Clippers are still long shots
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Monday, July 21
11:06 AM ET
The Los Angeles Clippers have always been a day late and a dollar short.
But having already matched the Miami Heat's offer of $82 million over six years for Elton Brand and showing signs that they will do the same for Corey Maggette (six years at $42 million) and sign Lamar Odom (believed to be about $60 million over six years) while actively pursuing point guard Gilbert Arenas at another $60 million over six years as the free agent's favorite, according to the Orange County Register, they may end up being only a day late.
They may have spent the right amount of money on the right type of players, but with the Western Conference perhaps better than it has ever been, done it at the wrong time.
"This is the first time they haven't looked at their talent and said, 'Oh, well. Someone else will have to pay you now,' " a league source said in the Washington Times.
But here is how the Western Conference looks to stack up once the league gets over the Clipper shock.
The defending champions, swapping David Robinson for Rasho Nesterovic to caddie for two-time MVP Tim Duncan, are in the playoffs. The Los Angeles Lakers, with or without Kobe Bryant, are locks to make the postseason with Shaquille O'Neal, Gary Payton and Karl Malone. The Sacramento Kings remain deeper than either team and the Dallas Mavericks are right behind them. Add Sam Cassell and Michael Olowokandi to a Minnesota lineup that already features Kevin Garnett and Wally Szczerbiak and that's five of the eight available playoff spots.
Too bad for the Clippers, who went 27-55 last year when the eight-seeded Suns won 44, there's at least five legitimate contenders for those three remaining berths.
Here they are in no particular order:
Portland Trail Blazers: Say what you want about Scottie Pippen leaving and Damon Stoudamire being shown the door, these guys won 50 games last year amid the turmoil, 49 before that and 50 the season before that one. In all, that's an NBA-record 20 consecutive playoff seasons.
Phoenix Suns: Stephon Marbury had, perhaps, his best season ever last year and it had nothing to do with statistics. Shawn Marion was, again, an all-star and Amare Stoudemire, the Rookie of the Year, will soon be one. They won 44 games last year and pushed the Spurs as hard as anyone else in the playoffs not knowing what they had. Now they do.
Houston Rockets: Steve Francis is still Steve Francis. And after all the talk that Yao Ming had become the second-best center in the league last year, it still came down to Steve Francis averaging 21 points, six rebounds and six assists for them to win 43 games. The scary thing is that this year it could come down to Ming and they've still got Francis.
Seattle SuperSonics: They may have lost one NBA star in Payton but gained another one in Ray Allen. Put him on the court against a lot of NBA teams and he's the best player on the floor, finishing the season at 24.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game while drilling his usual 2.7 3-pointers a night. Don't forget about Rashard Lewis and a motivated Brent Barry. Payton may have owned the team, franchise and city. But as soon as he was shipped away, the team went from 22-30 to 18-12.
Which brings us to:
Los Angeles Clippers: With a possible starting lineup of Arenas, Maggette, Odom, Elton and Melvin Ely, the Clipper should become legitimate contenders to make the playoffs. In fact, they might have even been looking at home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference. But that doesn't change the fact that they will be starting their third point guard in three years while their starting center will have had, at most, 18 starts last year in a conference that has only been getter better year after year.
Clipper owner Donald Sterling may have decided to spend a lot of money on some awfully talented players. But so have nine other teams with the Jazz still having some $20 million in cap space and a 19-year playoff run at stake.
Expect to see a few more stars in the Staples Center next season whether the Lakers are playing or not. But until Arenas and Ely prove that they're that much better than Andre Miller and Michael Olowokandi, the Clippers are still the Clippers and, the last time we checked, they still play in the Western Conference.
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Peep Show
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Monday, July 21
Updated: July 21
9:22 AM ET
Arenas
Washington Wizards: The Clippers may indeed be the frontrunners for Gilbert Arenas' services, but the Wizards are still holding out hope that they can sign the young point guard. "We've done everything we can do," Wizards president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld said to the Washington Post. "The whole time we've been speaking to other free agents and we'll keep doing that." Those other point guards are Speedy Claxton, Kenny Anderson, Darrell Armstrong and Bimbo Coles.
Miller
Utah Jazz: The Rocky Mountain News is reporting that the Jazz have offered Indiana center Brad Miller a "boatload of money" to join their team. Rumor has it that $50 million over six seasons wouldn't be too far from the mark. "Brad likes Denver better than Utah, but I don't know if he likes it $12 million (less)," said the source, referring to the difference between offers from the Nuggets and Jazz. Miller is expected to make a decision this week.
Denver Nuggets: Carmelo Anthony isn't hesitating to make his feelings known with his new team in Denver. The rookie has thrown his hat into the Dennis Rodman ring. "I'd love to play with Dennis Rodman," said Anthony to the Rocky Mountain News. "We could use a big Worm in the hole. He'd give you 20 rebounds a night." Denver GM Kiki Vandeweghe, though, wasn't so sure. "I don't know," he said. "I haven't thought about it. I'll get back to you on that."
Milwaukee Bucks: The good news for George Karl is that he's still making $7 million next season. The bad news is that he doesn't have a job. "It was decided in our best interests, as well as his, that we not have George return next season to coach this team," Bucks GM Larry Harris told the Milwaukee Jounral Sentinel. "When our roster started developing and shaping, it was obvious we have a younger team than we ended with this season. Looking at that situation, we felt we needed someone in here for this year and years to come." Karl finishes as the third winningest coach in Buck history with 204 wins.
Pippen
Chicago Bulls: Eighteen years after signing Scottie Pippen to his first NBA contract, the Bulls seem just as happy to have him back in the fold. "I can see him handling the ball a lot," GM John Paxson said to the Chicago Tribune. "Bill wants to run more, and Scottie can still rebound and push the ball. He'll provide an emphasis on the defensive end that we haven't had. We can play some zone a little bit with his length and protect his body a little bit. We know the ball has to go inside. I doubt that Scottie will go jack up too many horrendous shots early in the clock." Pippen's deal is for a reported two years and $10.3 million.
Seattle SuperSonics: Antonio Daniels may have just landed in Seattle as its newest free-agent acquisition, but he's already wondering what took him so long. "It's about a place where you feel comfortable," Daniels said to the Post Intelligencer. "It's about a place where you feel like you can excel and an organization that has confidence in you." Daniels, who played for Portland last year, is believed to have signed a three-year deal worth $7.5 million.
New Jersey Nets: Remember when Byron Scott tagged Boston as a racist city during last year's playoffs. Well, he was just kidding. "I've learned from the best - from Pat Riley - and his thing was to take pressure away from his players, and it worked pretty well,'' said Scott to the Boston Herald. "But I think Boston is one of the greatest cities in the United States - one of the best cities to play in, with some of the greatest fans! . They're very knowledgeable. It wasn't meant to offend anyone. It was just meant to put the focus on me.''
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By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Monday, July 21
11:06 AM ET
The Los Angeles Clippers have always been a day late and a dollar short.
But having already matched the Miami Heat's offer of $82 million over six years for Elton Brand and showing signs that they will do the same for Corey Maggette (six years at $42 million) and sign Lamar Odom (believed to be about $60 million over six years) while actively pursuing point guard Gilbert Arenas at another $60 million over six years as the free agent's favorite, according to the Orange County Register, they may end up being only a day late.
They may have spent the right amount of money on the right type of players, but with the Western Conference perhaps better than it has ever been, done it at the wrong time.
"This is the first time they haven't looked at their talent and said, 'Oh, well. Someone else will have to pay you now,' " a league source said in the Washington Times.
But here is how the Western Conference looks to stack up once the league gets over the Clipper shock.
The defending champions, swapping David Robinson for Rasho Nesterovic to caddie for two-time MVP Tim Duncan, are in the playoffs. The Los Angeles Lakers, with or without Kobe Bryant, are locks to make the postseason with Shaquille O'Neal, Gary Payton and Karl Malone. The Sacramento Kings remain deeper than either team and the Dallas Mavericks are right behind them. Add Sam Cassell and Michael Olowokandi to a Minnesota lineup that already features Kevin Garnett and Wally Szczerbiak and that's five of the eight available playoff spots.
Too bad for the Clippers, who went 27-55 last year when the eight-seeded Suns won 44, there's at least five legitimate contenders for those three remaining berths.
Here they are in no particular order:
Portland Trail Blazers: Say what you want about Scottie Pippen leaving and Damon Stoudamire being shown the door, these guys won 50 games last year amid the turmoil, 49 before that and 50 the season before that one. In all, that's an NBA-record 20 consecutive playoff seasons.
Phoenix Suns: Stephon Marbury had, perhaps, his best season ever last year and it had nothing to do with statistics. Shawn Marion was, again, an all-star and Amare Stoudemire, the Rookie of the Year, will soon be one. They won 44 games last year and pushed the Spurs as hard as anyone else in the playoffs not knowing what they had. Now they do.
Houston Rockets: Steve Francis is still Steve Francis. And after all the talk that Yao Ming had become the second-best center in the league last year, it still came down to Steve Francis averaging 21 points, six rebounds and six assists for them to win 43 games. The scary thing is that this year it could come down to Ming and they've still got Francis.
Seattle SuperSonics: They may have lost one NBA star in Payton but gained another one in Ray Allen. Put him on the court against a lot of NBA teams and he's the best player on the floor, finishing the season at 24.5 points, 5.6 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game while drilling his usual 2.7 3-pointers a night. Don't forget about Rashard Lewis and a motivated Brent Barry. Payton may have owned the team, franchise and city. But as soon as he was shipped away, the team went from 22-30 to 18-12.
Which brings us to:
Los Angeles Clippers: With a possible starting lineup of Arenas, Maggette, Odom, Elton and Melvin Ely, the Clipper should become legitimate contenders to make the playoffs. In fact, they might have even been looking at home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference. But that doesn't change the fact that they will be starting their third point guard in three years while their starting center will have had, at most, 18 starts last year in a conference that has only been getter better year after year.
Clipper owner Donald Sterling may have decided to spend a lot of money on some awfully talented players. But so have nine other teams with the Jazz still having some $20 million in cap space and a 19-year playoff run at stake.
Expect to see a few more stars in the Staples Center next season whether the Lakers are playing or not. But until Arenas and Ely prove that they're that much better than Andre Miller and Michael Olowokandi, the Clippers are still the Clippers and, the last time we checked, they still play in the Western Conference.
-----------------------------------------
Peep Show
By Terry Brown
NBA Insider
Monday, July 21
Updated: July 21
9:22 AM ET
Arenas
Washington Wizards: The Clippers may indeed be the frontrunners for Gilbert Arenas' services, but the Wizards are still holding out hope that they can sign the young point guard. "We've done everything we can do," Wizards president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld said to the Washington Post. "The whole time we've been speaking to other free agents and we'll keep doing that." Those other point guards are Speedy Claxton, Kenny Anderson, Darrell Armstrong and Bimbo Coles.
Miller
Utah Jazz: The Rocky Mountain News is reporting that the Jazz have offered Indiana center Brad Miller a "boatload of money" to join their team. Rumor has it that $50 million over six seasons wouldn't be too far from the mark. "Brad likes Denver better than Utah, but I don't know if he likes it $12 million (less)," said the source, referring to the difference between offers from the Nuggets and Jazz. Miller is expected to make a decision this week.
Denver Nuggets: Carmelo Anthony isn't hesitating to make his feelings known with his new team in Denver. The rookie has thrown his hat into the Dennis Rodman ring. "I'd love to play with Dennis Rodman," said Anthony to the Rocky Mountain News. "We could use a big Worm in the hole. He'd give you 20 rebounds a night." Denver GM Kiki Vandeweghe, though, wasn't so sure. "I don't know," he said. "I haven't thought about it. I'll get back to you on that."
Milwaukee Bucks: The good news for George Karl is that he's still making $7 million next season. The bad news is that he doesn't have a job. "It was decided in our best interests, as well as his, that we not have George return next season to coach this team," Bucks GM Larry Harris told the Milwaukee Jounral Sentinel. "When our roster started developing and shaping, it was obvious we have a younger team than we ended with this season. Looking at that situation, we felt we needed someone in here for this year and years to come." Karl finishes as the third winningest coach in Buck history with 204 wins.
Pippen
Chicago Bulls: Eighteen years after signing Scottie Pippen to his first NBA contract, the Bulls seem just as happy to have him back in the fold. "I can see him handling the ball a lot," GM John Paxson said to the Chicago Tribune. "Bill wants to run more, and Scottie can still rebound and push the ball. He'll provide an emphasis on the defensive end that we haven't had. We can play some zone a little bit with his length and protect his body a little bit. We know the ball has to go inside. I doubt that Scottie will go jack up too many horrendous shots early in the clock." Pippen's deal is for a reported two years and $10.3 million.
Seattle SuperSonics: Antonio Daniels may have just landed in Seattle as its newest free-agent acquisition, but he's already wondering what took him so long. "It's about a place where you feel comfortable," Daniels said to the Post Intelligencer. "It's about a place where you feel like you can excel and an organization that has confidence in you." Daniels, who played for Portland last year, is believed to have signed a three-year deal worth $7.5 million.
New Jersey Nets: Remember when Byron Scott tagged Boston as a racist city during last year's playoffs. Well, he was just kidding. "I've learned from the best - from Pat Riley - and his thing was to take pressure away from his players, and it worked pretty well,'' said Scott to the Boston Herald. "But I think Boston is one of the greatest cities in the United States - one of the best cities to play in, with some of the greatest fans! . They're very knowledgeable. It wasn't meant to offend anyone. It was just meant to put the focus on me.''
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