LOS ANGELES (Ticker) - The Los Angeles Clippers have worked out a sign-and-trade deal for restricted free agent center Predrag Drobnjak, sending a future second-round pick to the Seattle SuperSonics. By working out a sign-and-trade instead of tendering an offer sheet, the Clippers will have Drobnjak available for the start of training camp on Monday. The 6-11 Drobnjak started 69 of 82 games with Seattle last season and averaged 9.4 points and 3.9 rebounds. ADVERTISEMENT During the 2003 offseason, Drobnjak was a teammate of Clippers guard Marko Jaric on the Serbia and Montenegro team that participated in Eurobasket 2003. He also was a member of the Yugoslavian National Team that took home the gold medal at the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis. The Clippers lost starting center Michael Olowokandi, who signed as a free agent in the offseason with Minnesota, and drafted center Chris Kaman in the first round. However, Kaman will miss the start of training camp with back problems. Drobnjak, who turns 28 in October, likely will move in as the starting center for the Clippers. The SuperSonics have $15 million invested in centers Jerome James, Calvin Booth and Vitaly Potapenko this season. They likely would have been unable to match an offer sheet and opted to take a second-round pick as compensation for Drobnjak. Seattle acquired Drobnjak from the Washington Wizards in 2001 for a second-round pick. He averaged 8.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 21.6 minutes over two seasons with the SuperSonics. ======================== Man. A second round pick. Drob should run well with Marko and Brand , Maggs and Q.
Steal? Drob is overrated. And considering a lot of people think he sucks, that says a lot. Dude can't rebound. Dude can't pound down low. He's a SG in a C's body, and that's NOT a good thing.
Nuggets 4 is right about him not being able to rebound or score down low and he is pretty slow too but he does have the ability to pull out his man and shoot accurately which can be useful to the Clippers.
IMO - Drob (+ Kaman, if/when well) will AT LEAST = last year's KandiMan. IMO - Jaric/Dooling/House whatever will = last year's 'dre. Clips won't make playoffs, but they won't be a joke.
they got an impressive collection of third string centers there, not to mention their draft pick, kaman (injured back)
No way does Kaman and Drob produce the way Kandi does. Drob is so overrated it's a joke, all he does is sit back and gun 3s. And Jaric, Dooling and House won't neutralize the effect Andre Miller effect. By committee situations replacing key cogs RARELY work. The Clippers lost Miller, Kandi, and Odom, and those guys aren't going to come near producing what those guys produced. The Clippers are a screwed up team.
I would normally agree with you, but...in this case...the Clips were so screwed up last year (just last year???) that Olawakandi and Miller played poorly, the team concept was ridiculously not present that this season those replacement guys should = what the would be stars did (or did NOT) accomplish on the court. In addition, Dunleavy may be a middling coach (he is, IMO) but he can do more with this team this year than DJ could do last year. All in all, lottery, yes. Joke, no.
The anti-drobs think it was a bad contract? Geez. Clips can use his shooting to pull the other center out. Brand will clean the glass anyway, and can use the extra room to operate. Think, people. It's not like they don't expect Kamen or Wilcox or Ely to show up and take the job, anyway. Maybe it helps them get the most out of Jaric, and they get a little happy story for marketing. Good pickup.
Yes sir, they're screwed all right. James Posey Thank goodness the Rox mgmt doesn't buy into that James Posey and replace key cogs James Posey with role players like one-dimensional shooting guards or aging defenders with no 'O'. Sorry, couldn't resist. I seem to recall you were one of the majority here in favor of ditching JP. Apologies if I remember incorrectly. Cheers.
If you had a 78 Ford Pinto that didn't run, and you took it to a bad part of down and left it there for someone to take, were you still technically robbed??
How is Drobnjak overrated? To be overrated doesn't somebody have to consider him to be a good player. Dude still hasn't crossed half-court On his best days he is Danny Schayes with an accent.
I agree that Drobnjak isn't at all a highly desirable first option at center (and ain't all that desirable as a back up center either), but I still think they improved their center situation and all they gave up was a second round pick. Not a bad deal.
