For Clippers fans, watching Eric Gordon’s performance in this summer’s FIBA World Championships has been a rare bright spot in an off-season tinged with free-agency disappointment. USA Basketball’s “B-Team” successfully brought home the championship trophy that had eluded their more illustrious predecessors during the last two tournaments. With the exception of Kevin Durant, this was a USA Basketball team without much star power, but filled with guards who understood their roles and somehow found a way to complement one another on the court. In a way, Eric Gordon has been a perfect embodiment of this Team USA; someone who entered the tryouts with very little fanfare, but who slowly emerged as the team’s best outside shooter and one of it’s toughest perimeter defender. It is a testament to coach Krzyzewski that he chose Gordon over higher profile young guns like OJ Mayo, despite the media bias toward their gaudier numbers and flashier game.  More...

Ah, Tuesday Mailbag. Much less catchy… but also much less cranky than a Monday version. Again, thanks to everyone who sent in questions this week. Let’s get to it:

Why did the Clippers sign Rasual Butler to a one year deal? I felt that he played selfishly last year, taking contested shots, not moving the ball around, and playing lackluster defense at times.  It seemed to me he was trying to fill up his stats to get an offseason contract.  The fact that he didn’t get signed to a multi-year deal by any other team in the NBA confirms to me that I was correct about his bad season. This signing takes away valuable playing time from a rookie like Aminu who the Clippers have a vested long-term interest in developing.  This decision has been puzzling me all summer, thanks.  –John M  More...

From Marc Stein and Chad Ford’s report on ESPN:

“The Denver Nuggets‘ resistance to trading star forward Carmelo Anthony is fading away, according to sources with knowledge of Denver’s thinking.

The Nuggets still aren’t aggressively shopping Anthony and haven’t withdrawn their long-standing offer of a contract extension, but numerous sources told ESPN.com that Denver officials have in recent days let other teams know for the first time that they will listen to pitches after previously resisting such discussions.  More...

Very few people watched Eric Gordon more closely than Breene Murphy did this Summer. Here’s his take on what Gordon’s performance means going forward:

When the Trailblazers travel to Los Angeles to play the Clippers’ season opener on October 27th, it will be televised on ESPN, but the national storylines will be slightly different than just the meeting of Blake Griffin and Greg Oden, two young, recovering big men. That will remain a focal point, but then, Mike Tirico will break from Hubie Brown’s anecdote and talk about the surprisingly large contribution Eric Gordon made in this summer’s FIBA Championships. They will talk about how it was shocking to see him take such a large role on the gold-winning team and how that will build his confidence. But it’s more than that; it’ll be about how his credibility with the team has grown.  More...

Hey there ladies and gents — it’s time for another edition of Monday Mailbag. I would typically say something snarky here like “you know the drill” but since we just started it last week, there’s a good chance you don’t. If you have a question regarding the Clippers, the NBA, or really most anything at all, shoot me an email at fosterdj3(at)gmail.com and we’ll include it in Monday’s segment.

Also, we have a special contributor to the mailbag this week, as Breene Murphy will be answering questions  along with yours truly.  More...