Hello once again everyone and welcome to another edition of the Three Point Play, right here on 411mania! In this installment, we're going to discuss the state of the Los Angeles Clippers, and what may make them a playoff team come next season. Changes can sometimes be a bad thing, but the Clippers may have had the best off-season of any team in the league so far, with the Wizards being a close second for resigning their two main powers, Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison. But let's jump right into all the big news around the league!
1. The Other Team in Los Angeles
While one Los Angeles team is recovering from a disappointing trip to the NBA Finals, another Los Angeles team is trying to build for trip to the Finals themselves. There is still a lot of work to do if they want to reach that point, but the L.A. Clippers are making a splash thus far in the off-season. Though an official contract has yet to be signed, the Clippers have recently added former Warriors point guard Baron Davis to the mix, which will really give them vast improvement at the point guard position. In essence, this is what the Clippers have needed to really be a meaningful franchise again. Someone who can run the show. They had Sam Cassell for the first part of the season before he moved on to capture a championship ring with the Boston Celtics. Cassell was what held the team together, but was also what seemed to be tearing the team apart. He didn't really want to be there anymore, and instead, he figured he'd just jump on the bandwagon of the Celtics, and pick up an NBA title in the process. You can't really blame a guy for wanting to win, especially due to the fact that Cassell is towards the end of his career, and it was probably the right move for him and the Clippers organization.
But now the other team in Los Angeles has a dynamite player at point guard. Davis can score, he can distribute, and more importantly, he has the ability to take over a game. With the Clippers losing their leading scorer Corey Maggette to free agency (which we will discuss shortly), they needed to add a big time player to fill that void in scoring. In comes Davis, and now the Clippers should be a playoff team next season. However, that statement will also depend on whether or not they resign power forward Elton Brand. Say what you want about Brand getting injured quite a bit, but the guy is still a dominant presence down low in the paint, which would add to the Clippers solid inside game. Chris Kaman emerged last season and became the player people thought he could be when he first entered the league, which does nothing but make them an even better team now that they have added a veteran guard to run the team. The Clips also have a sharpshooter on the outside in Cuttino Mobley, and while he may not have the shooting ability of Peja Stojakovic or Ray Allen, it's still comforting for Mike Dunleavy and his staff in knowing that they have a guy who can knock down the three point shot in certain situations. Trust me, there are some teams out there who need a halfway decent shooter.
Also, as we mentioned in last week's edition, the Clippers had a really strong draft if you really think about it. Eric Gordon is a good pickup for them, as they drafted what they needed, and that was a guy that could eventually come in and contribute at the shooting guard position. Gordon could also be able to run the point at times for them, although he clearly won't be needed as much now that they have acquired Davis. I don't think Gordon is going to be a flashy, 25+ point per night kind of guy, but he's going to fit in well in the Clippers system. Speaking of this year alone, he adds depth to a strengthening roster, and joins other young guys like Al Thornton and Josh Powell off the bench. Thornton was very impressive in his rookie season last year, and will only get better heading into the 2009 season. The Clippers also added DeAndre Jordan from Texas A&M in the second round of the draft, which was an absolute steal at that point in the draft. Jordan was talked about by all the analysts as a guy who was overrated heading into the draft, but not overrated to the point of him dropping all the way to the 35th pick. He won't play right away, but he could contribute eventually for this team.
With the combination of Brand and Kaman on the inside, and Davis on the outside, is this team going to be the best team in Los Angeles? No, I wouldn't go that far. But they are a team that is heading in the right direction. Critics of Baron Davis can knock him all they want about being a "me"
guy. He still finds a way to get the job done though. Just look back two years ago when he helped the Warriors knock out the 67-win Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs. He's not going to be Chris Paul, and dish out 20 assists per game. He will however make some of the younger guys around him better. He will also take some pressure off Brand and Kaman on the inside, again, assuming that they resign Brand. That should be the number one priority at this point in time, and you can bet the front office staff is trying to figure out a way to do just that. We'll wait and see what happens on that front, but if they do indeed bring back Brand and lock up a few other role players, the Clippers may become a mainstay in the Western Conference playoff picture for several years to come.
2. Corey Maggette
Now if only the Clippers still had Corey Maggette. That is not the case though, as his career is all but officially over in a Clipper uniform. As of this point, the likely landing spot for Maggette seems to either be Boston or San Antonio. Let's see here. What are the similarities between those two teams? Hmmmm, well the Celtics won the NBA title this past season, and would have to be considered the favorites once again next year. The Spurs won the championship the year before this past one, and despite their average age, would most certainly be in the discussion once again of having a chance to capture another NBA crown. Therefore, the conclusion we can come to is that Corey Maggette wants to win. Or maybe he just wants some more money. Winning seems to be the best answer for now though. And well, if winning is the objective, these on the surface would seem to be the best two teams to make that happen. Maggette really hasn't been on a team that's been that good in his whole NBA career if you really think about it. The Clippers were never really contenders, despite making it past the first round several years ago. And he played for the Orlando Magic when the Magic were.....well.....less magical than they are right now under head coach Stan Van Gundy. So it's about time finds a winner.
Some media members have been speculating as to which team fits him better, and that would probably be the Celtics. No, not for the reason that they are absolutely loaded and are the defending world champions. But that his style of play would give the Celtics an even greater boost, and would give them one more piece of evidence to believe that they will keep their crown at the end of the 2009 season. Maggette could be the James Posey-esque type player that would give the Celtics huge support off the bench. Except Maggette would provide even more scoring than Posey did, although he may not contribute as much on the defensive end. Maggette is a decent defender, but Posey seemed to have more of that edge on the defensive side of things. And I'm saying this with the assumption that Posey goes elsewhere, although that's not a done deal just yet. I would expect Posey to sign with another team since he is a free agent, but that's not set in stone right now. It would seem to me that the Celtics would sign either Maggette or Posey, and not both. If they were to figure out a way to sign both though, it would just be another added bonus to their already stellar roster. So we'll have to see what happens there.
It'll be interesting to see how Maggette handles his role on either team. He was the main scorer in Los Angeles with the Clippers, that won't be the case though in either of these two situations. He will be a role player that will be counted on to provide scoring in certain situations, which will be a change from what he's been doing for the last several years. Again though, if his main focus is to win a championship, this will not be a problem. I can't see him starting in either Boston or San Antonio, as he would play the position of Paul Pierce or Ray Allen for the Celtics, or Manu Ginobili or Bruce Bowen of the Spurs. He won't start over those guys I wouldn't think, especially in the Boston situation. Maggette will be a nice addition for any roster, but at this point in time, it seems like one of these two spots is where he will land. And he'll have a real good shot of winning a championship with either one of them.
3. The Oklahoma City ???
The Seattle Supersonics have officially made the move to Oklahoma City now, which we all knew would happen all along. There was a voice out there trying to convince people that something could change at the last minute, and the Sonics would stay in Seattle. Anyone with a pulse knew that wasn't going to happen and things turned out just as we had suspected since this issue was first brought up many months ago. So what does this mean now? Well it means Oklahoma City is going to have to find a way to support a professional basketball team. I don't know a whole lot about the city, so I can't tell you if that is going to be a challenge or not, but looking at this from just a basic average standpoint, it would seem to me that the Seattle basketball market was better than the Oklahoma City basketball market will be. That's just my opinion, but we'll have to wait and see. And again, I realize there was much more to this situation than meets the eye, so it's much harder to explain the ins and outs of the deal in Seattle. The NBA and they officials in Seattle are trying to push this as "just business,"
so it's hard to completely understand what the heck actually went down as far the contracts and all that stuff goes.
This is a topic that could have an entire column devoted to it by itself, so again, I'm not going to sit here and say that I can explain exactly how and why all of this happened. It's definitely going to be interesting to see how ticket sales go in the first season, and then we'll be able to make an educated guess as to how the team formerly known as the Sonics will fare in their new city. The city seemed to support the New Orleans Hornets pretty well when they were forced to relocate there for a while after Hurricane Katrina came through their home city. Having Kevin Durant as the star of the team could also help out, as they can build around one guy to try and push season tickets and other things of that nature. As I said before, it would seem like Seattle would be a better market for the NBA, but looking at the support they got from their own city, maybe moving elsewhere was better for them overall. But that's not something the fans in Seattle want to hear. There are obviously some angry fans in Seattle right now, and rightfully so. Seattle's loss is Oklahoma City's gain, and although the fan base may take a little while to grow, the Oklahoma City "insert nickname here" will eventually settle in.
THE BONUS
- The NBA summer league began yesterday, with a first-day matchup of Derrick Rose vs. Michael Beasley. Let's not crown who is going to be the best player just yet, based on who won that game.
That's all for this installment of the Three Point Play. Tune in next time for more coverage of this eventful off-season in the National Basketball Association.
