According to the L.A. Times:

An MRI exam Tuesday revealed that Clippers guard Chauncey Billups has a torn left Achilles’ tendon. Billups, who was injured in Monday’s overtime victory over the Magic in Orlando, Fla., will be out at least eight months, ending his season.

Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro revealed Billups’ status to Times columnist T.J. Simers during a lunch interview. Del Negro had gotten the news from Clippers trainer Jasen Powell by phone.

Billups, 35, was a key figure in the Clippers’ rise to second place in the NBA’s Western Conference this season. He teamed with point guard Chris Paul to form an extremely talented backcourt for the Clippers, who are enjoying one of their most successful starts in franchise history.

They lead the Pacific Division at 15-7 and have won the first two games of their six-game road trip.

Billups fell to the court midway through the fourth quarter of Monday’s game and had to be helped from the arena. He was unable to put weight on his left leg.

Billups was averaging 15 points and four assists this season and playing about 30 minutes a game. It is not yet clear what the guard rotation will be without Billups, though the roles of Randy Foye and Mo Williams will probably be expanded.

Of all the starters, this is the injury that the Clippers can sustain the best. Chauncey was big in the Orlando road victory, as well as in Denver. His three point shooting and clutch play will be missed. However, the Clippers have a glut of guards that can fill Chauncey’s place that include the streaking Mo Williams, Randy Foye, and Eric Bledsoe. Of course, Chauncey’s injury might ratchet up the desperation to sign J.R. Smith upon his return from China, but that’s a story for the future.

I think that Bledsoe could be the biggest to gain here, considering that he’s played shooting guard before (alongside John Wall). He’s also the strongest, the longest, and potentially the best defender at the shooting guard spot.

We all wish Chauncey a speedy recovery, as well as a big thanks for his contributions so far in the season.

While you keep your fingers crossed for the MRI results on Chauncey Billups and his left Achilles, let’s give you some waiting room material to browse over.

• Jordan Heimer was on Lob City Ledger duty last night, and pointed out something that’s been mentioned in the comments section here: Griffin’s new rhythm dribble helped him go 6-for-7 from the free throw line. It begs the question: Is it a confidence thing, or a mechanics problem? I’ll still argue that Griffin locks his knees far too early and relies on his upper body, but his stroke last night did look a little more fluid and less mechanic.

• In addition to some of the other cool stuff we’re getting to do, ClipperBlog will have a home on ESPN’s new and improved Daily Dime going forward. Last night, I broke down what I felt to be the most important plays of the night — Caron Butler and Ryan Gomes grabbing two offensive rebounds in overtime to milk the clock and force Orlando to foul.

• ESPN’s analysts (including Kevin Arnovitz) weigh in on whether or not a lengthy Billups injury ruins the Clippers title chances in the latest NBA 5-on-5. The answers might surprise you.

• Over at ESPNLA.com, I’m a little more pessimistic about contending for a title without the services of Billups. I’ve been critical of Billups in the past, but he’s still a definite upgrade over Randy Foye…and the Clippers’ defense has been leaps and bounds better when Billups plays with the starters as opposed to Williams. There’s more there in the article, but let’s hope it’s rendered meaningless after today.

Join Jovan Buha, D.J. Foster, Jordan Heimer and Kevin Arnovitz tonight’s ClipperBlog Live following the Clippers’ victory. To submit questions, use the Twitter hashtag #clipperbloglive or send a direct message to our Twitter account @ClipperBlogLive.

Part 1

Part 2

Kevin Arnovitz, Mark Shore, Breene Murphy, Jordan Heimer and John Krolik gather to discuss the Clippers win over the Wizards on Saturday night. John breaks out his impressions of the members of Inside the NBA.

Twitter: @kevinarnovitz, @markshore12, @BreeneMurphy, @clipperheimer, @JohnKrolik

The whole ClipperBlog crew is getting together to discuss Clippers vs. Wizards on ClipperBlog Live. To submit questions, use the Twitter hashtag #clipperbloglive, send a direct message to our Twitter account @ClipperBlogLive, or send an email to clipperbloglive@gmail.com.

Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

The Kenyon Martin signing isn’t important because he’s going to replace all of the minutes that Solomon Jones or Brian Cook would play (while also taking away some minutes from Reggie Evans). It’s not significant because he’s one of the top free agents available. It’s not significant because he’s now the Clippers’ second-best offensive option down low.

It’s significant because he demonstrated his free will and chose the Clippers.

All season, the talk has been about change. How the Clippers are no longer a laughingstock franchise. How they have what it takes to make a deep run in the playoffs. How they’re the best team in Los Angeles. But nothing signifies change more than a valuable free agent, with a plethora of options from other contenders and more notable franchises, choosing to join your squad. That’s one of the true marks of a team making the next step to an elite franchise.

See, some may look to Caron Butler and Chris Paul joining the Clippers as the first signs of this change, but they’re wrong. And as we know, Chauncey Billups was picked up by the Clippers (to his dismay) and Reggie Evans, while a solid pick-up and a glimpse of change, lacks the talent and notoriety of Martin. I’m not saying Martin is that much of a game-changer — but I will say the move speaks volumes of how far the Clippers have come in the past couple months.

While Butler ultimately chose the Clippers over the New Jersey Nets and San Antonio Spurs, taking less money in the process, it wasn’t as impressive because his options were somewhat limited. As enticing as it was to suit up with Deron Williams and Brook Lopez, the Nets are far from a playoff team. They’re quite terrible, actually. Butler knew this. At this stage in his career, there’s no way he’d actually sign with the Nets unless he knew they were going to pull off the Dwight Howard trade.

Sure, he has publicly admitted he was very close to signing with the team, but the pre-CP3 Clippers were always the frontrunner. Most people expected them to be a playoff team, or at least have a great shot at making it, so it’s not as if he was joining a bottom-feeder. He saw a young team with potential, a big city, and a chance to be the main guy at small forward.

On the other hand, the Spurs are the ideal franchise – professional, elite and successful. How could he turn them down? Well, how about the fact that despite the rumors of amnestying him, the Spurs never officially released Richard Jefferson. Butler may be the better player, but Jefferson seems to fit the Spurs’ system better (at times) and they’d have ended up splitting minutes (although I may be overlooking the annual Manu Ginobili injury).

Of course, maybe if Butler joined the Spurs, they’d have let Jefferson go. But that’s beside the point. Hindsight is 20/20, and in retrospect, the Clippers were always Butler’s best option. He saw something we necessarily didn’t, and he capitalized on the situation.

Which brings us to Chris Paul. Some may also say he chose the Clippers, which is basically true. But he initially would have been just as happy to go to the other L.A. team or that confounding Knickerbocker squad. (Before people bring up the Lakers/Knicks’ problems, remember this happened in early December. People weren’t as low on those teams yet, and they definitely weren’t as high on the Clippers.)

The Lakers deal got vetoed (and appeared to be permanently dead) and the Knicks lacked the assets to acquire him without parting with Amar’e Stoudemire, Carmelo Anthony or newly acquired Tyson Chandler. Paul wanted to get out of New Orleans as soon as possible, and saw an intriguing situation with the Clippers. In retrospect, the Clippers were also clearly his best option. True, there was much risk involved, but not as much as staying with the Hornets.

Martin, on the other hand, chose the Clippers as a free agent. He had just as enticing options – anywhere he signed, he’d be the first big man off the bench (or possibly even a starter in some cases). There were numerous reasons for Martin to choose another team, yet he chose L.A. And not even the L.A. Lakers – everyone’s top free agent destination – but the L.A. Clippers.

This isn’t to undermine Butler or Paul joining the Clippers – technically, they both decided to come to Los Angeles. And there’s doubting that they are more vital to the Clippers than Martin is. But in reality, the Clippers were clearly their best situations. Their safest bets. It would’ve been foolish for them to not pick the Clippers.

For Martin? There’s a lot of risk involved. He could be making the wrong choice. He could probably play more with another team. He could fit better in another system. But instead, he chose the Clippers. He, as a veteran free agent hungry for a championship, used his free will and leverage to join the red, white and blue.

And that’s the biggest change this season.

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According to the Los Angeles Times, the Clippers have agreed to a contract with free agent power forward Kenyon Martin:

The Clippers and free-agent forward Kenyon Martin have agreed on a mini-midlevel deal that will be finalized as soon as Martin passes a physical, according to an NBA individual familiar with the negotiations.

Martin, who played for the Xinjiang Tigers in China and had been required to wait until their season was over before rejoining the NBA, was cleared to return to the NBA by FIBA, the international basketball federation, Thursday.

Martin is an 11-year NBA veteran who, at 6-foot-9, is expected to bolster the Clippers’ inside strength and rebounding performance. He averaged 13.5 points and 7.2 rebounds in his 11 seasons with the New Jersey Nets and Denver Nuggets.

Last season, Martin averaged 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds in Denver. He is 34.

Martin has a home in Los Angeles and is a friend of Clippers guard Chauncey Billups, a teammate with the Nuggets.

Other teams that had been interested in Martin were the Lakers, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks.

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Jovan Buha joins Mark Shore, D.J. Foster and Nick Flynt live from a cab leaving the Staples Center to talk Thursday night’s loss against the Nuggets. Long rant about cab drivers, D.J. trying to rap about VDN. This one’s got it all.

Twitter: @JovanBuha, @markshore12, @fosterdj, @ClipperBlogNick

Jovan Buha joins Mark Shore, D.J. Foster and Nick Flynt as they discuss Nuggets v. Clippers on ClipperBlog Live. To submit questions, use the Twitter hashtag #clipperbloglive or send a direct message to our Twitter account @ClipperBlogLive.

The Clippers fell to the Nuggets 112-91 on the tail-end of a back-to-back on Thursday. Our three ClipperBlog writers explain what happened.

1. What was the difference between this matchup and the first with the Nuggets?

Jovan Buha, ClipperBlog: The second half. The Clippers were thoroughly outplayed in the last two quarters tonight, while conversely they gritted out a tough victory in Denver a few days ago. Mainly, the Nuggets hit shots tonight that they didn’t in Denver. Paul and Griffin never found a proper rhythm. Oh yeah, and I think that Ty Lawson guy makes a difference too.

Nick Flynt, ClipperBlog: Pretty much everything. Nene didn’t dominate on offense this time around, but Danillo Gallinari and Ty Lawson (back at full strength after being injured in the first match-up) killed the Clippers. The Nuggets were the better rebounding team, too. Chauncey Billups wasn’t hitting open or closed shots when he was hitting both last time around, and despite the Clippers getting solid offensive support from a lot of other sources tonight, they needed a lot more shots to fall from deep to make up for the horrid defense and rebounding.

Jordan Heimer, ClipperBlog: It’s tough to separate perception from results: everyone looks tired when they miss shots. Last week, Chauncey Billups was unconscious, torching the Nuggets for 32 in his return to Denver. Tonight he was 2-9. The rest of the perimeter shooting wasn’t much better as the Clips made just 8 of 27 from deep. Whether it was tired legs or a hot team returning to the mean doesn’t make much difference.

2. Vinny Del Negro played Chris Paul in the fourth quarter with a 26 point deficit because ______.

Jovan Buha, ClipperBlog: Because he’s the Clippers’ only facilitator and resembles their only form of a true offense. When he’s out of the game, L.A. seems to crumble by treating the area inside of 18-feet as a no-entry zone. Williams and Billups can score and create in bursts, but not in the methodical, Dexter-esque way Paul can.

Nick Flynt, ClipperBlog: I don’t know. My best guess is so that he (and everyone else) could enjoy seeing Chris Paul out there on the floor, even in garbage time. This seemed like a golden opportunity to give the now-activated Eric Bledsoe some heavy mop-up minutes, so I’m certainly not happy.

Jordan Heimer, ClipperBlog: … Vinny wanted to pad CP3′s case for Player of the Week? Because he wanted Paul to work on his rapport with Brian Cook? Mystifying.

3. What’s the takeaway from this loss?

Jovan Buha, ClipperBlog: Honestly, not much. The Clippers looked tired and sluggish and were overdue for some bad luck (c’mon, there has been some good luck involved in their last few games). We’ve seen them play like this before (San Antonio, Chicago, Utah). We’ve also seen them beat Miami, Oklahoma City, this same Denver team and the Lakers. Lob City is like a fortune cookie — you never know what you’re gonna get, but most of the time you like it.

Nick Flynt, ClipperBlog: The Clippers are an elite team when everything is clicking offensively. Sadly, the team is weak on the boards and weak in transition defense, and those are two bad spots to have struggles. Other top teams in the NBA can really make the Clippers look silly, and as exciting as the big wins are for the Clippers, we’re likely to see just as many games like this one over the course of the season.

Jordan Heimer, ClipperBlog: If ever there was a “schedule loss” this was it. The Clippers played their fourth game on five nights against perhaps the league’s deepest team. The takeaway is that the Clippers four game winning streak over Western Conference playoff teams established them as a contender themselves… Nothing that happened tonight changes that in the least.

Twitter: @clipperblognick, @jovanbuha, @clipperheimer