L.A. Clippers 2020/21. I am the Mann Moderadores: tiko5, hastrakan, der König81

[Cassell]

Vinny del Negro nuevo entrenador, según afirma en su twitter Sam Amick:

Vinny Del Negro will be named the Clippers coach, a league source tells FanHouse.

[Brian Scalabrine]

Me gusta Vinnie, más quizás que Casey. En realidad me enamoró con sus planteamientos y frases en la 1ª ronda de hace 2 años vs. Celtics, pero es un entrenador que me gusta. Estos 2 aós en Chicago la verdad me gustó bastante, metiendo en PO a un equipo que era Rose, los huevos de Noah y poco más.

[Cassell]

El roster definitivo para la SL de Las Vegas, con la presencia final de Big Sofo en el mismo. Griffin colaborará con ellos en los entrenamientos, pero no jugará:

3 Al-Farouq Aminu F 6′9″ 215 9/21/1990 Wake Forest 0
30 Ryan Ayers F 6′7″ 210 7/16/1986 Notre Dame 0
23 Rod Benson F/C 6′10″ 235 10/10/1984 California 0
17 Marqus Blakely F 6′5″ 225 10/22/1988 Vermont 0
12 Eric Bledsoe G 6′1″ 190 12/09/1989 Kentucky 0
21 Nik Caner-Medley F 6′9″ 240 10/20/1983 Maryland 0
24 Trey Johnson G 6′5″ 218 8/30/1984 Jackson State 1
9 DeAndre Jordan C 6′11″ 250 7/21/1988 Texas A&M 2
11 Jeremy Richardson F/G 6′6″ 185 2/11/1984 Delta State 2
15 Sofoklis Schortsanitis F 6′9″ 315 6/22/1985 Olympiacos (Greece) 0
13 Willie Warren G 6′4″ 203 10/22/1989 Oklahoma 0
7 Dashuan Wood G 5′11″ 180 9/29/1985 Wright State 0

La confirmación del fichaje de VDN en ESPN:

The Los Angeles Clippers have reached an agreement in principle with Vinny Del Negro to become the team's head coach.

The team said Tuesday night in an e-mail that more details would be announced Wednesday.

Del Negro was fired by the Chicago Bulls in May after going 82-82 in two seasons and making two postseason appearances.

Mike Dunleavy quit as Clippers coach in early February to focus exclusively on his general manager duties, then he and the team severed ties completely on March 8. His assistant, Kim Hughes, finished the season as interim coach before being dismissed on April 15.

The Clippers had a 29-53 record last season, missing the playoffs for the 15th time in 17 years. They were 8-33 on the road, their worst mark away from home since 1999-2000, when they went 5-36.

The Clippers brought in their finalists for interviews twice over the past two weeks. Along with Del Negro, the organization gave Dallas Mavericks assistant and former Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Dwane Casey a close look. Del Negro and Casey were the two finalists for the Chicago job two years ago. Again, on this occasion, Del Negro got the nod.

Vinny Del Negro previously served as Chicago's coach, where he had consecutive 41-41 seasons before he was fired in May.
Prior to his stint on the Bulls' bench, Del Negro moved from the Suns' broadcast booth to spend two seasons in the Phoenix Suns' front office, first as director of player personnel and then as assistant general manager.

The Clippers are undergoing a rapid transformation both in the front office and in the locker room. General manager Neil Olshey will begin his first full season as the club's general manager. The team will feature at least three rookies -- 2009 No. 1 overall pick Blake Griffin, Wake Forest forward Al-Farouq Aminu and Kentucky guard Eric Bledsoe. The only two players on the current Clippers roster older than 21 are Baron Davis and Chris Kaman.

Olshey and team president Andy Roeser met with LeBron James in Cleveland last Friday. The Clippers are one of only a few NBA teams that have sufficient flexibility under the salary cap to offer a maximum contract to James or another marquee free agent. Widely considered long shots to land James or one of the other big names, the Clippers are more likely to proceed into the free-agency season with an eye toward building around their young core.

Yo, personalmente, también prefiero a Del Negro. Su trabajo con los Bulls, en líneas generales, fue bastante bueno, y su filosofía de juego quizá encaje mejor que la de Casey, que por lo que tengo visto de él en Minny es un técnico muy amarrategui. Lo que sí parece es que la impresión que causó Del Negro en la segunda entrevista tuvo que ser muy buena, ya que hasta ahora se decía que el candidato número uno era Casey.

Y ahora que ya tenemos entrenador, y dado que de Lebron es mejor olvidarse, pues a planificar la plantilla. Salvo la reunión del sábado con el representante de Mike Miller (fichaje buenísimo si se confirma), no hay movimientos al respecto.

[Cassell]

Steve Perrin analizando el fichaje de Del Negro:

Obviously, I read a lot of blogs and bloggers. But there are two NBA bloggers who I tend to like more than others - guys who make my head involuntarily bob up and down as I'm reading them and finding that I agree with what they're saying. Those two are Tom Ziller of Fanhouse and Kelly Dwyer of Ball Don't Lie.

There are lots of other blogs I read and tons of other bloggers I love. Kevin Arnovitz is a friend and a guy I have a ton of respect for, but since he's a Clipper blogger, it's an unfair comparison. And while there are lots of team specific bloggers I really like (too many to mention), I'm not a frequent reader of any of them, because there's just not enough time. I touch base from time to time especially when the Clippers are playing that team, but I don't consider myself a 'regular' of any of them.

To that end, I should be clear that I'm talking about Ziller's general NBA stuff on Fanhouse as opposed to Sactown Royalty. Too much Kings detail on SR, all of it great, to be certain. But for general NBA bloggers, Ziller and Dwyer are my go to guys, the guys whose opinions I most respect.

And they have both eviscerated the Clippers for hiring Vinny Del Negro.

Dwyer:

The Bulls got to .500 because of raw talent, and little else, under Del Negro. I like the guy, but they won in spite of him. Or, survived in spite of him. And the Clippers - those idiotic Los Angeles Clippers - just decided to ignore the same circumstances that failed for the Chicago Bulls. They just decided to assume that it actually worked for Chicago (why in the hell do they think Vinny is available in the first place?), and continue apace.

Ziller:

So here we are, with the futures of Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon in Vinny Del Negro's shaky hands. Bad teams remain bad teams because they make bad decisions. If the Clippers are still begging for respect and not deserving it in three years, look back at this hiring process, this unbelievable result. This pick has set the ray to nowhere, a place the Clippers know all too well.

So there you have it. Hopefully they're wrong. For what it's worth, Dwyer is a Bulls fan and watches every Bulls game, so he has some first hand knowledge of VDN's tenure in Chicago.

Curioso, pero mientras en los foros de los Bulls nos felicitan por el fichaje, en los de los Clippers su llegada no gusta absolutamente nada.

[Cassell]

Baron Davis aplaude la llegada de VDN:

Coach Del Negro gets his teams to play hard and play together, and that's what we need. He is a former player who is not too far removed from the game, and I'm looking forward to doing whatever it takes to liste and learn from him to help this team win.

Crónica de la rueda de prensa de presentación de VDN como entrenador, en la cual estuvo presente Griffin:

So yeah, I went to the press conference today. In fact, right at the beginning of the Prime Ticket coverage, there's a pretty clear shot of my bald spot at the bottom of the screen. Yup, that's me. Not my best side.

What can I tell you about it? Not much. You can see for yourself on the video. It's a lot of happy talk. At least one thing seems clear: the Clippers are going to "play the right way."

The reasons Olshey gave for choosing VDN were all the ones we've already talked about: (1) he is willing to play youngsters (three starters under 25 in Chicago, six players under 22 in LA); (2) he had his team playing hard at the end of the season. Make no mistake - those things are real and they're significant. Whatever flaws he may have as a tactician, his guys were playing hard in April and that counts for something. Olshey's pretty smooth at selling whatever idea he wants to get across, and that was the big message today - we want to develop a winning culture, and we think Vinny Del Negro can help us do that.

The thing I'm going to be watching closely is the coaching staff that he builds. The first meeting of the Summer League roster is Thursday night - the first practice is Friday morning. Everyone was noncommittal on time frames, but the simple fact is that the summer league team needs a bench coach, and it ain't gonna be VDN. They already have a person in mind for the summer league job, and presumably he'll be in LA tomorrow, and presumably he'll be a part of the coaching staff next season. Last season's Clipper assistants are all being considered for the new staff as well.

There's also a broader question concerning the assistant coaches. We've discussed how VDN had never coached before he took the Chicago job, how he might not be the strongest Xs and Os guy, and how a strong assistant can help compensate for some of those shortcomings. VDN's first season in Chicago, he had Del Harris and Bernie Bickerstaff as assistants. The second season he had Bickerstaff. Harris and Bickerstaff each have 14 years of head coaching experience themselves.

Does VDN need an old hand on the bench with him? Or at any rate, did someone in Chicago think he did? I asked Olshey if the Clippers would be looking to add a similarly experienced person on VDN's LA staff, and without saying 'no' he more or less said 'no'. He talked about the youth on the team, and how it important it was to have a coaching staff that could relate to the players. He referenced Del Negro's playing days as not being too far in the past and implied that that was an advantage as well. I took it all to mean, no Bickerstaff (which is not a bad thing, I've never been a big fan of Bernie Bickerstaff). But in the back of your mind, because, you know, it's the Clippers, you kind of assume they'd never be willing to pay enough to lure a former head coach to the an assistant's spot (though of course they did it with John Lucas).

At any rate, the coaching staff will be a key subplot to keep tabs of over the next few weeks.

Whoever they hire, I'm sure they're going to "coach the right way."

[Cassell]

Nuevo artículo de Arnovitz:

It’s too early to discern whether Vinny Del Negro has the command, tactical strength and creativity to build the Clippers into a respectable entity in the Western Conference. My preferences for Dwane Casey aside, enough smart basketball people I’ve spoken to believe that, despite his early struggles in Chicago, Del Negro’s learning curve has been steep. They maintain that getting out from under a Chicago management team that undermined him at every turn — and let his best shooter walk in 2009, then dealt the other perimeter threat at last year’s deadline — will allow him to prosper. A good coach knows how to delegate and Del Negro’s preliminary short list of assistants is impressive. There are plenty of reasons to be skeptical, but the beauty of sports is that these questions reveal themselves in due time.

The organization’s choice of Del Negro reveals some important realities that have little to do with Del Negro himself:

Owner Donald T. Sterling still makes the final call on many vital basketball decisions. It’s important to note that this isn’t unusual in the NBA and most pro sports for that matter. While Sterling might be uniquely ill-equipped to make many of these calls, he who signs the checks makes the rules. Still, it’s disconcerting that basketball people aren’t empowered to make the final basketball decisions. Tonight, LeBron James will likely announce that he’s chosen the Miami Heat as his destination. The allure of playing with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh can’t be understated, but it’s not incidental that if he lands in Miami, he’s chosen an owner in Micky Arison. Comparatively speaking, Arison is a hands-off owner who remains behind the scenes and delegates basketball operations to Pat Riley. Olshey, as a first-time general manager, hasn’t built up the equity and track record Riley has in his three decades as a championship head coach and executive. But Olshey has demonstrated early on that he’s aggressive, pragmatic and has good taste in talent. One source I spoke to about the Clippers power structure told me, “Neil has the potential to be very good at this job, but the question is, will ownership let him?”

As disheartening as ownership’s claiming the right to make the final call on the coaching hire, Olshey got his second choice out of dozens of available candidates. Del Negro wouldn’t have been named a finalist if Olshey weren’t confident he could perform the task. Part of the job for any Clippers general manager is negotiating with Sterling — on hires, trades and signings. It took Mike Dunleavy weeks to cajole Sterling into dealing Zach Randolph last summer. Whether Olshey is given the authority he should to assemble the roster the way he sees fit will become apparent in the coming weeks. He conveys a very strong power of persuasion, more so than Dunleavy. On the flip side, Sterling has been generous with the checkbook in recent years and hasn’t seen much return on his investment, a dynamic that could potentially make him more reluctant to spend.

Presence and charisma trump whiteboard acumen, at least with many owners. The Del Negro hire also underscores the advantage former players still have when teams make choose coaches. Del Negro plugged his tenure as an NBA veteran in his press conference yesterday. For all of Casey’s attributes, Del Negro’s ability to regal someone like Sterling with stories of his playing days and to tout how that résumé item translates into respect in the locker room and on the practice court is powerful — probably a little bit too powerful.

As we head into Summer League, a few other realities are surfacing. The free agent market is insane. Mike Miller has a lot of appeal as a small forward, but he’s likely to command a five year deal in the $40 million dollar range, especially now that teams like New York have been left with enormous cap space and nobody to spend it on. The Clippers would be wise to resist the temptation to overspend and forfeit their flexibility, whether on Miller, Kyle Korver or anyone else.

A more likely scenario — and a smart one — would be to fill out the roster with decent value players. The list of available 3s won’t dazzle you, but the Clips could do a lot worse than a guy like Ryan Gomes, or even Dorell Wright, for a short-term contract while Al-Farouq Aminu finds his sea legs. Both Gomes and Wright are strong defenders on the wing and Gomes has developed a nice stroke from the outside (Wright has proficiency from mid-range). Neither will vault the Clippers into playoff contention next season — and that might be frustrating to a hungry fan base — but both bring assets that would help the development process and not kill the Clippers’ cap flexibility.

Tayshaun Prince would be a plus at the small forward spot, but only if the Pistons are reasonable with their demands. Absorbing Prince’s $11.1 million salary would still leave the Clips with more than $7 million to fill out the roster with another combo guard (Randy Foye, Shannon Brown, Roger Mason). Again, these aren’t flashy names, but the primary goal remains developing the five young players. Baron Davis and Chris Kaman will claim a ton of possessions. The Clips need to allocate the remaining opportunities to Griffin, Gordon and, when they’re on the floor, Aminu and Bledsoe.

As disheartening as the summer might be, don’t undervalue the importance of the long view. Griffin could be a star. He and Gordon have enormous potential as an inside-out threat. Be patient, allow success to materialize in due course. Winning now isn’t realistic, so plan for 2011 and beyond.

Marc Spears, en su twitter, dice que tenemos interés en Josh Howard:

WASH FA Josh Howard tells Y! he's optimistic he will overcome knee injury 2 be ready for reg-season. Wash, NJ, MIA, NY, SAC, LAC interested

[Brian Scalabrine]

En el Twitter de Lisa Dillman

LAT update: It is expected that FA guard Randy Foye will be going to the Clippers. Earlier talk had been about Wizards' guard Mike Miller.

Randy Foye si es para dar minutos de descanso a Gordon, a pesar de verlo un cromo un poco repetido al 1º y preferir a un escolta más defensivo, no lo veo mal, pero repito, para 14/15 minutos de Gordon y si es necesario 5 minutos de base por partido. Pero es que viene de una temporada nefasta. Aun así, prometía bastante, buen pasador, anotador y con tiro decente. Válido en la rotación.

Mike Miller, poco que decir, yo visto lo que hay en el mercado, olvidados LBJ, Joe Johnson, Gay, Pierce e incluso Iggy-Pop Iguodala, lo prefiero antes que ver a un Josh Howard pululando por aquí.


PD: Cassell, he visto en otro post que comentabas que te gustaría que se quedara Travis Outlaw. Yo antes que a Josh Howard me lo quedaba claramente, pero si logramos a Mike Miller también lo prefiero, y como alero reserva tenemos a un Aminu al que habrá que irle dando minutos. Y de 4 no lo veo porque previsiblemente Griffin y Kaman se comerán la mayoría de minutos, y al igual que Steve Blake, no se van a quedar para jugar 15 minutos pudiendo jugar 30 en equipos con más aspiraciones. Para la rotación de interiores los 2 titulares + Sofo, Craig Smith(ojalá) y DeAndre me parece una buena rotación.

[Brian Scalabrine]

Lisa Dillmann

LAT update: Meet another new Clippers: Ryan Gomes. All the ex-TWolves making me feel misty eyed for Minnesota.

Me voy al sobre y no voy a mirar nada más, pero parece que a estas horas después del show LeBron nosotros fichamos a Foye por 8 kilos/2 años, que viendo lo que se está pagando me parece razonable, pero parece que también FICHAMOS A RYAN GOMES. Y esto sí que no, o viene para aportar algo como 3(detrás del titular y Aminu, y ocupar el sitio como 4 de Craig Smith, a pesar de que de 4 no me gusta ni la mitad que Rhino, el que sólo por la intensidad que pone me parece mejor que Gomes). El miedo viene cuando piensas si Gomes y Aminu pueden ser la pareja de 3s. MIEDO, mucho MIEDO, y más viendo lo que sonó.

[Cassell]

Me gusta la llegada de Foye, que me parece un buen refuerzo como base suplente (no me extrañaría nada que Bledsoe juegue como SG, sobre todo porque en Kentucky lo he visto jugar muchos minutos como escolta al lado de Wall), y lo de Gomes lo considero un más de lo mismo con respecto a Aminu. De haber elegido en el draft a un Hayward o un George, no me hubiera parecido un mal refuerzo, pero con la elección del ex-Wake Forest Gomes no es lo que necesitamos. Un anotador exterior como Miller (aunque haya que pagarle los 50 kilos en 5 años que pide), Korver nos hubiera venido de perlas, o incluso la renovación de Butler, un tío que te puede aportar lanzamiento exterior (varias exhibiciones le he visto la pasada temporada), y que incluso es mejor defensor que los otros dos juntos.

Lo de Outlaw es muy claro. Es un jugador al que puedes colocar tanto como SF como, sobre todo, de "4", en donde es un jugador difícil de parar, ya que por un lado es más rápido que la mayoría de sus defensores, y por el otro el hecho de ser un tío que juega muy abierto causa, por un lado, desequilibrios en las defensas rivales, y por el otro se complementaría bien con Aminu, quien pese a ser un SF natural, no tiene tiro exterior. Yo lo hubiera renovado sí o sí, y más teniendo como teníamos Bird rights sobre él.

No sé, creo que no tenemos mala rotación de bases/escoltas, y que en el juego interior estamos muy bien armados, pero seguimos teniendo un completo solar en el puesto de SF, a la espera de ver como evoluciona Aminu, al que habrá de darle la duda de su juventud. Salvo que Griffin rinda como se espera de él, pocas posibilidades veo de rascar play offs este año, viendo la confección de la plantilla.

Consejos a Del Negro de DJ Foster:

Congratulations, Vinny Del Negro.

As the new head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, you have inherited a promising, young core. But before you get too comfortable in your new digs, there are a few things you should know about the roster.

1. One of your best players has no sense of his limitations.
Knowing what you can't do on a basketball court is sometimes just as important as knowing what you can do. Baron Davis is a gifted distributor with other-worldly court vision, but he's also one of the worst jump-shooters in all of basketball, evidenced by his 27.7 shooting percentage from beyond the arc last season. That number would be passable in limited attempts, but Davis is gluttonous with his shots. Despite his terrible proficiency, Davis shot 296 3-pointers last season, and was in the top 10 among point guards in attempts.
This is hardly a new development. Davis has never been an efficient outside shooter, even in his halcyon days with Golden State. Most veterans typically adjust their games as they get on in years, but the 31-year-old Davis has remained stubborn in his approach to the game.

Despite this, Del Negro seems confident he'll be able to get Baron Davis to buy into his philosophy.

"I told Baron we're going to run things the right way here and he needs to jump on board," Del Negro said in his introductory press conference. "At the end of the day obviously Baron has been in the league a long time. A lot is expected of Baron, as well it should be. He knows that. We'll get together, get on the same page as quick as possible and make things work."

But beware, Vinny. You can't stop Baron Davis. You can only hope to contain him.

2. You have only one efficient outside shooter to work with.
In his first two years in the league, Eric Gordon has shown he's a highly efficient shooter, but his game is a little more Robin than Batman. While Gordon is definitely a viable threat from deep (over 37 percent from long distance during his first two seasons), the scouting report on him has worked its way around the league: close out hard on the perimeter, force Gordon to put it on the deck, and swarm with help defenders.
Can the Clippers make defenses pay for collapsing on Gordon and leaving other shooters open? Last year they certainly couldn't. The Clippers ranked 27th in 3-point percentage, and, not coincidentally, 27th in offensive efficiency.

Under Del Negro, the Bulls were actually worse offensively than the Clippers last season. Chicago ranked 28th in both 3-point percentage and offensive efficiency and attempted more shots from 16-to-23 feet than any team in the league, an area where the Clippers ranked a measly 24th in field goal percentage.

Many of the nagging offensive issues in Chicago will follow you to Los Angeles, but at least you have one bullet in the chamber with Eric Gordon. Use him wisely.

3.Your most accomplished low-post player keeps drifting further and further from the block.
As the focal point of the Clippers' offense last season, Chris Kaman earned his first All-Star bid while recording a career-high 18.5 points per game. Kaman had always been a good low-post scorer with an arsenal of moves, but had never been a true number one scoring option. As Kaman's touches increased, he developed a serious affection for his mid-range shot.

The new love for his face-up jumper came with a heavy price. In the month of March, Kaman almost completely abandoned his post-up game and consequently went to the line just 42 times on 220 field goal attempts. During that stretch, the Clippers won only three games.

Kaman has never been much of an offensive counter-puncher. Instead of reacting to what his defender gives him, he usually decides what he wants to do long before he even touches the ball. Eliminating Kaman's mental desire to settle for jumpers will go a long way in building a more efficient offense. After being completely devoid of one in Chicago, you finally have a low-post scoring threat. Now you just have to get him down there.

4. Your bread-and-butter play won't translate well to this group.
The Chicago Bulls' main offensive tactic under Del Negro last season was to run a high pick-and-roll with Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah. Can a similar offensive scheme work for the Clippers?

Opposing teams will defend the Clippers' pick-and-roll in the same way they did against Chicago: by going under every ball-screen. So what's the big difference between Chicago's pick-and-roll and the Clippers' pick-and-roll? Derrick Rose was fast enough to turn the corner and get into the paint. Baron Davis no longer can.

According to Synergy Sports, on plays in which the pick-and-roll ball-handler shot the ball, the Clippers only scored .72 points per possession, which registered as the worst number in the league.

With the same ball handlers (Baron Davis and Eric Gordon) back this season, you may need a new offensive calling card.

5. You have a guy who could change everything.
Every once in a while a player comes along with potential that appears limitless. Blake Griffin is one of those guys.

With his size, athleticism, and work ethic, Griffin could be the remedy for a lot of the Clippers' problems. Maybe his offensive prowess makes Baron Davis start deferring more. Maybe his presence around the rim on the offensive glass opens things up for Eric Gordon. Maybe if he demands double-teams on the block, Chris Kaman can hang outside the paint and shoot jumpers all he wants. Maybe every pick-and-roll turns into an all-out assault on the rim.

You've developed Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah and even Taj Gibson into fine players. If you can help Blake Griffin fulfill his immense potential, life will suddenly become a whole lot easier.

Aquí analizando a Foye y Gomes:

After a stagnant offseason, the Los Angeles Clippers quietly made a few moves to round out their rotation by signing free-agent guard Randy Foye and forward Ryan Gomes to multi-year contracts on Thursday night.
Instead of overpaying in an inflated free-agency market, general manager Neil Olshey picked up two under-the-radar type players to mesh with the team's young core, while maintaining future financial flexibility. Although the moves are less than splashy, Foye and Gomes will provide the team with versatile skill-sets that can help them win games now while not sacrificing anything for the future.

With the exception of Baron Davis and Eric Gordon, the Clippers employed no player who had ever hit an NBA 3-pointer. Obviously, addressing that issue was a priority in free agency, so Olshey went out and nabbed two guys capable of hitting outside shots.

Foye, a 26-year-old combo-guard and former lottery pick, is one of the better guys in the league at shooting off the dribble and is a career 36.8 percent 3-point shooter.

Gomes, a 27-year-old small forward, has been almost as good with a 36.1 percent career average from deep. To put things in perspective, Rasual Butler, the Clippers' single-season record holder for most 3-point field goals, shot just 33.6 percent from beyond the arc last season.

Many of the Clippers' offensive problems last year stemmed from bad court spacing due to a lack of capable shooters. Defenses were able to pack it in and cut off driving lanes for Eric Gordon and Baron Davis and suffocate Chris Kaman on the block. By adding accomplished shooters like Foye and Gomes to the mix, opposing defenses shouldn't be able to play off the wings nearly as much. As a result, things should open up for Gordon and Griffin, something necessary for them to further develop their offensive repertoires.

By signing Foye and Gomes, the Clippers added some much needed flexibility to a rigid rotation.

At 6-foot-4 and with a solid build, Foye can play and defend both the point and 2-guard position. The ability for the third guard in a rotation to switch between both spots is usually a luxury, but the injury history of Baron Davis and the inexperience of the lone remaining point guard on the roster in rookie Eric Bledsoe made it a serious need.

Like Foye, Gomes is another classic tweener capable of playing both the small forward and power forward positions. Although he was more of a post-oriented player in his first few years in the league, Gomes has been able to make the transition to a wing player thanks to the expanding range on his jumper. As a solid rebounder with a big frame, Gomes makes up for Eric Gordon's deficiencies on the glass and still meshes well with Griffin and the Clippers' other big men who aren't proficient jump-shooters.

Secret weapon
Foye's offensive abilities in the pick-and-roll make him a perfect match for the Clippers, who will probably run quite a few ball-screens under Vinny Del Negro. According to Synergy Sports, nearly half of Foye's field-goal attempts last season came off the pick-and-roll. How good is Foye in that setting? He averaged .88 points per possession on the pick-and-roll last season, an identical number to Tony Parker's, while turning the ball over less often than the former Finals MVP. Foye isn't a very good finisher at the rim, but he's a solid jump-shooter who knows how to get points from a simple ball-screen. Easy offense, especially from your bench, is not something to take for granted.

Minnesota played at the league's third-fastest tempo last season, and Gomes was right in the center of it. Whether he was a small-ball power forward trailing the play or a wing filling the lane, Gomes was a strong finisher in transition. It's no secret that Baron Davis wants to push the ball up the floor, and in Gomes, Davis has an outside shooter and finisher he can trust when the pace picks up.

Moving ahead
The plan going into free-agency was certainly not to end up with Randy Foye and Ryan Gomes as the lone consolations. But after holding court with LeBron James and watching every other targeted free agent stay home for max money, there were limited other options available. By signing Foye and Gomes to reasonably priced deals, the Clippers' front office sent the message that they're willing to be patient and wait for the right opportunities to present themselves.

With six players under the age of 21 on their current roster, patience from all parties going forward will be more of a necessity than a virtue.

[Cassell]

En San Antonio nos colocan a Richard Jefferson. Dentro de lo que hay, es lo mejor que se puede pillar (no se han debido de enterar que Mike Miller se va a Miami):

At 8:29 Thursday night, soon-to-be former Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James looked into a television camera in Greenwich, Conn., and in 14 words, ended two years of speculation.
“I'm going to take my talents to South Beach,” James said, “and join the Miami Heat.”

Now that James has called his shot, and put a merciful end to a personal free agency circus that would have made P.T. Barnum blanch, it can only mean one thing for the Spurs. Now, things get really interesting.

After the first week of NBA Free Agency 2010 — otherwise known as LeBronapalooza — the market had all but stalled waiting for James and his new Miami teammates, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, to pick their teams and claim their cash.

Now that the Spurs and other teams know where James is headed — and, as significantly, where he is not headed — they can move forward in piecing together their own roster.

“I think they were waiting for LeBron to get his thing done,” said Kenny Grant, who is representing forward-center Matt Bonner in free agency talks with the Spurs. “Now, I think they're ready to get started.”

By this time last season, the Spurs already had completed their major offseason moves, having traded for Richard Jefferson and signed free agent Antonio McDyess. The Summer of LeBron has moved at a slower clip, with teams and players alike waiting to see what money was left — and where — after the big names were off the board.

“(Now) some teams are going to have so much money and not know what to do with it,” Grant said.

Jefferson had hoped to tap into some of that stray cash, opting out of $15.2 million in order to pursue a new long-term deal with the Spurs or another team.

The market for Jefferson, however, appears to be shrinking daily, even among the LeBron losers with ample salary cap space. New Jersey removed itself from the running by committing five years and $35 million to Travis Outlaw. New York used the bulk of its cap space to land Amare Stoudemire in a maximum deal, and is poised to take on more payroll once a sign-and-trade deal shipping David Lee to Golden State is executed.

One high-ranking Knicks official said Thursday that Jefferson was never in the team's plans, even if it whiffed on James.

Aside from the Spurs, the Los Angeles Clippers could be Jefferson's best bet, but they are reportedly chasing Mike Miller instead. Cleveland — the ultimate loser in the LeBron derby — will have $9 million in available cap space once James is officially off the books.

Teams view Jefferson as a complimentary player who probably won't command much more than the mid-level exception of $5.765 million. The Spurs are expected to offer a multi-year contract starting at a shade above that, at a number that reduces their luxury tax hit.

Meanwhile, Grant is hopeful the Spurs might now be free to talk more seriously about a new deal for Bonner.

Grant said Thursday he's talked with Spurs general manager R.C. Buford on multiple occasions since the start of free agency, but not since before Fourth of July weekend. Now that the free-agent market has clarified, he expects conversations with the Spurs to resume.

Bonner has also received interest from a handful of other teams, including Dallas, Denver and Chicago.

“Obviously, Matt wants to stay with the Spurs,” Grant said. “If that can't happen, he'll find somewhere else.”

So far, the Spurs have been sitting strategically in wait-and-see mode.

“This is all about sitting and waiting to see how things fall,” said one Eastern Conference executive, “and not just waiting on LeBron.”

James' announcement Thursday shook the NBA at its core. Soon, those reverberations might be felt as far away as South Texas.

[Brian Scalabrine]

Al menos vemos con esto que se sigue buscando un alero titular y Gomes sólo viene a rebañar minutos en el 3 y 4. Si es así, me gusta. Jefferson lo malo es que renunció a la Player Option de 15 kilos, por lo que imagino que para lo acabadillo que está ya. si viene, se sacará un más que buen contratillo.

Las cifras de Foye parece que serán 8 kilos/2 años y Gomes 12 por 4, precios razonables viendo como se mueve el mercado, sobre todo el de Randy.

[Cassell]

Hay 10 kilos para poder fichar, y con esa pasta aun te puedes traer a un buen jugador. Jefferson puede aportarte, sobre todo, veteranía y experiencia, aparte de que puede ser un buen maestro para Aminu. Si sus pretensiones no son muy altas (la Mid, por ejemplo), no sé a que espera Olshey para hacerle una oferta.

Está por ahi la opción Korver, que tampoco nos vendría mal, ya que aportaría algo de lo que no andamos muy sobrados, como es tiro exterior. La opción Morrow me gustaba aun más que la de Korver, pero creo que los Warriors lo han renovado dándole la QO.

[PizarroN]

Dos buenos fichajes habeis hecho a un razonable precio, sobre todo Gomes me parece un tio de lo mas util y cumplidor, tipico jugador que hara una larga carrera NBA dejando buen recuerdo ayá por donde pase.

[Cassell]

Esto tiene que ser un farol. Para eso me quedo con Novak:

Clippers sign forward Brian Cook to two-year deal worth about $2.5 million, a league source told Yahoo! Sports.

[Brian Scalabrine]

Esto tiene que ser un farol. Para eso me quedo con Novak:

Clippers sign forward Brian Cook to two-year deal worth about $2.5 million, a league source told Yahoo! Sports.

Lo acabo de ver y lo iba a poner. Un WTF? en toda regla. No lo debieron de ver desde que marchó de los Lakers, sino no lo entiendo. Brian Cook está gordo, lleva 2 años pasando de todo y se gana un puesto en un roster y por más del mínimo. Extraño. Y sí, si se quiere un 4 tirador también me quedo con el bueno de Steve. Espero que se renueve a Rhino ya que a Novak lo veo imposible pues serían 2 cromos repetidos, y que este sea el 6º hombre alto de rotación, o sea, lista de lesionados, por detrás de los 2 titulares, Smith, Sofo y DeAndre.

Y un Center que me gustaría para dar intimidación desde el banquillo sería Joel Anthony, pero no creo que venga y más con DeAndre.

[Cassell]

Steve Perrin (Clipsnation):

At his press conference Wednesday, Vinny Del Negro said he doesn't like looking in the rear view mirror, that he looks out the front windshield. I, on the other hand, love looking in the rear view mirror (especially when I'm changing lanes or backing up, but maybe that's just me).

Almost lost in all the free agency flapdoodle was Thursday's announcement that Travis Outlaw would sign with the New Jersey Nets for 5 years, $35M (a smidge over the new, higher mid level exception). With Outlaw in New Jersey and Steve Blake across the hall with the Lakers, we can now close the books on the Marcus Camby trade to Portland.

Camby was of course traded at the deadline to the Blazers in exchange for Outlaw and Blake. All three had expiring contracts, so it amounted to a straight basketball trade. Oh, and the Clippers also got some cash in the deal.

At the time, I insisted that the Clippers didn't get nearly enough value in return for Camby. The Clippers front office for their part talked about having the supposedly valuable Bird Rights to Outlaw and Blake. But since they didn't even end up doing a sign and trade for either of them, that amounted to nothing as well.



It's not news, it's not surprising, and it's what we always expected would happen. I just thought I'd point out that it has happened.

While we're on the subject, let's also point out that while the Clippers have been congratulating themselves for not gutting the roster to make room for LeBron (and yes, I congratulated them as well), they DID trade away a small forward and a backup point guard at the trade deadline and they did just end up spending more money (for more years) on Ryan Gomes and Randy Foye than it would have cost them to keep Al Thornton and Sebastian Telfair.

So I ask you, which duo would you rather have?

Travis Outlaw (5/$35) and Steve Blake (4/$16M);
Ryan Gomes (3/$12M) and Randy Foye (2/$8M);
Al Thornton (1/$2.8M) and Sebastian Telfair (1/$2.7M).
It's not really a fair question of course. Blake is probably the best point guard of the three, and is not costing any more (per year) than Foye. But Blake undoubtedly gave the Lakers the standard 'ring' discount (which, in a market that paid Chris Duhon 4/$15M seems to have been significant), and the Clippers could not have signed him for that, if in fact they could have signed him at all. Outlaw's deal looks like way too much based on what we saw in LA last season,but he was coming off an injury, and perhaps he'll return to his former Portland self (or perhaps he won't).

Foye would seem to be a better player than Telfair, or at any rate he was more productive at Minnesota. Foye's not a true point guard, and played most of his minutes for the T-Wolves at the two, but that's actually a good thing for the Clippers, who actually have a point guard of the present (Baron Davis) and hopefully a point guard of the future (Eric Bledsoe) and also need help backing up Eric Gordon. As for the Gomes / Thornton comparison, they are very different players. I think it's safe to say that Thornton is the much better athlete and scorer, while Gomes is the better shooter and hopefully the better all around player.

In the end, Gomes and Foye are reasonably effective alternatives at positions of need, that came relatively cheaply (at last compared to many of the other signings in this market).

But I'm still pissed off about the Camby thing.

[Brian Scalabrine]

Lo que se dice en el artículo es totalmente cierto. Pero yo creo que visto lo visto habrá que esperar que se fiche al otro alero(por cierto, Korver ya no, a Bulls junto con JJ Redick, y parece que Jefferson se queda en SA; potable queda Josh Howard y poco más ya) para hacer las comparaciones. Aun así, se está viendo que no se está consiguiendo nada lo mejor hubiese sido renovar a Travis Outlaw, y más teniendo Bird Rights.

[Cassell]

Lo que se dice en el artículo es totalmente cierto. Pero yo creo que visto lo visto habrá que esperar que se fiche al otro alero(por cierto, Korver ya no, a Bulls junto con JJ Redick, y parece que Jefferson se queda en SA; potable queda Josh Howard y poco más ya) para hacer las comparaciones. Aun así, se está viendo que no se está consiguiendo nada lo mejor hubiese sido renovar a Travis Outlaw, y más teniendo Bird Rights.

Howard, que por cierto, se está recuperando de una lesión bastante grave. La verdad, viendo como está la cosa, poco más hay.

PD. Largar a Dunleavy (grandísimo trabajo el suyo como GM), y volver a ser los Clippers de siempre (cada vez pienso más que Olshey es, como en su día Baylor, una marioneta de Sterling).

[Cassell]

AFA y Bledsoe ya han firmado sus contratos:

The Los Angeles Clippers have signed draft picks Al-Farouq Aminu of Wake Forest and Eric Bledsoe of Kentucky.

The signings were announced Saturday.

Aminu, a forward, was the eighth overall pick in last month's NBA draft. Bledsoe, a guard, was the 18th pick whom the Clippers acquired in a draft day trade after he was originally chosen by Oklahoma City.

Aminu left Wake Forest after averaging 15.8 points, 10.7 rebounds and 4.4 blocks in his sophomore season.

Bledsoe averaged 11.3 points, 2.9 assists and 3.1 rebounds as a freshman at Kentucky.

The rookies' signings ended a busy week for the Clippers, who also signed free agents Brian Cook, Randy Foye and Ryan Gomes.

[Cassell]

Detalles sobre la operación que trajo a L.A. a Bledsoe:

Clippers pick becomes clear

Details of the draft-night trade that sent 18th overall pick Eric Bledsoe to the Los Angeles Clippers for a future first-round pick have become clear.

The Thunder will receive the Clippers' first-round selection in 2012 if it's outside of the top 10. If L.A. lands the 10th pick or higher, it will keep the selection.

Artículo en Clipsnation. ¿Qué nos puede esperar la próxima temporada?:

I think now would be a good time to take a look at who and what (Sofo) makeup our 2010-11 Clippers squad.

I know there has been a few members disgruntled about the draft, the signing of head coach Del Negro, and the free agent signings of Randy Foye, Ryan Gomes, and Brian Cook.

Let's take a look at the draft picks. Al-farouq Aminu was taken #8. The Clippers needed a small forward, so they filled this need with a guy that was very productive in college. He can score the ball, rebound the ball, and play good defense. Aminu was the only player in the ACC last year to averaged a double-double (16ppg and 11rpg). The Clippers then traded for guard Eric Bledsoe. Bledsoe is a combo guard, but at 6'1 he might be better served to play the point. Only time will tell, but this kid was highly recruited and he did play the 2 at Kentucky. Willie Warren was our second round pick. He was a highly touted prospect coming into his freshman year of college. Some predicted he would be a early to mid first round pick. With that being said, the Clippers may have found a diamond in the rough. We shall see. Needless to say, the Clippers had a very nice draft. They filled positions that needed to be filled. They got their SF, whether Aminu is a starter or not, and they got their back-up guards in Bledsoe and Warren. Alos let's not forget that we have the #1 pick Blake Griffin. He has been talked about enough and we all know what he is capable of doing.

How about the free agents so far? And let's not forget that the Clippers still have money to spend. The first addition was guard Randy Foye. Foye was a lottery pick in 2007. He has the talent to be a starting guard in this league and he has shown it. I think this addition will be very important as Baron and Gordon have both had their fair share of injuries. It will feel good to know that not only can Foye come off the bench and contribute, but if one of our guards goes down with an injury he can step right up and fill that spot. Ryan Gomes was our next free agent signing. I have him starting at the 3 next year. I have seen this guy play both on the Celtics and the T-Wolves. He brings many things to the table. He is a big guy that uses his body well on both offense and defense. He is also a very good shooter from just about any spot on the floor. He will be a very nice piece and he will allow Aminu to develop and not be thrown into the fire his rookie season. Brian Cook is the last free agent. He will be our Brain Skinner at the end of the bench. I think the funniest thing about this signing isn't that we signed him, but that he and Skinner both have the same first name and their last names both have to do with culinary art. I wonder if either of them spend any time in the kitchen.

Finally let's take a look at our new coach. We sign Vinny Del Negro, who was fired by the Chicago Bulls after taking them to the playoffs in each of his first two seasons. Vinny is a worker. He may not have a ton of coaching experience in the NBA, but he has experience in the NBA. Vinny played in the NBA for over a decade and he worked in an NBA front office. His play calling might be at it's early stages, but his ability to relate and develop his players is fine tuned as he showed in Chicago. Del Negro wnats his players to play the game the right way, play hard, and look forward and not backwards. I liked what he said about looking out the windshield and not the rear view mirror. I think the team and us as fans should do the same.

The Clippers are looking more and more like a team with the additions of the draft picks, free agencts, and most importantly the head coach. We have a mix of veterans, youth, projects, prospects, and stars. If all goes as planned the 2010-11 Clippers could be one of the better teams this fan base has seen in quit some time. The future looks good with players such as Chris Kaman, Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon, Al-Fouraq Aminu, Randy Foye, Ryan Gomes, Deandre Jordan, Eric Bledsoe, and Sofoklis Schortsanitis.

On last thing I would like to bring to everyone's attention is how each addition to this team is falling in place to make the Clippers not just a team in November and December like in year's past, but a player for the entire season and a contender for the playoffs. The depth this team has this year is like we have never seen before.

PG Baron Davis /backup Eric Bledsoe

SG Eric Gordon /backup Randy Foye

SF Ryan Gomes /backup Al-Farouq Aminu

PF Blake Griffin /backup Sofo Schortsanitis

C Chris Kaman /backup Deandre Jordan

So I ask you Clipper Nation. What do you see the 2010-11 Clippers team as?

En los comentarios del artículo hay de todo: quienes piensan que es posible el play off por el debilitamiento del Oeste, y quienes se dan por contentos con superar el récord de la pasada temporada. Yo pienso que la temporada dependerá, sobre todo, de lo que pase con Griffin. Con él sano y mostrando el nivel que se le esperaba la pasada temporada antes de la lesión, no caben dudas de que el play off será una realidad. La plantilla no está mal (estamos bien servidos por dentro, y la rotación de bases/escoltas me gusta mucho con las llegadas de Foye y Bledsoe, quien no me extrañaría que tenga un papel similar al de Ben Gordon durante el primer año en Chicago de VDN), pero en el puesto de "3", entre que AFA está muy verde y Gomes es un jugador que no me convence, tenemos un problema.

Reportaje (aunque ya tiene unos meses) en NBATV sobre Gordon:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSpuGc8Mt3I