the clippers rollercoaster
the offseason have been occupied with talks about teams clearing cap space for 2010 when the class of lebron james, dwyane wade, and chris bosh become free agents. new jersey unloaded richard jefferson by trading him to the milwaukee bucks which made gilbert arenas say that he felt sorry for rj because, according to agent zero, nba players avoid playing for the bucks. the new york knicks are also said to be aiming to land the king when his contract with the cavs expires.
the offseason has also seen the draft decided between michael beasley and derrick rose with rose being picked first overall by the chicago bulls. but i think most of the stories in the offseason surrounded around the l.a. team almost everyone forgot to mention, the clippers.
before the start of last season, the clippers looked to make it to the playoffs but saw that hope crashing down when elton brand, the face of the franchise, suffered an injury in the offseason. without elton brand, the clippers might have expected their chances for success going down the drain.
while they have had a really bad season, there were alot to be happy about for the 2008-09 season. chris kaman had a breakout season and corey maggette also had a great season. rookie al thornton proved that he is ready to play in the nba. and during the last eight games of last season, elton brand played and showed that he can still be very productive.
then the offseason begun with both maggette and brand opting out of the last year of their contracts. both said that they are willing to sign with the clippers. that would have left clippers fan really nervous as we all know that alot of players sometimes don't mean what they say and don't really say what they mean. at this point, i was thinking that of the two, elton brand has the best chance of really coming back to the clippers.
with the news breaking out that barion davis has left the warriors to verbally agree to sign with the clippers, i sensed that there is a better chance that brand would come back while maggette might not as baron would be stealing his thunder. but lo and behold, elton brand bolted to the philadelphia 76ers. that would have broken the hearts of clippers fans.
but the offseason is not yet over and the clips know that. so what did they do? well, they got marcus camby, the three-time defensive player of the year for what could be nothing (see previous post). so, next season, they would have cuttino mobley, baron davis, al thornton (i'd take him any day over tim thomas), marcus camby, and chris kaman, and i'd say, that's a pretty good lineup. maybe they could shake things up in the western conference. clipper fans better pray that this rollercoaster ride end with the team this good.
the offseason has also seen the draft decided between michael beasley and derrick rose with rose being picked first overall by the chicago bulls. but i think most of the stories in the offseason surrounded around the l.a. team almost everyone forgot to mention, the clippers.
before the start of last season, the clippers looked to make it to the playoffs but saw that hope crashing down when elton brand, the face of the franchise, suffered an injury in the offseason. without elton brand, the clippers might have expected their chances for success going down the drain.
while they have had a really bad season, there were alot to be happy about for the 2008-09 season. chris kaman had a breakout season and corey maggette also had a great season. rookie al thornton proved that he is ready to play in the nba. and during the last eight games of last season, elton brand played and showed that he can still be very productive.
then the offseason begun with both maggette and brand opting out of the last year of their contracts. both said that they are willing to sign with the clippers. that would have left clippers fan really nervous as we all know that alot of players sometimes don't mean what they say and don't really say what they mean. at this point, i was thinking that of the two, elton brand has the best chance of really coming back to the clippers.
with the news breaking out that barion davis has left the warriors to verbally agree to sign with the clippers, i sensed that there is a better chance that brand would come back while maggette might not as baron would be stealing his thunder. but lo and behold, elton brand bolted to the philadelphia 76ers. that would have broken the hearts of clippers fans.
but the offseason is not yet over and the clips know that. so what did they do? well, they got marcus camby, the three-time defensive player of the year for what could be nothing (see previous post). so, next season, they would have cuttino mobley, baron davis, al thornton (i'd take him any day over tim thomas), marcus camby, and chris kaman, and i'd say, that's a pretty good lineup. maybe they could shake things up in the western conference. clipper fans better pray that this rollercoaster ride end with the team this good.
