RD

I want no part of Okur. That guy is a woman.

Yeah, contracts to escalate. But, who says Miles will get better with time(at least significantly better)? He has only gotten marginally better since he left, so its a big risk paying him, expecting him to improve a lot.

What I mean by 5mill is something that averages the 5mill range(if its a little over, say 5 years for 28 mill, thats fine) for the duration. It'll start under 5mill, but will end at about 7. I just dont think Miles is worth any more than that right now, and while I do realize he has potential left, I think its a risky venture to pay him on that potential. Id rather not follow down that path. That could hinder us(depending on how long it is) in keeping Kaman and Livingston.

I would like to bring Miles in though.

If we can't bring in Kobe, I want to sign a couple veterans for short deals, rather than just spend the money just to spend some.

Take a look at the FA's next offseason:

Shane Battier
Tracy McGrady
Cuttino Mobley
Jason Richardson
Michael Redd
Joe Johnson
Bobby Jackson
Ray Allen
Andrei Kirlenko
Richard Jefferson

Those guys could really help us out.

I would like to use Denver's philosophy. They had a ton of money to spend last offseason, but they werent able to land the big names they wanted. They got one long term guy in Miller, but they didnt overpay on guys just to spend money. They brought in veterans on short deals, like Lenard and Barry, to help their young guys grow, and to help win games in the 4th Q. If we sign guys like Vlade and Lindsey Hunter for a year or so, then will have all our money back for next season, along with improving the standing of our team for the current season. Those guys may not sound like much, but neither were Jon Barry or Voshon Lenard. But, those guys were as big for Denver making the playoffs as the addition of Carmelo Anthony was. If we push for the playoffs, or even possibly make it with those veterans, we become more attractive for free agents next season, and we will have the money to bring in the best of them.

Quasi-Quasar

RD, I totally agree with you, the Clipps should save up their money for next year. I'd love to take a shot at AK47, but Utah will match anything...and I mean anything. RJ, JRich and Ray Allen are all a cut above Q IMO, and I'd love to have any of the 3; although I think JRich could step up to a new level with a new team (and he's definitely gone, Pietrus and Dunleavy are their future 2/3).

BTW SoCalBlazerFan, fill me in here, how the hell do the Blazers have Bird-rights on DMiles? A player must be on a team 3 full years for the team to retain Bird-rights, and Miles hasn't played even one full year for the Blazers. They can match any offer, as he is a RFA, but I don't see how they could have Bird-rights on him. In any case anything more than 6/38 (that's 5 mil with 10% increases) for DMiles is too much.

I think this year signing Rodney White to a cheap 1 year deal could work. He's a good defender, and a good enough shooter, and he can guard SG/SF/PF so he would give the Clipps flexibility.

So what if the Clipps were to hold on to Wilcox for another year, but trade Q, and sign Rodney White and a vet PG. That would move Jaric to SG and give Livingston about 20 minutes per game to develop with. Unless the Clipps get Kobe, they aren't going to be contenders, and in the stacked WC, the playoffs would be tough to make if the team was nominally improved. Next year should be the year for the Clipps to give Livingston, Jaric, Kaman, and Wilcox time to really develop on the court.

So what can the Clipps really get for Q? There are several teams that would be interested in him: Denver, Portland, Chicago, Sacramento, Charlotte, and Indiana are some of those interested. Chicago might give up the rights to Deng, a second rounder and a filler; that would be a very nice trade, and would add another Dukie to the team. Portland could give up the rights to Monya, their 2005 1st and someone like Dale Davis; this isn't much considering that their pick could be in the 20's next year, but Monya is a nice prospect. Charlotte could only offer picks. Denver could offer the Clipps pick back with a couple picks (one of their own and the one from Orlando perhaps).

The Denver trade is definitely most beneficial, if the Clipps decide that next year is not a year to go after the #8 seed. The Clipps keep their pick (late to mid-lotto) and get a condition pick from Orlando and Denver's 2006 1st (most likely in the 20's). Deng is nice, but a few of next year's possible SF's are more appealing to me. Headlining the class, there is Nemanja Aleksandrov, Illyasova, Marvin Williams, Rudy Gay, Martynas Andriuskevicius (if you think he'll play SF like Dirk), Malik Hairston (SG/SF), Damir Omerhodzic, Mizra Telotovic, Tahirou Sani, Antoine Wright (SG/SF), Mike Williams, and a few others. It's going to be the strongest draft for SF's in a long time, unless an age limit is implemented. I would take any of the first 5 over Deng, and I specifically like Williams, Andriuskevicius and Illyasova for where the Clipps might be drafting. Rudy Gay is a good player, but I see a lot of Stephen Jackson in him, and Aleksandrov is the #1 pick (at the moment), but if the Clipps have the #1 pick, he's great.

So if the Clipps want to position themselves for a nice 2005 offseason, they could prepare to get JRich, RJ, or Ray Allen (I also like Joe Johnson, but he's terrible over-rated by Phoenix's management and he'll be overpayed accordingly). If this is the Clipps' direction (which is also the cheapest one), here's a few moves they could/should make:
1. Trade Q to Denver for the pick owed to them, their 1st from Orlando (Nelson trade), and their 2006 1st pick.
2. Sign Rodney White to a 1 year 2 mil deal.
3. Renounce Keyon Dooling.
4. Trade Melvin Ely to Milwaukee for Dan Gadzuric and a conditional first pick (15-10-5-3-1-0 protection starting in 2005). This gets the Clipps a decent backup C, and creates an opening for Sofo if Wilcox is traded next year.
5. Sign Mark Jackson (the PG) to a one year deal (vet min preferably). Jackson's presence could be highly valuable to Livingston. Livingston needs to learn how to post up (as does Jaric), since he can exploit his height, and Jackson was half of the reason the 5-second back-to-the-basket rule was invented (Barkley was the other half).
6. Sign Sofo to a 6 year 4.4 mil deal. They get a skilled rebounder at least, for a cheap price...and who knows, Sofo could really take off with a good coach.
7. Sign a vet SG, a player like Pike, who can come off the bench and hit a couple of 3's in a couple of minutes and warm the bench the rest of the time.
8. Sign Barnes to a 3 year 2 mil deal with a team option after the first year. And sign Simmons to a one year contract.
So the rotation would look like:
PG: Jaric/Livingston
SG: White/Jaric/Simmons
SF: Maggette/White/Simmons
PF: Brand/Wilcox
C: Kaman/Wilcox.Gadzuric
with a roster of:
PG: Jaric, Livingston, Jackson, Chalmers
SG: White, House
SF: Maggette, Simmons, Barnes
PF: Brand, Wilcox, Sofo
C: Kaman, Gazuric

At the end of next year, House, Simmons, Gadzuric, and Jaric would be FAs with Gadzuric and Jaric being RFAs, and Barnes would have a team option. IMO Jaric and Gadzuric should be resigned at this point and Barnes should be retained, but Jaric and Gadzuric could be signed towards the end of the FA period so the Clipps have free capspace (the Clipps also will have Bird-rights on Jaric). And their cap summary would look like:
Brand: $12.88 mil, Maggette: 6.8 mil, Kaman: $2.8 mil, Wilcox 2.5 mil (to be traded though), Sofo: .6 mil, Barnes: .6 mil, Livingston: 2.8 mil, which adds up to $29 mil. Assume that Wilcox is traded and the Clipps' 1st pick takes up about the same amount of capspace, and before Jaric and Gadzuric are re-signed, the Clipps are looking at $15-18 mil in capspace. This year's cap is expected to be $46 mil, so next year's could be between $44 and 47 mil. And that's enough to sign any player to a max deal. I'd love to spend it on AK47, but unless something drastic happens next year, Utah will match any offer, even if it is 6 years, $86 mil.

__________________
Visit Unfastened Coins (the official website of the Titanic Truth Movement), it will blow your mind.

Ignorance is never better than knowledge. - Enrico Fermi

"You’re not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on."
- Dean Martin

Storyteller

From Larry Coon's FAQ #17:

"LARRY BIRD EXCEPTION -- This is the best known one. Players who qualify for this exception are called "Qualifying Veteran Free Agents" in the CBA. This exception allows teams to exceed the salary cap to re-sign their own free agents, up to the player's maximum salary. The free agent in question must have played for three seasons without being waived or changing teams as a free agent. This means a player can obtain "Bird rights" by playing under three one-year contracts, a single contract of at least three years, or any combination. It also means that when a player is traded, his Bird rights are traded with him, and his new team can use the Bird exception to re-sign him. These contracts can be up to seven years in length. A player can receive 12.5% raises using this exception. This exception is known as the Larry Bird exception because the Celtics were the first team allowed to exceed the cap to keep their own free agent, and the player happened to be Bird."


The key phrase that applies here is that "when a player is traded, his Bird rights are traded with him, and his new team can use the Bird exception to re-sign him."

DatSupadoopaballer

Now that barry is signed should the clips make a move now or wait for the whole kobe and richardson situation to sign otthe free agents

yamaneko

No.

They wait 1-3 days for Kobes decision. I think he will know by Wednesday what he will do. Then its easy. If he signs, rejoice and start making playoff plans. Then use whatever money they have left over to sign a 3rd string center, and some backups. If he doesnt sign, then match the Q offer, and go after another F/A.

__________________
08-09 Clippers - A Thomas/Mobley trade for a star on the cheap away from a championship

Quasi-Quasar

If the Clipps don't sign Kobe, matching the offer for Q is a no brainer, for starters. There are a few moves the Clipps could make, using their extra capspace, that would be interesting though. Here's how I'd like to see the offseason unfold if Kobe is not signed:
1. Match the offer to Q. 6 years, 48 mil is a overpaying Q by about 10 mil over 6 years, but that's not a lot compared to some blown-out-of-proportion contracts. Q is certainly worth 10 mil more than Marquis Daniels (who is only one years younger BTW).
2. Trade three future 2nd picks to Cleveland for DaJuan Wagner, Kedrick Brown and DeSagana Diop. Cleveland wants to keep Boozer, he's superior to Kurt Thomas; they can match any offer, and Wagner, Brown and Diop combine to clear 8 mil. For the Clipps, this move may seem odd, but Diop and Brown are off the books next year, and Wagner and Brown wouldn't be kept.
3. Trade Melvin Ely, DaJuan Wagner, Kedrick Brown to Denver for the first pick owed to them and their 1st pick from Orlando.
4. Sign Rodney White to a 4 year 9 mil deal (with a team opt-oout after the first year).
5. Sign Mamadou N'Daiye to a 1 year .8 mil deal.
6. Sign Simmons for 1 year at .9 mil.
At this point the Clipps roster is:
PG: Jaric, Livingston, Chalmers
SG: Q, House
SF: Maggette, White, Simmons
PF: Brand, Wilcox,
C: Kaman, Diop, N'Daiye
and the salaries adds up to approximately 37.25, leaving around 8 mil capspace. From there, signing a vet center for one year is the biggest need; Vlade Divac works, and although he's not a vet, Gadzuric could work.

The Clipps would have a very nice 8-man rotation of:
Jaric/Livingston
Q/White/Jaric
Maggette/White/Jaric
Brand/Wilcox
Kaman/Wilcoxor vet C/Wilcox or vet C

And next offseason, House, Diop, N'Daiye, Simmons and the vet C would be off the books leaving 35.2 mil in cap (excluding Rodney White and an extension for Jaric).

__________________
Visit Unfastened Coins (the official website of the Titanic Truth Movement), it will blow your mind.

Ignorance is never better than knowledge. - Enrico Fermi

"You’re not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on."
- Dean Martin

DiRTy DiRK

i don't think 4 years, 9 million would do it for Rodney White...he will command the full MLE

__________________
Dirty Dirk Baby-Babay