Caron Butler via Getty Images/ Danny Bollinger

At the beginning, this had all the looks of a courtesy meeting, not unlike what the Clippers did with Tracy McGrady last year. Kick the tires and make sure Caron Butler’s knee surgery hasn’t turned him into a monster leaper somehow (think the basketball version of the kids movie “Rookie of the Year“) who will play for the league minimum out of the kindness of his heart before moving on elsewhere. That’s all this really seemed to be. Due diligence and whatnot.  More...

Technically speaking, the small forward position should be the easiest to fill in the NBA. The league is littered with athletes in the 6-foot-8 range – quick players with the skills to play on the wing and the size to help in the frontcourt. The skilled center comes rare, the true point guard capable of running a team perhaps even rarer. But wing players – they’re a dime a dozen.  More...

The Clippers need better performance from the small forward position. Ryan Gomes woefully underwhelmed in his first year with the Clippers. Rumors have spread about the possibility of the Clippers trading Chris Kaman for Andre Iguodala, in attempt to balance the starting five. But barring that trade, the Clippers will need to find a solution at small forward. They need a wing that’ll provide defense, and at the very least, average offense to help shoulder the load that Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon and, to a lesser extent, Mo Williams and Chris Kaman are bearing. Wouldn’t an athletic, competent small forward blend in perfectly with the Clipper starting line-up of Mo Williams, Eric Gordon, Blake Griffin and Chris Kaman/DeAndre Jordan?  More...

In his first season as coach of the Clippers, you could say Vinny Del Negro was exactly what we expected him to be. His perceived ability to develop players and to “get” his team to play hard through the last whistle were the reasons the Clippers hired him over Dwane Casey, who came with high praise for his tactical acumen and leadership. The Clipper Organization believed in the results they saw from Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson under Del Negro in Chicago, and Neil Olshey said as much on the day they introduced him as coach: “We wanted someone who had a history of developing and being willing to play young players, which when you look at [the Bulls'] starting lineup, they certainly did [in Chicago].” As was the case in his last situation, it’s unclear just how much impact he had on the progress of his young players.  More...

The Clippers are mired in one of their most angering, exciting and bewildering season maybe ever. Before the season it appeared that the Clippers were going to continue with the improvement in the win loss column, just like they had a season before. Unfortunately, the Clips gut punched their fan base with one of the worst starts to a season by any team, ever. The only teams to start out worse are the 2009-2010 New Jersey Nets, the 1972-1973 Philadelphia 76ers, the 1970-1971 Cleveland Cavaliers, the 1988-1989 Miami Heat (in their first year as an expansion franchise), and, of course the 1999 Clippers in the lockout shortened season.  More...