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ClipperBlog Live: Free Agency

80
02 Jul 2012
by Andrew Han




  • clipped

    QUESTION:

    1. Several elite teams are waiting patiently to sign CHRIS PAUL to a long term deal next season including Lakers. My question: Will he just ignore them all and sign a maxx deal with Clippers?

    2. If not, what’s wrong in trying to trade him now for few solid players or for a proven star who’s willing to team up with GRIFFIN?

    Clippers should THINK future NOW than regret later.

    • Clips4

      I agree that this is a legitimate question/argument. Olshey’s departure will most likely be in CP3′s mind if this season turns sour. VDN has to step his game up, diversify his offensive schemes and create some sense of a defensive system. DJ and Blake have to improve/develop their post games and work on their freethrow shooting, DTS needs to step back and hire a quality GM with a vision of winning now and get CP3 to buy in and the roster needs to be better quality than it was last year. If the Clippers from DTS at the top to the players at the bottom don’t do what they need to do to make the team and organization successful, then CP3 will go somewhere else at which point trading him is not a bad option.

      • Clipped

        It appears, VDN has better working/personal relationship with DTS & Roeser. VDN might become our full-time GM.

    • Bongstradamus

      You only do that when you know for sure there’s no chance to resign. At this point there hasn’t been an indication cp3 won’t sign a full max extension next offseason. If that changes between now and February expect a move by deadline. Until then you don’t include cp3 in any rumor

      • Clips4

        Agreed. CP3 hasn’t shown himself to be a coach killer and will not throw the team and the organization under the bus.

        • Clipped

          NO. CP3 will never treat a team in such a manner. His moral parameter is far more superior and rare in sporting world.

          That’s why Clippers have to be extremely cautious.

  • Clipped

    We lost Eric Gordon for CP3. Must improve this team even if CP3 prefers to play somewhere else with THIS ONE CHIP. Just don’t let it just slip away.

    • Tim

      We got rid of oft-injured Eric Gordon, and gained the 1st team All-NBA, and 1st team All-NBA defensivepoint guard in the process, (in Charlie Sheens voice) “Winning!”

    • Liveperl

      Ugh. Such a pessimist. Right now, Paul is a Clipper. Enjoy it. Relish it. Worst case, maybe Bledsoe steps up in a year. Best case – CP is a Clip for life. Don’t be afraid of success in the near future. Odom has a chip on his shoulder. And let’s see who else the Clips get. Relax !

      • Clipped

        I’d like to. Thanks. Will try.

        But it’s nice to have few voices with opposing views.

        Just in case.

  • joeluis323

    The Nets just acquired jo-johnson, what does this mean? who’s in the lead for acquiring Howard? R the clips in contention? Should we even go that route? Would a Main piece of Bledsoe/DJ be of any interest to the Magic? Is this all pipedreaming? Cp3/Blake/D-12/LO WOW!

    • Bongstradamus

      it means Dwighy won’t be a net

    • JaySee

      They also re-acquired Devin Harris. It looks like they’re making sure to have PG in case D.Will won’t sign. It makes no effect on D12. The Nets are the only place he wants to go to.

      • JaySee

        Oops! Devin Harris went to the Hawks. Got confused with all these moves.

  • Tim

    Question, is there any inside scoop as to which of our own free agents, have gotten a calls from the Clips? Are we serious about signing Chauncey, Nick and Reggie?

    • Clips4

      Reggie has to be the last resort to sign. There are plenty of big guys out there who are more well-rounded than Reggie. Nick Young (irrational confidence guy), I am okay with because he can score but I would rather have Sam Young because he’s a better defender than Young and is longer. I would also rather have Courtney Lee over Young but the Rockets will probably match whatever is offered to him Lee unless the contract is ridiculous. Spencer Hawes is out there right now so I think we should look at him. Amnesty Gomes and throw a 3-year 12M deal at Hawes and see if he’ll take it and he could potentially be the starting center. Re-sign Chauncey for the mini-MLE money, sign a couple of undrafted guys or call up some guys from the NBDL to shore up

      1. CP3
      2. Eric Bledsoe
      3. Caron Butler
      4. Blake Griffin
      5. Spencer Hawes/ DeAndre Jordan
      6. Lamar Odom
      7. Nick Young/Courtney Lee
      8. Spencer Hawes DeAndre Jordan
      9. Chauncey Billups
      10. Trey Thompkins
      11. Travis Lesley
      12. 3rd string center
      13. Player X
      14. Player Y
      15. Open

      I could see this team competing for a championship because we have size and talent at each position.

      • Chris

        Spencer Hawes is going to get more then 4 mil per. Probably something closer to 8 mil. Same with Courtney Lee. Ray Allen and Jason Terry are the guys that the Clips can afford that they’ll look at (and Jamal Crawford, but no thank you.) I’m curious to see who the Clips get to back up Deandre/Blake next year. Via Hoopshype, it dosent look like K-Mart and Reggie are coming back. So I guess my question for #ClipperBlogLive is: what big guys will the Clips look at?

    • Bongstradamus

      Reggie can wait till the end of FA. He’s not a hot commodity right now.

      Beasley, Green, Mayo and Chandler are the guys to look at right now.

  • Clipped

    DWIGHT HOWARD will be a Clipper if we are willing to offer CP3 & DeAndre.

    • Clipped

      Or engage in 3-way trade talks.

      Lakers get CP3
      Clippers get Howard
      Orlando gets Bynum & DeAndre.

      Imagine this:

      Griffin
      Dwight
      Bledsoe
      Odom
      TBD

    • Bongstradamus

      And be the new Orlando trying to make a superstar happy while constantly under threat of a trade demand?

      Screw that. Keep CP3 and Blake. They have class and play hard all season long.

  • teddygreen

    Hi Guys,

    I have a thought for the panel regarding a D12 trade to the Clippers…

    One of the reasons i think a Dwight Howard trade to the Clippers is a possibility is because Dwight practically gives you the combined production of Blake and DJ at a cheaper price. The trade would give the Clippers more financial flexibility down the line. Also with the addition of Lamar Odom at power forward, it may make trading Blake more feasible; just like the addition of Chauncey Billups made the idea of trading EJ more feasible.

    My question to you guys is: Would Donald Sterling consider making a D12 trade for Griffin and Jordan if it would both save him money long term, and net him the better player in the trade…

    • Bongstradamus

      Don’t trade for divas. Especially not Blake. He’s got too much potential and is high character to dump for d12 and his drama

      • http://barmapla.com FD

        Howard isn’t signing a long term deal with the Clippers. If you rent him for 1 year, you don’t give up CP3 or Griffin. Like Demote said give them the bad contracts of DeAndre and Butler, but I doubt Orlando does that.

    • Clipped

      Thanks for visiting our blog. But PLEASE….don’t think this team is still run by that Lakers great ELGIN BAYLOR.

      BLAKE GRIFFIN is a ONE IN A TRILLION kind of player. There won’t be another player like him. There are plenty of talented players. But there’s only ONE ‘BLAKE GRIFFIN’.

    • http://www.clipperblog.com D.J. Foster

      TeddyGreen — sorry we didn’t get to this one. You make some valid points about Dwight, but I don’t think Orlando has nearly enough leverage to pry a young star like Blake. Not that the Clippers have been exercising their leverage lately, but yeah. Blake’s a non-starter in any Dwight talks, at least from my point of view.

      • http://clipperblog.com CAKid

        DJ,

        Is it me or has Nick Young kind of fallen out of favor with Clipper management. If the Clipps are serious about bring Mr. Big Shot back wouldn’t a young 3 point shooting two who can probably start 20ish games be ideal. Was Nick’s defense bad? It seems like R. Gomes amnesty salary for Nick would be ideal?

        Also – without Nick Young and Mo who will be making (not launching but actually making) the 3′s next year?

        Later!
        CA Kid

        • D.J. Foster

          I don’t think Nick Young has fallen out of favor, it’s just that his price tag may be too high. The Clippers can likely have Young OR Billups, but not both, unless Sterling signs off on using the amnesty on Gomes.

          I thought Young was a decent addition, and his defense surprised me at times. Because he’s the Clippers own free agent, I’m in favor of retaining him, but it would be hard.

          Getting Crawford, Billups and Young would be insane — not enough minutes to go around, especially since Bledsoe needs to be playing much, much more.

          My guess? Clippers use MLE on Crawford, retain Billups for around 3-4 mil, and move on from Young. Then they use the Bi-Annual exception on a big, sign a few veteran minimum deals, and away they go.

          • http://clipperblog.com CAKid

            New addition wise Crawford or Allen – So who really makes sense at the 2 position for the money if all can be had for MLE.

            I love whole body of work for Ray Allen but honestly he seems like he is a player who can only manage to be active for 2/3 of a season. Crawford seems more durable and is ideal gunner for the 2nd unit.

            It really seems like Mr. Big Shot has got to decide quickly what he is doing because it sets the tone for the upcomming signings.

          • http://clipperblog Apostolos

            Here’s a stat that made me cringe Jamal Crawford has always been on losing teams(usually as the starter) . I was curious and saw that the teams he’s been on had a record of: 322 wins and 566 losses

            That’s the kind of guy we DON”T need on our team most of that was his poor play . He plays no defense doesn’t pass the ball(worst then N. Young)doesn’t rebound(an average of 1.8) and does nothing but jack up contested shots(shot 38% from the field last year). He’s only been on two winning teams in his 12 year career(and only because he was coming off the bench-Atlanta Hawks 2009-2011. I just wanna know who’s brilliant idea it was to sign him VDN’s or Gary Sacks?

  • http://barmapla.com FD

    Yeah, I’m sure CP3 really misses Olshey. Odom is better than anyone the Clippers signed with Olshey (besides CP3 that Stern gifted them).

  • Dante

    Question: I’m hearing that we are pursuing Jamal Crawford. I’m not sure if this is good or bad news. I liked him when he averaged 18 ppg for the hawks a couple years back. He was clutch and made free throws too. But I’m not sure he’s that player anymore. What about Delonte West?
    Please, let’s all stop talking about Dwight Howard. We hear about him enough on sports center.

    • http://clipperblog.com CAKid

      West gets hurt too much and we dont need short guards anymore. In Mr. Big Shot doesn’t come back Crawford is a nice fit.

  • Griffin

    Now that howard cant be traded to new jersey who will trade for him. dallas seem like his perferred destination now. lakers are out of it. howard proably rather get traded to the rockets with what they can offer. the clips could make a package that included ryan gomes, dj, and eric bledsoe. i would really miss ebled but he could be the peice to send it threw. alrite enough pipedreaming

    • JaySee

      How did you come to the ridiculous conclusion that the Nets (New Jersey doesn’t have an NBA team) can’t trade for D12?

      • Griffin

        becuz they just got joe johnson in a trade and have nothing left thats why he cant be traded to the brooklyn nets. that boat sailed the moment johnson became a net. the only way nets get howard now is going to free agency assuming deron willaims doesnt resign. joe johnson max contract is too much to get a player like howard now unless they trade joe johnson to the magice along with brook lopez and marshoon brooks. but they basically gutted the whole team becuz of johnson 90 mil contract. and magic isnt interested in what nets have to offer not like they could now

  • Bongstradamus

    Why not Wilson Chandler as a wing? He only signed a 1 year deal in February. I believe he’s UFA. He made about MLE.

    • http://www.clipperblog.com Andrew Han

      Wilson Chandler re-signed midseason for a 5 year, $32 million deal. I think his annual salary is about $6 million now.

      • Bongstradamus

        only off about… Oh 4 years or so hahah

  • Sawdust

    To all those suggesting we even consider trading Paul- please stop. He is a once in a generation point guard who has taken this team to an unprecedented level. You absolutely do not even consider trading him even if he’s simply lukewarm about staying. Other teams can’t compete with the amount of $$ the Clips can offer him, and living in L.A. If the Lakers weren’t in absolute shambles cap-wise, I’d be concerned. There is no doubt in my mind that barring something catastrophic, Paul stays. The new CBA’s architecture makes it very feasible in every level for teams to retain their players. Atlanta will make a run at him, and I’m drawing a blank at who else when you factor in the insane luxury tax ramifications.

  • extra

    cp3 is looking 4 a long-term deal and might sign with the clippers if they provide that contract 2 him or maybe he wants 2 go 2 the lakers which i feel will be a better match 4 his skills i really cannot see the clippers trading griffin anytime soon he is box office and got amazing skills that can only get better no power forward in nba has his talent jamal crawford is quick and can score 50 points he is a threat when clippers need a bucket they can go 2 him he is another option an upgrade from randy foye which means dj can concentrate more on rebounding and great defense

    • http://clipperblog.com CAKid

      Maybe DJ can just start concentrating on something!

  • tyler

    All I want the clippers to do is bring back my man swaggy P.

  • http://clipperblog.com CAKid

    Middle aged white guy here – who the hell is swaggy P?

    • The Blakers

      nick young

  • The Doc

    Cp3 will be a clipper for long just like bg. I dont want that scrub crawford on this team, but if vdn decides to get him, ill have no choice but to root for him.

    If they dont resign swaggy p then i honestly hope a smart team picks him up and he f***cks the clippers, one game only :) nick young is great and is from la, why dont they just lock him in for long

  • Bryan
    • D.J. Foster

      I truly, truly hope so. Have a bad feeling Crawford is going to come across really well tomorrow (everyone adores him as a person) and the Clips will get excited and agree on something in principle before signings begin.

  • http://www.ross-limo.com/ Ross

    Why would the Clips even think about trading CP3 right now? He has not given any signs of unhappiness or dissatisfaction. That’s just silly paranoid talk.

    Back to actual news:

    The LO pickup is intriguing.. if he plays like the Sixth Man of the Year, this Clips squad is a legitimate contender regardless of who else is signed. Although I still think a legitimate post-scoring threat is a big hole, so here’s hoping Blake develops his post game further this offseason.

    • Patrick

      I think blake griffin is already a legitimate post scoring threat. The biggest problem for blake is the fact that he gets double teamed down in the post. The reason for this is the fact that deandre really can’t create his own shot or shoot from outside of the paint. This problem isn’t that hard to fix though. Either Dj can learn a few moves to make himself more of an offensive threat and make it hard for teams to leave him and double blake or Vinny can just draw up more plays to get Deandre involved.

      If we want to look through the optimistic view, its pretty obvious that a lot of the interesting coaching moves could be contributed to the fact that Vinny really didn’t have enough practice time to create a bunch of plays to involve Deandre into the game. Obviously you could also say vinny is just a bad coach or deandre is a crappy player but realistically deandre improving during the offseason and Vinny being able to create plays to involve deandre into the offense should be possible by next season.

  • Patrick

    http://www.latimes.com/sports/sportsnow/la-sp-sn-clippers-jamal-20120702,0,4343889.story?track=rss

    Apparently the clippers are going to offer crawford a 3 year deal at about 5 million a year. They also are offering billups 4 million for one year. Will the clippers have any cap space left after those two moves?

    • http://www.clipperblog.com Andrew Han

      I estimate Crawford at $5m and Billups at $4m puts the Clippers at about $67m. That gives LAC approximately $3m to use on Nick Young, Randy Foye or sign another free agent (using the Bi-Annual Exception at $2m/yr) before the team would hit the luxury tax line.

      Here’s where it gets wonky: I know I said don’t think about amnestying Gomes at the end of the show, but the Clippers could amnesty Gomes’ $4m and use it ONLY on their own free agents (Young, Foye, Evans or Martin). Then LAC would still have $2m available via BAE and can sign 1 veteran minimum contract.

      • Patrick

        Ouch… I don’t think they could get either Nick Young or Randy Foye for 3 million…

      • Patrick

        so the only way to retain either young or foye after those two signings is if they amnesty gomes then in theory they could sign either young or foye still and still sign one more player with an exception slightly hope its not ryan hollins but if it is I guess it wouldn’t be the worst thing ever. There has to be upside for a player who averages 3ppg and 2 rebs a game….

  • Patrick
  • Griffin

    they should resign young and get crawford for a lesser price. if not courtney lee or brandon wright on the cheap for about 4 mil. chauncey should be last to sign since he has bird right s and anything we offer wont go against the cap

  • digs

    how many players have played for the same team twice? Can’t remember when it happened last….

    • chris.

      Chauncey Billups got traded from denver twice.

      • digs

        yeah. so it’s fairly rare huh?

  • griffin

    The word on the street says (ESPN) clippers have join the ray Allen race. It seems that the Crawford deal isn’t set in stone. Nick young if signed might be signed as a back 3 if we get Allen and keep billups. And we would most likely amenstied gomes becus all he is doing right now is holding up cap room. If we get Allen resign billups amenstied gomes for young i said we did really good and sign Reggie for one more deal

  • griffin

    A line up of
    Cp3/bledsoe
    Allen/ billups
    Butler/young
    Blake/reggie
    Jordan/odom

    Would be sick 11 and 12 spot would be Travis Leslie and trey thompkins. That’s a team I would think would takes us to the finals and would be the deepest team in the nba

    • The Blakers

      few problems. if we sign allen, how can we sign chauncey (with what exception), and i doubt we can get nick young if we sign allen and chauncey, but we could get reggie with a veteran minimum

      • Patrick

        We can potentially with the mle. Apparently we are one of the few teams interested in him willing to give him a starting position. There is a chance he comes here. I dont think any team was offering him more than 5 million a year.

      • chris.

        Chauncey is our own FA so we won’t need an exception to sign him, it may make us go over the luxury tax line but can still be done.

  • http://barmapla.com FD

    The nets are offering Humphries, Lopez, brooks and 3 first round picks. That’s better than any 1 year rental trade the Clippers can offer. Like Carmelo, Dwight Howard will only sign with 1 team.

  • The Blakers

    If clippers sign allen, could we still lure chauncey with a backup role, because i don’t think he can. And clips gotta keep paul happy so i think we should sign chauncey, young (as a backup sg), and try to lowball crawford or get another backup sg. However, if we amnesty gomes, its a whole other story

    • The Blakers

      ^^another backup sg we could get could be jason terry

    • The Blakers

      ^^young as a backup sf not a sg

      • chris.

        can’t lowball Crawford, all we have to offer is the MLE of 5m or the BAE of 2m something (or vet’s minimum which he won’t take). Billups and Young are our own players so we can offer them varied amounts.

  • NihilistZerO

    Considering $ is often the bottom line all thing being Equal I think Ray Allen comes to LA. If Hollins comes as well you’ve got this line up.

    Depth Chart:

    Chris Paul/Eric Bledsoe
    Ray Allen/Nick Young
    Caron Butler/Lamar Odom
    Blake Griffin/Lamar Odom
    DeAndre Jordan/Ryan Hollins

    I think Chauncey is gonna see spot duty and be more of a player coach (Vinny needs him). Though I’m sure he’ll hit a few clutch jumpers during the year. And I have a strong feeling Deandre is gonna have a strong year. There were a few games at the end of last season where they fed him the ball earlier and he looked good with his back to the basket. The man has length, humping ability and quickness. You can’t teach that. I believe the man wants to get better and if the Clippers have any sense they send him to Hakeem for some coaching this summer!

    • chris.

      humping ability? TMI

      • NihilistZerO

        That’s what the girl said! I’m just saying the man has a skill LOL!

  • Tim

    As a Desert Storm Vet, I tell you, when Lamar says he’s ready to be a soldier for Vinny and fight, I am not offended, in fact I get goose bumps!

  • http://barmapla.com FD

    You need to put Chauncey on the back burner. The guy is hurt and is supposed to come back in January. No team is going to commit a lot of money to him when he’s injured anyway.

    • The Blakers

      the problem is we gotta keep paul happy and he wants chauncey. plus chauncey kinda helps out with the coaching on the side

  • polotip
    • Clips4

      Thanks for the effort last year, Gargoyle!

  • Clips4


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