Hmm a lot of Sterling haters here. If you're grading human beings sterling is the absolute worst. But as far as NBA Owners go? Sterling's the best of this lot. The Clippers have been losers because the management and coaching are inept, not because the owner is a cheapskate. I don't recall Sterling selling draftpicks for $$$ like other sleazebags like Sarver (although maybe he did, I'm not sure). In fact, just 2 seasons ago the Clips made a play for two major FAs-Elton Brand and Baron Davis. He won't go over the luxury tax, but if the team is winning games I'm sure Sterling will keep his players. As far as owners go, I'd say the worst would definitely be Sarver. The guy had a powerhouse team but destroyed it by selling draftpicks again and again. Not only that, they also gave OKC 2 picks just to get rid of an expiring contract.
You've got your head in the sand. Their GMs, coaches, and management team is inept because Sterling won't pay for talent. Elgin Baylor worked as GM for 2 decades and only made $350k/season. The Daryl Morey's of the NBA world won't be working for that amount. Former coaches Weiss and Fitch had to sue to get the balance of their contracts paid. Do any talented coaches want to work for an organization they have to sue to get paid? And given these two datapoints, I don't think it's a jump to assume he didn't pay a lot for other support staff to give these guys the help they need to compete -- like trainers, scouts, statisticians, analysts, etc. Source As for the 1st rounders, of course they'd never sell them. The Clipper business model revolves around featuring high draft picks who deliver a lot more than they're paid for because of the depressed wages offered by the rookie scale (even though they were bad at drafting). And then letting them walk when they demand a lot of money in free agency. Remember how we got Mo Taylor? Signing Elton Brand to a big contract was pretty out of character for the Clippers franchise. Before that, the biggest contract they'd ever signed was $15m/5 years for Eric Piatkowski. I'm not sure if 2 big signings really negate a couple decades of cheapness. I think the whole Brand thing just puts how cheap Sterling really is into a stark contrast. I'm not sure how Baylor managed to convince him to do it. They repeated the exercise for Baron Davis, but of course they lost Brand and his salary in the process.
The Clippers always have young talents because they are perennially bad. And when the young talents become established players who demand big money, they let them go. They just keep enough talent to keep the fans coming. Sure Dolan may be messing up the market's financial structure. But Sterling is messing up the winning spirit of players. Once a Clipper, always a loser. I always feel bad for great players who get drafted by the Clippers. I hope Griffin will fare better than most of his predecessors.
