Two words: Bone bruise

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News casually came out yesterday before the Warriors preseason game clarifying Grant Hill and Lamar Odom’s lack of availability since China:

No Lamar Odom and Grant Hill again tonight. VDN used the term “bone bruise”

— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) October 23, 2012

That’s quite a bit different from the stock answers of “rest” and “conditioning” people have been hearing the past week or so regarding Hill and Odom. Eric Patten reports that both players have been relegated to non-contact conditioning since returning from China. And Dan Woike adds that Hill will likely miss the season opener, maybe more.

Glass half-full mentality is that the Clippers had a serendipitous late pickup of Matt Barnes. Barnes has shown to be quite capable and deserving of minutes with his play throughout preseason.

Glass half-empty mentality is that bone bruises and the Clippers have not had a good history, Chris Kaman’s ankle in 2010-11 being the most recent example (He ended up missing 50 games). Heck, Trey Thompkins is still trying to recover from a bone bruise he suffered in the first game of Las Vegas Summer League.

Also, an extended stint on the sideline for Hill would all but snuff out fan cries for Barnes to start at shooting guard until Billups returns. The Clippers small forward depth would suddenly become quite bare behind Butler with no Hill and Barnes playing off-guard.

Either way, if the injuries to Odom and Hill persist, we can pretty much bury the idea of the Clippers’ great depth.