Can Someone please post the rest of this ESPN Insider Article

Clips/Roxfan · Aug 28, 2009

Updated: August 28, 2009, 12:55 PM ET

NBA Offseason Buzz: L.A. ClippersThis year's top rookie will boost the performance of one of last season's fresh facesEmail Share STAY AHEAD OF

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By John Hollinger & Ric Bucher

ESPN Insider

Want to know who's heating up for a big season on the hardwood? Insider is tapping into John Hollinger's projected player efficiency ratings to see who's trending up and down across the NBA. Ric Bucher rounds out the report by examining a pivotal player you'll want to watch as the season approaches.

The series continues with the Los Angeles Clippers.

On paper, the Clippers look to be a playoff lock, what with a roster of talent that easily surpasses Houston, Utah and possibly even New Orleans. And yet only a fool would count on a postseason berth after they were the NBA's third-lowest scoring team and tied for the second-worst record last season. Granted, the injury bug hit early and thoroughly, but let's face it: Dysfunction was the No. 1 element that undermined the Clippers' season. As it always seems to do. Does adding No. 1 pick and solid citizen Blake Griffin, while jettisoning a feckless Zach Randolph, solve that? It's certainly a good start.

To see which player is taking off, who is crashing to earth and which name you'll need to know for the 2009-10 season, you must be an ESPN Insider.

To continue reading this article you must be an Insider

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baller4life315 · Aug 28, 2009

NBA Offseason Buzz: L.A. Clippers

This year's top rookie will boost the performance of one of last season's fresh faces

By John Hollinger & Ric Bucher
ESPN Insider

Want to know who's heating up for a big season on the hardwood? Insider is tapping into John Hollinger's projected player efficiency ratings to see who's trending up and down across the NBA. Ric Bucher rounds out the report by examining a pivotal player you'll want to watch as the season approaches. The series continues with the Los Angeles Clippers.

On paper, the Clippers look to be a playoff lock, what with a roster of talent that easily surpasses Houston, Utah and possibly even New Orleans. And yet only a fool would count on a postseason berth after they were the NBA's third-lowest scoring team and tied for the second-worst record last season. Granted, the injury bug hit early and thoroughly, but let's face it: Dysfunction was the No. 1 element that undermined the Clippers' season. As it always seems to do. Does adding No. 1 pick and solid citizen Blake Griffin, while jettisoning a feckless Zach Randolph, solve that? It's certainly a good start.

To see which player is taking off, who is crashing to earth and which name you'll need to know for the 2009-10 season, you must be an ESPN Insider.

Trending Up: Eric Gordon

Last season: 14.98 PER
2009-10 projection: 16.20 PER

Gordon suffered a wrist injury in his one season in college and shot a bunch of bricks. With a healthy trigger, we saw the kind of deadly shooter he can be in the pros. Gordon shot 38.9 percent on 3s and -- oddly for a jump shooter -- he had an extremely high free throw rate (sixth among shooting guards) that spiked his efficiency. As a result, he averaged nearly a point every two minutes while ranking fourth among shooting guards in true shooting percentage (TS%).

The Clippers had to use him more in a primary offensive role than they'd imagined, due to all their injuries, frequently having Gordon create off the dribble and initiate the offense. That probably didn't help his stats. He fell to 51st among shooting guards in turnover ratio, which is terrible for a spot-up shooter, and 50th in pure point rating. Despite that, he shot well inside the arc -- 56.3 percent at the basket and 44.8 percent on long 2s.

With the other personnel changes on the Clippers' roster, Gordon's shot chart is likely to change dramatically. He'll be in the spot-up shooting role originally envisioned for him and feast off double-teams opponents throw at Griffin and Chris Kaman. Look for Gordon to shoot in the mid-40s on 3s and be among the league leaders in TS%. The trade-off is that he'll probably do it on fewer shots and his scoring average might drop to the 14-15 range.
-Hollinger

Trending Down: Rasual Butler

Last season: 11.82 PER
2009-10 projection: 10.61 PER

New Orleans traded Butler to the Clippers in a straight salary dump and now he will move back into a role more commensurate with his talents. He'll back up Gordon and compete with Ricky Davis and others for minutes as a wing reserve. While he has the upper hand heading into camp, he'll have to keep making shots to maintain a prominent spot in the rotation -- two years ago he quickly found the end of the bench when his jumper went awry.

Since Butler is highly unlikely to match his shooting numbers from a year ago, there's a decent risk that he'll be planted on the bench again. The most likely scenario is that Butler will slump back to about 40 percent from the field and 15 minutes a game. -Hollinger

Bucher's Name to Know: Baron Davis

He's a force of nature, as capable of dragging a team down as he is of lifting it up. His dispute with coach Mike Dunleavy on how the team should play clearly had the former effect last season. But supposedly Davis and Dunleavy met to hash out their differences shortly after the season ended and have since lunched together a few times and been in regular contact by phone.

Does that mean they're ready to skip, arm in arm, through 82 games together, leading the Clippers back to the postseason? "Not necessarily," says a source close to Davis.

The crux of the problem is that Davis is best suited in an up-tempo game in which he runs the show, and Dunleavy, by nature, likes to call plays and keep his hand firmly on the rudder. Davis has the court of public opinion on his side, since the Clippers clearly have so much firepower that they need to create lots of possessions to keep everybody happy and utilize what they do best. Their 104 points allowed per game last season probably isn't coming down all that much, but their 95 points scored per night could easily rise.

Dunleavy will have to let Davis have the reins if he comes into camp in shape and ready to ride the Clippers' many horses effectively. Word is he's spent equal time working out and traveling all over the globe -- China, India, Europe -- so it'll be interesting to see where that has left him on the fitness scale.

Understand this: Griffin or no Griffin, injury-riddled or injury-free, the Clippers will be as good as Davis makes them. Or Dunleavy lets Davis make them. -Bucher

John Hollinger writes for ESPN Insider. Ric Bucher is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine and ESPN Insider.
Click to expand...

Ric Bucher's "Name to Know": Baron Davis. Wow, way to go out on a limb there.....

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