[rtbtParticipant]

Blake Griffin is coming back and should compete for the ROY award. And their draft was outstanding. With the 3 draftees and the return of Griffin, that gives them 4 excellent players they didn’t have last season.

No. 8 Al Farouq Aminu
No. 18 Eric Bledsoe
No. 54 Willie Warren

[OldSkoolBasketballParticipant]

is the future first rounder the Clippers traded to OKC for next year? If so I expect the Thunder to get a lottery pick. On paper the Clippers look good but isn’t always like that for Clippers?

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

As a Clippers follower, I’m VERY excited… However, I was excited last year too.

I became a follower when they drafted Eric Gordon in 2008 and one thing I’ve learned with the Clippers is to be patient and don’t get your hopes up too soon. Sterling is still the owner and the trickle down affect is unreal with the Clippers.

[rtbtParticipant]

ButlerBulldogs, it’s hard to argue against your Clippers trickle down theory, but this is one time where they apparently did everything right. Maybe they could have done better with the 3 players they selected but on balance, I think they were pretty good choices. Despite Donald Sterling, I finally have a good feeling about the Clippers.

The one thing I would be concerned with his the health of Blake Griffin. On one hand, sitting out the entire season so he could heal was a very smart move. On the other hand, sitting out an entire season makes me wonder if the injury was so serious that he might not be 100% this year.

Maybe somebody who has far more knowledge than I do on these type of injuries can chime in with some factual information?

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

I think the Clippers had a great 2010 NBA DRAFT, BUT… They’re still the Clippers lol. Something ALWAYS manages to go wrong. There’s a reason they’ve been in the lottery damn near every season for the past 22 years or something. They’re a horribly ran organization and there’s a losing mentality.

I have a good feeling too lol, but I’m trying not to get too high or too low about it. I’m just being patient and waiting.

You don’t have to worry about Griffin’s patella injury though. He’s 100% healed and won’t have any lingering affects. The only reason he missed the entire season was because they waited so damn long to do the surgery. He actually hurt the knee all the way back during training camp.

Griffin has been fully healthy and going hard for about a month or so. The time off actually gave him the time he needed to heal his knee tendonitus that had been bothering him for about a year.

[SpencerIsHawesome2Participant]

Every year, same thing.. “Watch out for Clippers!!” and then “I hope we get a good bounce in the lottery” in the off-season

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Things look bright though. I mean, if not for being the Clippers and knowing their strange history… You’d have nothing but great things to say.

Baron Davis
Chris Kaman
Blake Griffin
Eric Gordon
DeAndre Jordan
Al Farouq Aminu
Eric Bledsoe
Willie Warren (He’ll have to make the roster)

Plus they have plenty of cap room

[sheltwon3Participant]

Baron Davis should be traded. He is the lone negative part for this team. They are pretty solid now and can only get better.

[stanford hoops]

yep the problem is they are still the clippers and they have had other years where they did right in the draft. Hope they improve this year but i wouldnt bet on it because of who they are. of coursse just like last summer and the summer before some clipper fans wwill yell playoffs and if you dont agree with them then you must be a hater, looking forward to yet another summer of that..lol

[llperez]

we’ll see. The pieces are there and they might sign a good free agent still. But I predicted them to make the playoffs last year too. In fact, I have been seeing people say “this is the clippers year” for like 15 years now. Loy Vaught aint walking through that door ladies and gentlemen, lol.

But depending on what the rest teams out west do, i do think the clippers should be a playoff team next year. If CP3 and Yao get healthy though, that’s two more teams in the playoff mix for next year.

[Mr. BasketballParticipant]

Here is my unbiased take on the Clippers for next year.

Currently, this is their team:

pg: baron, bledsoe
sg: gordon, warren
sf: aminu
pf: griffin
c: kaman, jordan

I believe they will sign either joe johnson or rudy gay. Lets say its Joe Johnson at 15 million.

Next, the clippers need to address their own free agents.

I believe they’ll sign Craig Smith (Really wants to return – LA native) for around 2 million. Then I think they’ll bring over Sofoklis Schorsanitis for around 1.5 million.

Bring back Steve Novak for the minimum.
Then they’ll hire Mark Jackson as coach.

Roster:

pg: baron, bledsoe
sg: gordon, warren
sf: johnson, aminu, novak
pf: griffin, smith
c: kaman, jordan, sofo

Thats a very talented roster and I think Jackson would be a good coach for it because he is a good coach for an egotistical PG like Baron and a talented young PG in Bledsoe. However, he would bring respect unlike most first year coaches and he would bring a no non-sense attitude that the clippers desperately need. Also, this team’s defense and energy would be way better than that of past years. I think Joe Johnson is the perfect fit for the Clippers because he will bring winning immediately and would be good for about 4 years, then he would have 2 lesser seasons and by then Aminu would be ready. Johnson’s shooting ability is something the Clippers would love to have and would take pressure off of kaman and baron to score as much so they would not force shots like they did last year which led to the clippers demise in 2009-2010.

The next important thing to look at would be the spots available in the playoffs.

Playoff teams in 2009-2010 possibly on the way down (in no particular order):

1. portland (franchise in disarray)
2. utah (boozer)
3. Phoenix (amare)

Teams possibly on the way up that were lottery teams:

1. New Orleans (Paul back)
2. Houston (If Yao can stay healthy)
3. LA Clippers

With that said, here is how I would rank that Clipper roster amongst those teams:

1. LA Clippers (joe johnson’s supporting cast in ATL was pretty even to LAC’s roster but in the tough West they still are barely a 6 seed – IF HEALTHY, if not…no playoffs)
2. Utah (they always make the playoffs with that system)
3. Portland (Rebounding wins games as shown in the playoffs and this team WILL rebound well)
4. New Orleans (Paul will do all he can but they fall just short)
5. Houston (doubtful Yao stays healthy, team was much worse following kevin martin trade)
6. Phoenix (Without Amare, they don’t have much in terms of big men and they will be exposed)

So I believe…

1. Lakers
2. Mavericks
3. Spurs
4. Denver
5. Thunder
6. Clippers
7. Utah
8. Portland

However, even without Johnson, still they have a very nice young core.

21 and under club: griffin, gordon, aminu, bledsoe, jordan, warren.

[OhCanada-Participant]

Injure any 2 players and they should still have an exciting promising roster.Each player here is a young player any team in the NBA would like to have other than Kaman who is a C any team in the NBA would like to have and B Diddy whos Contratc is heavy.

Baron Davis
Chris Kaman
Blake Griffin
Eric Gordon
DeAndre Jordan
Al Farouq Aminu
Eric Bledsoe
Willie Warren

[OldSkoolBasketballParticipant]

come on man! The Blazers lost Webster and thats it. KP is not the coach so it won’t affect how well they play. Blazers roster is a contender when healthy.

[The Scare Crow ReturnsParticipant]

Rockets,Hornets and Suns still pushing too…The Clippers will be in the Harrison Barnes sweepstakes and for good reason…they suck…Mr. Negativity out…PS Clipps fans better hope and pray the injury Blake had
(which was a terrible one) doesn’t rear it’s ugly head…I don’t see the star player everyone else does…and feel like you guys got Oden 2.0…ROTY my ass ….Crown Cousins or Turner and get ya bot Blake a bulky ass knee brace…Does anyone else feel like the Clippers are too hype…Lets see Griffen play 1 season and then talk like he’s a hall of famer…

[The Scare Crow ReturnsParticipant]

Calling It now…Blake gets a torn meniscus and Aminu ACL tear…I’m calling it..doesn’t this always happen to Clippers high picks…The Second Coming and never panning out Clippers should be weary of the Clippers curse…Sterling must a been Hitler’s # 1 fan if the “My Name Is Earl” Karma cow keeps milking them dry….

[llperez]

way too early to annalyze the teams for next year, but right now, here are some teams that i think make the playoffs next year assuming health:

lakers,blazers,mavericks,rockets,nuggets,spurs,thunder

that leaves one more spot with new orleans and clippers being the favorites in my book

lakers are a no brainer. Mavericks must resign dirk, but i imagine they will and that pretty much gaurantees they are in. Blazers dont even really need oden, he would be a luxury with camby and przybilla there. Rockets get Yao back and with scola, patterson, hill, and hayes they have great size to go with a very talented perimiter. Nuggets might slip a little but hard to see them miss the playoffs with melo and billups still there. Spurs wont ride off quietly and they have some young guys who are taking on bigger roles to take pressure off duncan and ginobli. Thunder should be a lock, hard to see them not improving although it might not show in the overall record.

[Tyreke JohnsonParticipant]

I really like the Clippers chances at getting the 8th seed this year for the Playoffs, they had a great draft this year and with Griffin ready to play this season I really think he can make or break their chances, they have been a talented team before it was only a matter of putting together the pieces they have and creating good chemistry and having the pieces fit together to become successful, you can have the most talented team in the world but team chemistry is really what can make or break a team’s success.

[Hoops MaestroParticipant]

That lineup won’t scare anyone. Eric Gordon is the only player with star potential, unless Griffin pans out. Kaman is serviceable, and Davis can dominate at times, but is too streaky. The rest of the guys are just kids.

[Hoops MaestroParticipant]

They should have held on to Al Thornton, giving them a core of Griffin, Thornton, and Gordon to build around.

[JJeff6Participant]

I think they make the playoffs as the 7 or 8 seed and get bounced early. give the young kids time to grow and develop and then you might have a scary clips team on your hands. Also, there is little to 0 playoff experience on that team (besides baron davis). Its not time yet clippers fans, but you have a young and promising roster.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

@Hoops Maestro

No way should they have held on to Thornton… Talk about a ball stopper.

[Mr. BasketballParticipant]

hoops maestro:

You sound dumb. You call an all-star “serviceable,” you say griffin doesn’t have star potential, and you make your evaluation of their lineup when they have like 8 players on it before free agency…wow. Also, I hope the keeping thornton comment was a joke. he has zero potential and is older than you think.

[IknoBall12Participant]

im not too excited about the aminu pick. it seems like they jus drafted al thornton all over again becuz they basically got the same player. around 6’8 220, not a great shooter, athletic runs the floor well, rebounds okay but can do better, not a lock down defender. i mean these were pretty much the exact same words we heard 2 years ago about thornton.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

@IknoBall12

True. Difference is Aminu is A LOT younger than Thornton was when he was drafted in 2007. Aminu is raw, but has an explosive upside.

Blake Griffn and Eric Gordon are two of the hardest working young players in the league. They’ve made a big impact on DeAndre Jordan who wasn’t known as a hard worker. I see no reason why they won’t rub off on Aminu and Bledsoe. I think they can all grow together and develop great chemistry.

[Author]

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