CNN Headline News: Arenas to ink deal with the CLIPPERS

Is he playing the 2?

 

wow. if clippers can play together. it is a very dangerous team

 

And the Clips screw Pat Riley over for a 2nd time. But I'm not concerned about them. They're still a very young team, and they just lost Olowokandi, Miller, and Maggette.

 

10 mil a year for this guy is insane. He had one good year on a crappy team that nobody took seriously.

 

Is Arenas the stupidest man in the NBA? Brand has as excuse: he was traded to LA, and then his offer sheet was matched. Arenas is going there willingly? Makes no sense.

Freak, is that the amount they signed him for? I'd be very surprised if the Clips paid anything close to that.

 

To choose between Wiz & Clippers, the Clippers will be a more desirable destination considering it's LA (close to Arena's family) & have a more competitive roster...

 

True. He's probably going to buy a nice ass house overlooking the Pacific Ocean, or maybe settle down in Orange County. Either way he'll be living the good life in LA, enjoying the sunny weather, as opposed to freezing his nuts off in Washington in the winter.

 

Apparently alot of GM's in the NBA think he's worth the big bucks. But what do they know?

 

10 million a year may be a stretch, but Im impressed that the Clippers sacked up and took him.

 

I haven't seen any article on the sports sites saying Arenas has agreed to sign with the Clippers. Only that there's an offer, and he is deciding between LA and a similar offer from Washington.

Does anyone have a link to a story saying Arenas actually agreed to sign?

 

No, signing with LAC indicates a basketball player is not serious about his career. Washington, while mismanaged and currently in a shambles, at least tries to win. The owner of the Clippers has little interest in winning. Sure, Arenas in LA might have a better view, better weather and girls in bikinis, but he'd be dooming himself to years of losing, and even if they make the playoffs never being able to compete for a championship. And he won't be able to get himself traded later when he figures all this out because he'll be a cap albatross.

I know he will have more talent (on paper) around him. But, will they be able to play together? They couldn't last year. And, when Sterling is called upon to pony up more money in the future to keep guys coming off their rookie-contracts, money that will put him over the salary-cap, will he be willing to do it? He's never been willing to do it before.

 

yes he has. He just signed Brand.

Sterling never had a free agent worth keeping at the prices they wanted, imo. I'd say that Sterling made many right decisions in previous years re: letting some of his free agents go. LA's problem was more about bad draft day decisions than failure to overpay Kandi and Maurice Taylor.

By keeping Brand, I believe they are trying to win and will attract players now. That is indeed Dunleavy's goal and the promise he was given.

Saying Arenas doesn't care about winning if he signs with the Clips is quickly becoming an outdated comment, now that they kept Brand. Surely Arenas knows that Brand is a workhorse who will play, so why would he care about history.

 

I can't think of many Clippers players that they have let walk that deserved the contracts they were asking for.

What great talents have the Clippers let walk?

Brand is the only player in recent memory that Clippers should be paying big bucks for, as opposed to a Mo Taylor.

 

JuanValdez,

Since it's not a question of whether Sterling has the money, it's about whether he's willing to spend it or not... He already proved the general public wrong by matching Brand's contract & now Arena's... this should brings stability to the minds of the players... Besides, Mike Dunleavy can certainly guide the players to a new direction & a fresh start... which I believe is more promising than the sorry Wiz team with little/no chance to turn things around over the next few years...

 

agreed.

Had Sterling stupidly kept Taylor and others, he would forever be a very mediocre team with no cap room and no good picks.

Instead, they finally started making great draft day decisions, and they needed to be a lottery team to do that.

 

To me, he's Chris Childs circa 1996. The Knicks ink him to a big deal after he had a great season on a crappy team and he becomes nothing more than a role player. I think he's a risk, but I'm amazed it's the Paper Clips taking that risk.

 

Bingo!

 

He's pretty smart. There is a chance to turn things around in Clipperland. The owner is spending and they got a good coach. Brand is back, Maggette will be back, and they are in good position to bring Odom back. Six years for Arenas is nothing. He'd be stupid not to cash out now. When this contract is up, he'll still be in his prime and if things haven't worked out in LA, then he can go looking for a winner.

 

Sterling is spending money right now because he's got almost no one on his roster right now. He has to commit another $20 million at least this year to even reach the league minimum for spending. So I don't see matching Brand as an indicator of some commitment on his part to spending the money to term the franchise around. He's well situated this year to spend some money; he won't necessarily be like that on a continuing basis.

As for Mo Taylor and 'Kandi, they aren't the only free agents Sterling has let walk. He's owned the team since 1981. I reviewed the Clippers' history blurbs and here's what I've learned:

* In the 80s, which was not the FA-bonanze sort of environment we know from the 90s, he had and traded away Tom Chambers, Bill Walton, Terry Cummings, Ricky Pierce, Michael Cage, and Danny Manning (and Danny Ferry, but this was a forced trade). In every case, these players for productive for LAC (except Walton) and these players continued to be productive for other teams and, in every case, I recognized no names he got back to be anyone good.

* In the 90s, Sterling let the following players (among others) leave via free agency: Ron Harper, Dominique Wilkins, Brian Williams, Malik Sealy, Bo Outlaw, as well as the aforementioned Taylor, Kandi and others.

* I didn't look at the 2000s. Of the top of my head, you can add McInnis to the list along with Taylor and Kandi. And now Andre Miller too.

* The history often mentions new infusions of young blood. It seems the Clips have always been characterized by youth.

* I noticed that after the team moved to LA, coaches were changed nearly every year. Notable exceptions were Bill Fitch's 4 years and Larry Brown's, what, 2.5 years.

* The Clippers did not have a winning season, let alone go to the playoffs, under Sterling until Larry Brown led them in '91-'92.

Was the team really so very unlucky as to post a losing record every year from 1981 to 1991? Were they really so inept as to trade so many promising young players who ended up with long and successful careers (except Manning) for players most people no longer remember in the pre-FA-bonanza years of the NBA? Was Piatkowski really worth bringing back and Harper, Wilkins, Williams, Sealy, Outlaw, Taylor and Kandi not worth bringing back? Why does it seem like so many of Sterling's FA dealings turn bitter? Could none of those guys been sign-and-traded to bring value back to the franchise? Do you think Taylor would not have accepted a market-value offer if one was ever tendered?

It seems to me that Sterling has a history that goes for 2 decades of letting talent just seep away from the franchise. My guess is his primary motivation is to keep payroll down. Even if he's not the penny-pinching owner his reputation holds him to be, he still has a history of lowballing free agents and refusing to do sign-and-trades which has the effect of forcing them out the door with nothing in return.

When Wilcox is a free agent and the Clippers are at or near the cap with contracts for Brand, Arenas, Maggette and others, will Sterling be willing to sign him to a big contract? If Wilcox is not deemed worthy of being a Clipper, will they be willing to explore a sign-and-trade?