I said that with tongue firmly in cheek, but you make an excellent point. Certainly I've felt the same way about Sterling, seemingly forever. I wish he'd sell the freakin' team to a decent owner, but he's making too much money.
Don't forget the major push he made for Kobe. Sterling is smart enough to know that LeBron brings in over twice the money he makes in sponsorship dollars. He didn't send the team under the cap to try and sign David Lee.
Sterling has been much better about spending money in the last 4 years or so. He paid Baron $12m, Kaman $10m, Cat $8m, and was ready to give Brand a huge contract until he decided to jump ship. He has actually been over-paying players as of late. The whole problem with the franchise was Baylor and then Dunleavy. Both were horrible GM's and Dunleavy was a horrible coach and always has been. If this team could bring in Lebron and Avery Johnson to teach this team some defense, they would be automatic contenders next season. The Clippers have more talent than the Cavs in my opinion. Once they sign Lebron their payroll will be about $48m. Then they have a lottery pick which would take their payroll to about $50.5m which would give them about $3.5m left plus their Mid-level and Vet minimum. That could give them a solid veteran bench who wants to win a championship. I dont want to see this happen but it is very possible given the talent of the Clippers compared to the talent level and fit that are on Miami, New Jersey, New York, Cleveland and Chicago. Chicago is the only team that has more talent than the Clippers but that is debatable. I just dont see Lebron and Rose fitting well with eachother. One thing that puzzles me is why the Thunder are never mentioned. If he wants to create a dynasty then this should be his pick. If you move Durant to SG and Lebron played SF, they would be the second coming of Jordans Bulls and be the team to beat for the next 10 years.
I agree with the above. Sterling has spent money in recent years, but one cannot discount the fact that, yes, he is notoriously cheap. I was a little shocked and disappointed that he was willing to get rid of a stud like Al Thornton, but that trade really was a win-win for Sterling: either he saves money by not getting LeBron...or he gets LeBron. If the Clippers were able to get James (and I'd personally like to see him in either Miami or with the Clippers), Sterling would be wise to sell the team for an exorbitant amount in a couple of years for twice as much as their worth now. Then again, with LeBron the team would be winning and marketing opportunities would skyrocket for Sterling and his Clippers, so profits would be constant over the course of LeBron's potential tenure.
http://www.digitalsportsdaily.com/nba/news/1117-clippers-fans-to-hold-parade-for-lebron-james.html Clippers fans to hold parade for LeBron James Last Updated on Sunday, 16 May 2010 Sunday, 16 May 2010 What started as a joke by a newspaper columnist has turned into a full-fledged event to woo free-agent to be LeBron James to Los Angeles. Not to join Kobe and the Lakers, but to rescue the Clippers once and for all from the depths of despair. According to ESPNLosangeles.com's Arash Markazi, "Clippers fans LeBron Parade May 27 at 3pm at LA Live across from Staples before Lakers-Suns Game 5. It's being put on by a fan by the nameof Clipper Darrell." That is of course is if there is a Game 5. The earliest, mention of LeBron to the Clippers dates back to a bit of a joke by small time newspaper columnist who is a friend of Fox Sports Radio's Ben Maller. Then heavyweight sportswriter T.J. Simers picked up on the story in December of 2009. Then by Simmers fellow Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke in March when Mike Dunleavy was fired as the Clippers coach. NBA.com's David Aldridge picked up on the possibility in November of 2009, writing, "If LeBron wants to play in L.A., joining the Clippers, with Baron Davis, Blake Griffin, Chris Kaman, etc., and with cap room next summer to make a major league offer, would make a lot more sense. After all, the Clippers, supposedly, came within a few hours of convincing Bryant to come aboard in 2004." San Antonio based NBA Writer Mike Monroe wrote in December of 2009, "But if he opts to take his game elsewhere, he will be weighing the championship potential of his new team and the intangibles of his new hometown. Why not L.A.?"
Nice Kevin Arnovitz podcast interview about free agency http://raptorsrepublic.com/2010/05/12/rapcast-75-espn-truehoop-editor-kevin-arnovitz/ Topics of discussion: •NBA Playoffs – since second-tier teams haven’t been able to challenge in the playoffs, will this mean more player movement this summer? •Clipper’s interest in LeBron and their existing core. •Carlos Boozer’s basketball IQ and free-agent worth. Is he deserving of max-money? •Can the Raptors change their defensive ways much like the Suns? Kevin Arnovitz talks about the impact of having Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon at the same time. Chris Bosh being one of our best defenders says something about our overall defensive make-up. •Can good defensive teams be sculpted based on average defensive players? •Is there a market for Hedo Turkoglu? The difficulties posted by the CBA in moving a contract like his. •Chris Bosh possible destinations – is the dirty work Joakim Noah does and an All-Star caliber PG like Derrick Rose make Chicago the best destination for Bosh? Is Bosh being on the move necessarily a bad thing? What do we have to lose? •More..
The clipps did flirt with kobe. I can say a thing about the clipps, they have never overpaid a player. They have made some poor picks, but they paid davis which seemed like a good investmentand let guy like mo taylor and derek anderson walk because they thought they deserved more. Back to lebron in La, i think davis would really help his game with the right coach. Davis for all his minuses isa very clutch players. Not only that, lebron would benefit from being a play finisher vs a play creator all the time. Right, he's on pace to be like tracy in terms of always needing the ball in his hands. Playing off the ball more would help his game alot. Having davis,gordon,and kaman would really help take the load off him. Now, the right gm and coach would be wondeful.not to mention griffin and that lotto pick they have coming their way. Can you imagine if he lifted the clipps like he did cleveland?
We have a trade to announce: The Los Angeles Clippers will trade the 8th pick to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Trevor Ariza, Jermaine Taylor and cash considerations. *The Clippers have already expressed there interest in Ariza in the past and this gives them a proven lockdown defender to pair with Lebron*
I don't think LeBron would ever consider the Clippers as a destination. It's between Cleveland and NY imo.
Imagine him on the Celtics that would be an insane team. Thank the lord for the salary cap and luxury tax.
Yeah, the Clippers would be such a GREAT fit for LeBron! Even taking into account that they were missing their "hopefully" sensational rookie, they're such a great supporting cast that they still managed to finish with a worse record than another western team we know that was missing their TWO star players! Awesome analysis by the writer.
It's a great fit because the Clippers have no excellent complementary players but no legitimate go-to guy. Also, they are at solid at every position except SF, which is unusual in this league of swingmen. And if you swapped Adelman for Dunleavy/Hughes last year, the records would have been swapped too. You have to appreciate how bad the Clipper coaching is.
