36662015

How's It Going Clippernation...

I've been following this forum for a month now so I'm not exactly new

Some of you guys are way too pessissimistic about the upcoming season...

Honestly, I could not have envisioned a much better draft. Though I would have also been happy with Nick Young, Al Thornton embodies the sense of "here and now." Worst Case Scenario for Thornton is Joey Graham. As of now, Thornton's best case scenario is quite ambiguous. He has all the tools in the world to become a superstar. And at 24, Thornton is in no way old like some of you seem to believe. While Thornton may never become a playmaker, he has excellent hands, meaning his ball-handling can easily improve. Thornton also has not learned to utilize every aspect of his physical abilities for he will sometimes rather make the finesse play than the power play. More over, Bobby Simmons had his "Most Improved Player" year when he was 23-25. Position-wise, Thornton may seem a little redundant with Maggette, but also remember that Maggette is our only true trade chip and that Maggette may be opting out next year. Even with Maggette on our team, Thornton brings a different offensive game. His go-to move is his unstoppable pull-up midrange jumpshot. Maggette, on the other hand, has a very poor "moving" jumpshot. And take it from one of Singleton's best fans, Singleton's offensive prowess comes no where close to Thornton's and Thornton's rebounding fundamentals are no where close to Singleton's. Mike Dunleavy might have locked Wilcox, Singleton, and Maggette in his doghouse, but Thornton represents an entirely different type of player. Thornton is not a guy who will recklessly drive into the lane nor does he solely rely on his athletiscm. Thornton also possesses a very good work ethic. I know Nick Young well because I follow USC closely , and I can tell you that Young's work ethic comes no where close. Young constantly carries a "I'm a Bigshot" attitude. Such an attitude could only put him in a bad way with Dunleavy. And Don't forget that Young is a pretty damn good athlete too... I think we can all agree that Jared Jordan was a nice pickup ...

It doesn't surprise me that Quinton Ross is coming back next year under Dunleavy and it is also not surprising that Singleton was released. Again, as one of Singleton's best fans, I hope this is one of Dunleavy's many schemes. Maybe Dunleavy wants to resign Singleton to a long term minimum contract and the trade rumors were all meant to give Singleton "a troubled demeanor" in order to turn off other teams.

My "wishful" not "realistic" offseason features the signing of Steve Francis and Sofo and the following trade with Charlotte.

LA CLIPPERS TAKE: Okafor, Knight, + possible filler (draft pick, minimum contract player)
CHARLOTTE GETS: Maggette, Kaman, + possible filler (draft pick, minimum contract player)

My trade would break down as

Maggette, Kaman, A. Williams for Okafor, Knight, Carroll (+filler?)

http://www.realgm.com/src_checktrade...radeid=4046378 (Carroll will be sign and trade)

Charlotte would do the trade because they still need an athletic wing to replace Gerald Wallace, and they need another big PF or C. I was initially worried that Charlotte might not want to trade away their second-tier point guard, but seeing that they waived knight, it shows that they never really cared anyway. With Sean May up and coming, they can sacrafice Okafor. Plus Kaman DID drop 20 pts and grabbed 20 boards against this team...

Clips would do the trade because they desperately need a solid PG, and they get a young, solid big man who WILL finish in the paint. Okafor also will not command as much offensive sets as Kaman to score. Carroll adds another dimension of shooting to our team. The biggest plus is the salary flexibility that the Clippers get.

Again, since it seems as if Charlotte really doesn't care too much about Knight (and Carroll for that matter), the Clippers may be able to obtain another commodity. I doubt it though.

If all goes well... Clippers will have: PG: Cassell, Knight, (Hart, Jordan, Conley)
SG: Mobley, Francis, carroll
SF: Thornton, Ross
PF: Brand, Thomas, Singleton
C: Okafor, Sofo, Davis

Last note: If you have noticed how injury-prone our backcourt might be then youre not alone.
I think in this case, Thomas will be our best trade piece...
Thomas for Jaric + filler?
Jaric is a crybaby, but I do miss his ability to steal the ball... And Jaric has been absolutely abused in Minnesota... he gets almost no playing time anymore... He has to admit that the Clippers did give him his best chance.
Of course this all comes with the assumption that we will still have Singleton at the start of next season...
The Clippers will miss Thomas' shooting but the additions of Francis, Jaric, Carroll, Thornton should make up for it... Garnett may push for Tim Thomas because the Wolves need a capable SF, and Garnett wants to "win now."

PG: Cassell, Jaric, Knight, (Hart, Jordan, Conley)
SG: Mobley, Francis, Carroll
SF: Thornton, Ross, (Jaric)
PF: Brand, Singleton
C: Okafor, Sofo, Davis

Thanks for reading my little rant... I got pissed after I noticed all the pessissism...

Feel Free To Comment.

matador1238

Why do you think Bobcats will trade Okafor????? He is their franchise player and they build around him. Maybe G. Wallace + Carroll but no way they trade Okafor.

leidout

I appreciate your optimism, but you're asking for about 4 'perfect' transactions to take place. For the most part, the clippers management doesn't have the balls to pull off one of those trades, much less 2.

Charlotte get's raped in that trade, plain & simple.

Marko most likely wouldn't want to come back, Dunleavy definitely doesn't want him here either.

Sofo isn't coming over this year.

Singleton would have to be retarded to come back, Dunleavy has been actively forcing him out just like he did with Wilcox. He also forced Korolev out as well without giving him a chance.

Francis is a possibility, but until he's cut, there are many other destinations he might find more suitable (Dallas, Chicago, Orlando, Detroit Cleveland all come to mind) and depending on how much money he wants, it's probably unlikely we can afford the MLE.

I'm not really pessimistic, i've just been down this road before with the Clippers and i don't like it. If the Maggette trade falls thru, i can easily see us signing some 10-day guards & going into the season with a completely unbalanced roster. But until this all gets sorted out, i'm definitely not pre-ordering any ticket packages this year.

yamaneko

has nothing to do with pessimism, it has to do with realism. And you are pretty much saying the same thing as others that thornon is a decent player. No one is doubting that. He just doesnt fit into the team as is now. An undersized PF, unproven SF who cant play SG nor center is pretty much the worst possible scenario that we could have had.

Ive been to nick young private work outs, and saw nothing wrong with his work ethic nor attitude.

Kaman will never be traded unless were getting a true center, and a decent one at that in return, or at least a superstar PF such as a gasol. Something highly unlikely to ever happen.

Clippers havent proven they can make the moves necessary to move this team forward, lets hope they pull off another cassell like trade. But right now we can only expect busines as usual until the clippers prove otherwise. And i look at almost every team in the west improving, but the clippers just getting older, and not having any room for improvement, barring a trade that would be uncharacteristic for them.

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08-09 Clippers - One more piece away from relativity

36662015

I have to agree with everything you guys said cuz in the end it all comes down to our management... and our management sucks

Most of the moves I listed above are "wishful" thinking. Okafor can be had since my trade does essential come down to Maggette + Kaman for Okafor after you consider that Charlotte has released Knight and have shown little interest in resigning Carroll. But like most of you guys already said, our management, based on history, simply don't make these trades.

I just don't see Thornton sitting on the bench next year... Dunleavy doesn't like to swallow his pride. He will find a way to get Thornton onto the rotation. Put Maggette on SG and Thornton on SF. Sorta like the Maggette/Simmons days. IMHO Thornton can achieve Simmon's offensive output. Throwing Mobley into the mix, our backcourt might not actually be that bad. We had a very injure-friendly group of Point Guards for both years. Jaric, Livingston vs. Cassell, Livingston.

yamaneko

Korolev sat on the bench, and he can play up to 4 positions, and is dunleavvy's ideal type of player. Never underestimate dunleavvy. lol. Dunleavvy has said time and again he doesnt want maggette at SG, which is why they paid that money to get mobley originally.

Again, as it stands now, were scrweed. But you never know, clippers might pull something off, we shall see.

Ill be sure to give detailed reports of thornton, conroy, kaman, whoever else is playing in the summer league when i go there in a couple of weeks.

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08-09 Clippers - One more piece away from relativity