Clippers suddenly an attractive free agency option

November 28, 2011
By Matt Money Smith

With the end of the NBA lockout appearing to be a mere formality at this point, there has been a lot of focus centered on a team that has won five championships in the last decade.

It's understandable considering they are, along with the Yankees and Red Wings, the most consistently successful franchise in any sport. The Lakers have been competitive in every single decade, the 90's being the least successful of their existence, yet even that included a trip to the postseason every year but one and an appearance in the NBA Finals.

After being swept out of the postseason back in May while trying to defend their crown, there should be considerable attention paid to how Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and the squad will bounce back with a new head coach and basically the exact same team that suffered a humiliating end to last year's campaign. It's certainly more interesting than a team that finished out the season losing 3 of 4 to post a 32-50 record extending a run of futility that's equally as impressive as the Lakers successes.

But in a brief moment, things can change in the world of basketball, it's simply the nature of the sport. The DNA of a game that is played by a team, but dominated by individuals, means you get one special player, and what was a wasteland becomes ripe with opportunity.

So what about that 32-50 Clippers team and how their prospects look in a shortened 66-game season? Donald Sterling's bunch has considerable flexibility in free agency being some $15 million or so under the salary cap. They currently own the rights to the most exciting player in all the NBA to build around, Blake Griffin, and in Chris Kaman, they also possess an expiring contract that will be mighty desirable to multiple teams looking to unload a long term deal that isn't a fit for them and simply start rebuilding with visions of Jared Sulinger and Harrison Barnes in the upcoming draft.

There was a point last season when I opined in this very spot that the Clippers indeed could sneak into the 8th and final playoff position in the Western Conference considering how well they had been playing, and that Griffin had officially "emerged" as a player to carry a squad on his broad shoulders to the next level.

After a miserable 5-21 start to the 20-2011 season, the Clippers ripped off 11 wins in their next 15 games, including wins over playoffs teams like Miami, the Lakers and Denver. While nine games under .500 (16-25) is nothing to get too excited about, Griffin was on a double-double streak and the Clippers looked like a team that appeared to be headed in the right direction . The Clippers were suddenly both intriguing and exciting, and for a moment they had the city talking about STAPLES Center being extremely busy come late April with two squads making a run at that Larry O'Brien Trophy.

But the Clippers could not keep up that pace, never quite getting into the playoff race and finished 18 games under .500.

But the team showed signs of improvement, and it was inevitable that I would fall for Griffin and the Clippers. Watching their games became a regular occurrence at my house for the first time in…well forever. That's how good he is, and that's how fortunate the Clippers were to land that No. 1 overall pick in the 2009 NBA Lottery.

However, there is a yin/yang relationship with this team - always has been. As much as the basketball gods might have been smiling on the team that day back in '09, they played a cruel joke on the Clippers in 2011. Kyrie Irving going to the Cavaliers with the No. 1 overall selection, the pick that was traded to them earlier in the year by Los Angeles so they would take on the remaining years and dollars owed to Baron Davis, came back to bite the Clippers.

Instead of watching Irving land in Los Angeles on a team that desperately needs a play-making point guard to pair with Griffin, not putting a No. 1 protection on that pick was a serious oversight and a major blow to the gut.

That means heading into the season that is rumored to start Dec. 25, the Clippers have some holes to fill and the cash to make something happen when Dec. 9 rolls around.

Instead of chasing a player in the limited pool of non-traditional point guards which is led by Aaron Brooks and Rodney Stuckey, use that money to fill the gaping hole at small forward with this season's available cash. A front loaded deal to Thaddeus Young would likely deter the 76ers from matching an offer, and when you factor in his production with the minutes he's given, combined with the athleticism of the 6-8/220lb small forward, having him running on the wing alongside Griffin is downright scary for the opposition.

With a free agent like Young joining Griffin and Eric Gordon, an emerging DeAndre Jordan and veteran Mo Williams, you hope the team can make a run at the postseason this year with that starting five. But perhaps the Clippers can play it like the Miami Heat in 2010, and make a play next summer when Chris Paul, Deron Williams and Dwight Howard are available. Should the cap hold at $58 to $60 million, even with the 30% of cap starting salary for exceptional talents, the Clippers will still have enough money to start out two salaries at $17+ million.

You have the Los Angeles market to offer up, and a chance to join a player who clearly will be in the league Top 10 for the next decade in Griffin. And we know the new NBA player wants to be on a team that has a chance to not only win, but dominate by amassing more talent than any other team possibly could, they want to do it with their friends, and they want to do it in a city you would consider to be a great place to live.

The Clippers can offer up every single one of those criteria, making them an attractive free agency destination.

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