The OtherArena

[corrado]

Last series, the Clips had a miracle comeback for the ages. Today, their role was reversed and they blew a 22-point lead against the Spurs. I really cant see them come back from that. They had the Spurs right where they want them but they blew it.

[Rian]

Clipps are still outmanned. And Evans/Jordan need to spend every day in the gym/playground/park/home shooting FT's.

[jdw]

Griffin too while working on a jump shot.

John

[corrado]

Thats all folks. Clippers get swept. They played their best tonight though. But stopping the Spurs is impossible these days.

[Rian]

Nah, their best was still that first quarter of game three. John was right, I forgot how limited Blake is on offense. Time to develop the jumper ala what Avery Johnson did back in 1998-1999.

Paul still wasn't 100%, Clipps need to sign a few more players to replace Kenyon and probably Evans.

[jdw]

The Clips don't have a ton coming off the books:

$4,250,000 Randy Foye
$3,695,857 Nick Young
$3,500,000 Chauncey Billups
$2,500,000 Kenyon Martin
$1,229,255 Reggie Evans

Then a bunch of scrubs under $1M.

Foye probably is going to want a raise for being a 3P specialist.

Young might want to go someplace with a less congested backcourt. He saw a massive drop in his scoring average and playing time with the Clips.

K-Mart is likely gone, thought that's pretty cheap for a back up big man. He and Evans are kind of redundant, so you keep one... or let both of them go and look to spend that $3.7M on an upgrade.

They would be smart to let Billups go. He's 36 next year, and I think folks forget how much he was shooting before he went down. The team needs a real shooting guard at the #2 spot. In a sense, what they really need is Eric Gordon back... but that's not going to happen.

They also have this:

$8,500,000 Mo Williams (player option)

It doesn't seem like Mo would chose to get out of that, unless he thinks he can get a long term deal in the same range. He probably is just better off coming back and being part of a team that everyone thinks will get better next year.

This really is a team that needs some work. Most of all, they need to get rid of the coach. :)

John

[jdw]

Sounds like Mo Williams said after the game that he will pick up his Player Option.

John

[jdw]

Sudden reversal: GM Olshey leaving Clippers for Trail Blazers

It wasn’t about money, GM Olshey chose Portland over LA

Portland has been a hellhole for GM's and Head Coaches under current Sr. Management Team. Olshey chose *that* over the Clipps. Think about that a bit.

John

[jdw]

Report: Clippers looking at Kiki Vandeweghe as GM

Uh... didn't Kiki suck as GM of the Nuggets?

From wiki:

[Rian]

Kiki sucks, and the Slipps ex-GM left for Portland because (in his own words): "This is not a rebuilding project".

Sounds like he wants to keep the young interim coach around too.

[jdw]

Mo Williams makes it official: He’s headed to Utah, Odom to Clippers

Mo --> Utah
LO --> Clippers

The Clipps can buy out his $8.2M option year for $2.4M, but allegedly will retain him. They would have to do it almost instantly since the buyout needs to be done today. Still, that would save them $6M: Mo's $8.5M - LO's $2.4M buyout. In turn, they could sign LO for less than $6M... but that risks him going elsewhere or trying to get more out of the Clips (unlikely given the shitty season he had).

I like LO, and thought he would be a good flyer at say $3M a year.

Only the Clips would take an $8M risk on LO when they could have waited two days to sign him for less. I get wanting to get Mo off the books, but he's an expiring contract which is highly valued. The last time the Clips wanted to get a pricey PG off the books, it cost them the #1 overall pick.

John

[Steve Yohe]

I think Williams was a dick & they wanted him gone. Not John...Mo.

The clips have good memories of Odom, so now he'll fail a drug test.

Now do the Clips make this deal with no GM? Who's doing the thinking...not the owner.--Yohe

[corrado]

So up to date with the Clips this offseason, they signed Jamal Crawford, resigned Billups, and acquired Odom. But Mo wont be back as well as Nick Young and Reggie Evans.

Crawford is a good acquistion. He'll do fine. I see Odom bouncing back from last year's disasterous campaign. He'll be more motivated in his former home arena.

Evans will be missed. he provided a lot of energy for them down the stretch. But he was one of the worst FT shooters around.

The big question will be will Chris Paul return after this coming year? he didnt sign his extension. And he could be linked to the Knicks next year. But I see him returning.

[JAG]

Grant Hill to the....Clippers?

Yep. Good fuck him and Duke. ;)

Hill now danced with the Lakers about five times in the summer and always signed elsewhere.

Jagdip

[Rian]

Good pick up for the Slipps. Need another "big" body who can give them some minutes, much better than Reggie Evans.