have a clear need for talent AND youth at the backup PG position. I had hoped the Clips would buy a late first rounder last year to grab Lawson.

I don’t love the prospects at 8 at all. The potential picks are all over the map and all of them have significant question marks. When there’s no meaningful difference between the SF you can pick at 8 and the SF you can pick at 15, that’s not a good thing (I guess unless you’re picking 15th).

The Clips can fill the backup PG need with this trade and use the max cap space to fill the other (more pressing) need at the starting 3. They’re not likely to get a starting SF at the 8th pick anyway.
Sam K

Clips should do this deal with no questions asked. Lawson is AT WORST an awesome backup, and at best a quality starter. He has a higher floor (i.e., less bust potential) than any of the players we are looking at with the 8th pick.
Beard The Curse

No. At his best Lawson is a decent backup who can come in and provide a change of pace.

Madglove, I remember you from the old clipper site. I think it was called Clipperboard or something. Nice to see following the Clipps hasn’t killed you! Hope all is well.
- madglove
  
  Oh man, yeah Clippertalk. That was a while back now. That was a good community too. I was sad to see it fall apart.
  
  I’m still alive, no thanks to Donald Sterling. haha I mostly hang out over at Clipsnation, but post here every once in a while. Especially when my man DJ posts some good stuff.
  - http://www.clipperblog.com D.J. Foster
    
    Always good to read your posts man.
    
    Completely agree with you on the value at pick 8 — if Aminu isn’t there, the Clips are going to have to reach if they want a small forward. Hayward, George or Babbitt…any one of those guys could fall past pick 15, like you said.
  - bchang13
    
    I’d take that deal unless somehow Wes Johnson falls to 8. Any other SF that fits our needs would be a reach at 8.
SamMays

I don’t mind the idea of trading out of the # 8 spot for a PG, but it need to be a big one if Gordon is indeed our two of the future… Lawson and Gordon are a bad match at the defensive end.
- http://www.twitter.com/HitFixGregory jgroove
  
  I agree. To small. We already have big,er, small issues with Gordon at the 2.
Galo

Why trade the No. 8 pick when someone potentially good can drop i.e. Al Faroq Aminu when we have bird rights to Steve Blake, who’s already a nice backup at PG. Clippers should at least wait until picks 2-7 pan out.
chiefdefenderofthefaith

i hate small players, can’t we get livingston for the minimum?
Robert Lehrer

I agree with Galo and chiefdefenderofthefaith. Unless the Clips are blown away by an offer, why trade the draft pick until they see who’s taken beforehand? I like Lawson’s game, but if the Clips can re-sign Blake, they’re in good shape without sacrificing the draft pick.

And why not consider Livingston?
- ZP
  
  I agree with this. Livingston could be had for less money than Ty Lawson as well.
JaySee

Seriously? Who cares about Lawson. I found something MUCH more interesting in that article. Kings want to trade DOWN and get rid of some SFs. Why not trade 8 for 5 and Garcia? Then we can get Wesley Johnson and have Garcia as a solid backup wingman. Garcia plays good D and can drain the 3. Screw saving our cap space for Lebron.

Next we can trade Kaman to the Hornets for Okafor and Collison. This will make a solid team. If Lebron wants to win and doesn’t care about money, he can come join us for less than max because we will for sure have the best team for him.

Starting lineup:
PG – Collison
SG – Gordon
SF – Johnson
PF – Griffin
C – Okafor

Bench:
PG – Davis
SG/SF – Garcia
PF/C – Jordan
PF/C – Sofo?

After New York fails to get Lebron and needs a PG, maybe we can dump Davis on them.
- JaySee
  
  Ah! I just remembered. Cavs will need a PG to. So Lebron can get max money and still come to us with an even better team after these moves. Sign and trade Lebron to us for Davis. We can sign and trade Butler to make the contracts match.
  - JaySee
    
    If the Cavs make a stink for more talent we can trade Garcia + Davis for Lebron. Last resort would be Johnson + Davis for Lebron, but Lebron might not like that. Either way we will have a younger and more talented team than his other sign and trade option, the Mavs.
- Newtybar
  
  wow that is a beautiful lineup (mainly because I really like Collison).
  
  Front line would be a bit small though, Okafor & BGriff aren’t big.
- http://www.johnpezzetti.com Pez
  
  I like Garcia a lot so I was running him through the trade machine…the problem I ran into is that outside of Kaman we don’t have any trade pieces, and for Garcia and a pick that would theoretically become Wesley Johnson they would probably want Kaman. I don’t think we could make that work financially…they’d have to throw in Nocioni (2 yrs @ 7.5mil) or Udrih to make it work. Udrih would be nice, but doub’t they’re willing to part with that much.
  
  If we could get Okafor and Collison for Kaman I’d do it, despite Okafor’s declining play. Okafor has a huge contract, we’d probably end up regretting it.
  - JaySee
    
    For Garcia, sign and trade Gooden. Kings want a vet and a PF. Okafor has 2 more years and a little more money per year than Kaman. He’s a little younger and plays better defense. We won’t need Kaman’s offense if we have Collison with Griffin and Gordon.
    - Malik
      
      Are you joking or just stupid – pick 8 for a higher pick and a player…who do you think is stupid enough to make that trade? Kaman for Okafor AND Collison – that is not stupid, it’s just DAFT! It might sound strange to you, but other teams’ primary goal is NOT to make the Clippers better!
- VH
  
  Okafor has one of the worst contracts in basketball. It’s easy to take it on when you aren’t paying the bills but its a good way to kill the cap space we’ve made over the last year.
  - JaySee
    
    Getting Collison is worth it. His contract is nearly identical to Kaman’s, but with 2 more years. He’s young, less injury prone (than Kaman and himself before) and when his contract is expiring it will be a good trade asset and he will still be playable.
chris.

Sorry, NO DEAL!
That backcourt would be like having Mugsy Bogues & Spud Webb on the court at the same time. The PG isn’t our biggest need at the moment so why bother trading away potential (the #8 pick) for something a small back-up. If we can’t get Aminu we should trade down to get the SF we want plus a little something something, not trade away to get a small back-up PG.
- Josh
  
  Good god. Did you watch the piece of crap making $12 million we have running the point? He’s a cancer and a terrible player. That’s your leader. A giant loser. I would consider anything an upgrade. Watching him is insulting.
TNT57

The only way a team gets to the playoffs is if they have depth. We are not going to have any if we spend everything on Lebron. We need to fill something like 6 or 7 spots. Where are all these great players going to come from?
- JaySee
  
  Draft pick, mid-level exception, veteran’s minimum.
- ZP
  
  To get to the playoff you don’t necessarily need depth, just look at San Antonio, OKC and Milwaukee this year. To go far in the playoff is a different story.
- Respect Griffin
  
  all we need is Lebron, fill the rest of the team with flotsom and jetson…
  
  We’re automatic title contenders with Lebron… bottom line
http://www.versantewheels.com era

DID ANYBODY HEAR COLIN ON IN THE HERD THIS MORNING. INSIDE INFOSAYS LEBRON IS REALLY CONSIDERING THE CLIPPERS AND HIS PEOPLE ARE TO….WE WILL SEE
- Hip to Clip
  
  Dude, I truly believe our chance is better than everyone thinks! If Lebron could just get past the history, everything else is in our favor.
- MannyA
  
  Is this true? Awesome!
- Cassellmania
  
  Yep, i heard that too. The ‘Inside source’ specifically mentions Eric Gordon as a player LeBron is a big fan of. . .not to mention the potential of Blake Griffin. Who knows, but boy, we really are his best option to win now and for years to come. Chicago has young talent but ZERO outside threats, no post scoring. NY has to start from scratch, and Cleveland has too many players past their prime. . .LAC truly makes the most sense. If only Donald would sell. . . . .
  - Reverend Murry
    
    Donald Sterling doesn’t have to sell. Let’s stop buying our past history as our M.O. going forward. Sterling has spent the money even when the players didn’t live up to their contract i.e., Baron Davis. Let’s do this. Toronto signs Chris Bosh and we then trade Chris Kaman and the number 8 pick for Bosh. Sign Le Bron the max deal and then “overpay” Phil Jackson for 2 years. This gets us instant credibility and a Championship!
    - Hip to Clip
      
      I’d trade Kaman and the pick now. Even if Bosh decides to walk we’ll have more cap room to lure Lebron with. We still have DJ and Sofo as an option at center. Yao could be on the cheap as well.
rick

Should get better value for 8th pick this year in a thin draft. Person who mentioned Livingston as a viable back-up was spot on. Did you see his numbers with the Wiz once he got 25+ minutes in last 30 days of season – really great and his shooting % was off the charts. Livingston would be a really good acquisiton again.
- chiefdefenderofthefaith
  
  livingston’s last season stats in the 20 games he played 20+ minutes:
  pts 10.75
  ast 5.05
  reb 2.55
  stl 0.6
  blk 0.55
  to 2.0
  pretty good for an inexpensive backup huh?
  - rick
    
    Even better, look at his (livingston) shooting percentages (north of 50%) during those games – off the charts. May have lost his speed, but height and great shooting percentages will make him a very valuable back-up.
- TNT57
  
  Most teams play little def during the heart of the season and that drops to almost zero towards the end. So don’t go by what he did late in the year.
NRM

I’m all for bring Livingston back. We forget the guy is still young too, and wont cost us grip
Respect Griffin

who cares about Lawson? The guy is a nobody. Wait until 2-7 pan out, bottom line. Lawson is not exactly an offer we can’t refuse.

and what’s all this talk about Livingston? Clippers tried to re-sign him and he chose to leave stating that, “maybe change is a good thing.” The guy doesn’t want to be here, so just let it go
- MannyA
  
  You’re right, Livingston won’t come back to the Clippers. I also agree with you on Lawson, nice post.
- Reverend Murry
  
  I agree. Shaun did the Clippers wrong. They stuck by him and helped him mend and as a “Thank You” he speaks about “A Change”. Hey Shaun, changing banks doesn’t make you less of a thief!
clippafan4life

anyone noticed all the clipper commercials on the finals and playoffs? does this have any correlation to dts spending more on the team this year? I haven’t seen a commercial for us ever on any channel besides fsn or something so it struck me as being odd.
- Chris McD
  
  There’s a lot of them. I remember seeing a commercial JUST FOR GRIFFIN during Game 5, and advertising space during the finals isn’t necessarily cheap. The franchise is definitely spending more money.
  
  It’s an interesting ad campaign to get the Clippers name out. I hardly ever see teams advertise themselves during the playoffs/finals when they aren’t even playing in them.
- Reverend Murry
  
  I agree about the commercials. I’m telling you…Somebody Already Knows Something! I live in L.A. and trust me, those 1 minute commercials are Very Expensive. And think about this..To be a lottery team and yet put together highlights like that for all the world to see…I think it’s even bigger than Blake! Watch!
http://www.lapromovers.com Alex Devin

I haven’t read all the comments, but one thing that has hung me up whenever I risked a move had to sign a 12 month lease. Sometimes you can negotiate a six months lease instead. Thank You .
TNT57

Does anyone still wake up suddenly in the middle of the night screaming YORESLEV KORALOF?!! Whatever the spelling. Was this like a nightmare I had or did we really make this guy a top pick?
sean

Wow all of you that consider trading th 8th pick for Ty Lawson needs to get off crack. Why the hell are we going give up an opporntunity to pick some really talented SF for a back up PG. What the hell are you thinking of doing with Baron then? Is he easy to move hell no? I would rather see us pick a really solid SF with potential and use our cap to sign a nice FA.

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