 Los Angeles Clippers 2009/2010 |
Dernier message
posté par Anonyme : | Preview ESPN Hollinger
Can Blake Griffin make an impact on the woeful Clips in his first season in L.A. ?
Offseason Moves
Fortunately for the Clippers, the NBA takes pity on its weakest citizens. Their offseason became a success before it even started, as they won the draft lottery and the rights to select Oklahoma stud Blake Griffin. That, in turn, set into motion a few other moves that suddenly pointed the Clippers' ship toward much brighter horizons. It was without question the strongest offseason in Dunleavy's tenure.
Drafted Blake Griffin.
Well that was a no-brainer. Griffin should give them an All-Star-caliber performer at the power forward spot for the next decade or so, providing a major building block if the Clippers don't screw it up. Somehow, pretty much everyone thinks they'll find a way, but for now L.A. can celebrate a tremendous coup.
Traded Zach Randolph for Quentin Richardson.
This was the best trade of the offseason, as the Clippers cleared a starting job for Griffin and opened up $10 million more in cap space to pursue free agents next summer. Despite their sad-sack reputation, the Clippers are a hot free-agent destination because of the attractions of L.A. -- that's how they got Baron Davis a year ago, for instance -- so the fact they'll have about $16 million in cap space next summer is a major positive.
But wait, it gets better …
Traded Richardson for Craig Smith, Sebastian Telfair and Mark Madsen; waived Madsen.
The Clippers took on a few million in salary with this move, but the big positive was the addition of Smith, a beastly power forward who was vastly underrated for his play in Minnesota. He'll provide a capable backup for Griffin and a very strong replacement in the middle on the nights when Kaman or Camby (or both) are on the bench with injuries.
Telfair pencils in as the backup point guard for the moment, though it's possible the Clips could pick up another veteran in training camp and push him down to third on the depth chart. That seems advisable given Baron Davis' injury history, as the Clippers need a strong backup to soak up the extra minutes and Telfair is merely a stopgap.
Traded a conditional second-rounder to the Hornets for Rasual Butler and cash.
Talk about a win-win -- the Clippers essentially gave up nothing and were paid by the Hornets to take Butler. This was another solid move by the Clips, who found themselves under the cap after the Randolph trade and slotted in the final year of Butler's contract at $3.9 million. It was a pure salary dump from the Hornets, and gives the Clips a solid defender and 3-point shooter off the bench. Plus, since Butler had only one year left on his deal, it doesn't cut into the cap space next summer.
Waived Mike Taylor.
Taylor displayed some potential at the defensive end but really struggled offensively, so he became expendable when the Clips needed to cut a bit more salary to add Butler.
Re-signed Steve Novak for one year, $1.03 million.
Novak re-signed with the Clips on their qualifying offer after emerging as a 3-point ace a year ago. He has no other skills whatsoever and will likely play far less than he did a year ago, but he's a nice weapon to have in late-game situations that require a 3-pointer.
Re-signed Brian Skinner for one year for the minimum.
Skinner provides another reliable big man for the frontcourt rotation. The Clips were already overloaded in this department, but given the injury histories of Camby and Kaman, you can't blame them for wanting additional insurance.
Biggest Strength: Frontcourt depth
The Clippers suddenly find themselves with an embarrassment of riches up front -- Dunleavy has seven players to choose from in the frontcourt, and he could extend it to eight when they play small by moving small forward Al Thornton to the 4.
At the center spot, Dunleavy can turn to Kaman or Camby as his starter and the other as his primary backup. One suspects Camby will get the nod since his skills mesh better with those of Griffin -- he can play the high post and stay out of Griffin's way offensively, and his length complements Griffin's power on D. If so, Kaman -- who averaged 15 points and 12 rebounds two years ago -- provides a potent reserve. After those two, don't sleep on Jordan, who showed promise as a rookie a year ago. He may be needed, as he backs up two of the league's most injury-prone players.
At power forward even more options abound, though they may not be needed often considering Griffin's might. Behind the rookie is another potent powerhouse in Smith, who averaged better than a point every two minutes in Minnesota last season while shooting 56.2 percent. If it's shooting Dunleavy wants, there's always Novak, a 41.9 percent career 3-point shooter. And as a deep reserve, Skinner is far more qualified than most players of his type.
The possibilities are endless for mixing and matching in late-game situations, too -- Camby and Kaman or Skinner for defense, or Griffin and Novak for offense, or Griffin and Smith if they want to raise the physicality a notch, or Thornton and Griffin if they want to go small … the list goes on and on.
Biggest Weakness: Small forward
With Baron Davis, Gordon, Griffin and Camby, the Clippers have four-fifths of a superb starting lineup, but it remains to be seen what they'll get from the 3 spot this season. Last year's starter, Thornton, was second on the team in scoring at 16.8 points per game, but it was an empty 16.8 -- his PER of 12.7 was basically identical to his rookie mark, and he made the same frustrating mistakes in his defense and shot selection.
Unfortunately, the Clippers don't have a lot of great alternatives. Ricky Davis should be in better shape than he was a year ago, but it seems folly to play him starter's minutes when he's 30 years old and shot 33.9 percent last season. The next alternative, Butler, is a fine role player but not somebody you'd be excited to have playing 40 minutes a night -- just ask the Hornets, who did that exact thing last season and were so impressed they gave him away for nothing. After that, the only option is Novak, who can shoot the lights out but can't guard a snail.
The best option for the Clippers would be to trade some of their surplus in the frontcourt for a better solution at the starting 3, and push Thornton into a sixth-man role where his shoot-first tendencies don't interfere as much with the rest of the offense. Of course, the trick is to do it without taking on salary for 2010-11 and messing up the Clips' free-agent push, which is why it's more likely they'll ride it out with Thornton this year and cross their fingers that it works out.
Outlook
Occasionally even the worst-run team hits the jackpot, and this year it was the Clippers' turn. Winning the Griffin lottery was a glorious stroke of good fortune for a franchise that has had precious few over the years, and it's one of several positive indicators for the Clips heading into this season. Baron Davis seemed embarrassed by his 2008-09 campaign and has vowed there won't be a repeat, Gordon should perform better in his second pro season and Ricky Davis and Kaman should be in much better physical condition this time around.
As a result, the Clippers may find themselves back in familiar territory -- albeit one year later than they expected -- as one of several contenders in the West for the conference's final playoff spot. L.A. won only 19 games a year ago, but if one replaces all the minutes they gave to castoffs and ne'er-do-wells to newly healthy players and additions like Griffin, Smith and Butler, then the prognosis improves considerably.
Ultimately, however, too many question marks remain to comfortably place the Clippers in the conference's top eight. From the health issues with the two Davises, Camby and Kaman, to the conflicts between Baron Davis and Dunleavy, to the shaky, unpredictable ownership of Donald Sterling that could rear its ugly head at any moment, the odds of something coming along to trip up the Clippers are strong.
That said, they're in a far better spot than they were a year ago thanks to drafting Griffin and unloading Randolph. The Clips may not be a playoff team yet, but with a rising star in the frontcourt and a wad of cap space to build around him, they're finally headed in the right direction.
34-48, 4th place in Pacific Division, 12th in Western Conference.
45 Rasual Butler
23 Marcus Camby
25 Mardy Collins
1 Baron Davis
31 Ricky Davis
10 Eric Gordon
Taj Gray
32 Blake Griffin
9 DeAndre Jordan
35 Chris Kaman
Jerel McNeal
20 Steve Novak
Anthony Roberson
21 Kareem Rush
8 Brian Skinner
5 Craig Smith
3 Sebastian Telfair
12 Al Thornton
En rouge : nouveaux arrivants (transferts, draft, signatures...)
|
|
|
Votre commentaire ou votre réponse : |
|
Voici à quoi doit ressembler une simple quote :
<blockquote class="citation"><cite><strong>Untel</strong> a dit :</cite> Son message</blockquote>
Vous pouvez mettre votre message directemment à la suite.
On doit donc toujours avoir une seule balise "<blockquote class="citation">" et elle doit forcément être refermée par "</blockquote>" avant le début de votre message.
Tout ce qui se trouve entre le premier <cite><strong>Untel</strong> a dit :</cite> et le message que vous souhaitez conserver peut être effacé.
|
|
Joindre une photo
Depuis votre ordinateur
(cliquez sur parcourir pour choisir une photo sur votre ordinateur, inférieure à 500ko)
|
| Auteur : |
Vous allez poster en Anonyme, si tel n'est pas votre souhait,
merci de vous inscrire !
|
|
Afin de lutter contre le SPAM, vous devez répondre à cette question pour pouvoir poster
|
|
|
