Scott42444
Clippers, I have been trying to make points like this for awhile now.
These drafts are deceptive. You see a guy going 5th and sometimes you are like…”WOW! 5th! This guys has the potential to be a stud! Dwyane Wade, Kevin Garnett, … etc.(don’t feel like listing them again. See my thread “Do GM’s ever look at this stuff?” for every current NBA player picked #5 in the draft)…were all picked 5, this guy is gonna be a fixture on my/his team for years to come!” But, do you know how many PF’s have been drafted #1? I mean, Top 5 is hard to get too, like llperez22 said. Bosh, Amare, Brand, Gasol, Nowitzky, West, Boozer, Jefferson, etc.
It gets hard to claim that he’ll be sitting there 4th on this list. Of course, no offense and I really am not saying this to be a jerk, when is the last time the Clippers drafted a guy and developed him into a Top 5 guy? Really, they don’t usually have much luck in that department and usually bring in a guy who is Top 5 (like just recently, Baron Davis was statistically a Top 5 PG before signing with the Clippers) or is thought to have the ability and either doesn’t reach it or goes elsewhere to flourish. That being said, Elton Brand seemed to be an exception to this rule. The Clippers bought him cheap (Tyson Chandler) and got rid of him at the perfect time.
I can’t believe I am saying this but I believe the Clippers have themselves a perennial All-Star team in the VERY near future (possibly 2009-2010) and could (God, I can’t believe I am going to say this “out loud”) be an attractive destination for a free agent in the next couple of seasons as well. Also,
I do think that Blake Griffin will be a Top 5 PF in less than 5 years. I could see him being 3 in 3 years. Also, clippers (the user name), you know my feelings on Eric Gordon no EVER being a “Superstar”, but I do see his game translating into a good match with Griffin. Although I don’t know if that will be the “core” of the Clippers (since I don’t really believe in that term anymore) I do think that both of their games will benefit from the other.
As far as the PG’s go, once again, Jennings is the one who I see having the best possibility of being a Top 10 guy. If Rubio ever makes it their I will be pleasantly surprised (I would love the entertainment value he would bring, like Nash and Jason Williams). But, look how long it took Nash to become ELITE, what was it, 8 years?