Roster Breakdown (Starters in Bold)
- PG - Chris Paul, Mo Williams, Eric Bledsoe
- SG - Chauncey Billups, Randy Foye, Travis Leslie
- SF - Caron Butler, Ryan Gomes
- PF - Blake Griffin, Trey Thompkins
- C - DeAndre Jordan, Brian Cook
General Thoughts
Um... expectations for LA's "Little Brother" just got a little higher eh?... Through David Stern's...whatever you want to call it... incompetence, genius, stubbornness or master plan(for you conspiracy theorists), the Chris Paul saga is over and the Clippers are clearly the winners at the end of the day. It's a slight conflict of interest having soooo many point guards on the roster already (and getting the semi disgruntled Billups) but Billups is flexible enough to play the off guard while CP3 does his thing. Speaking of CP3... he's arguably the best PG of our generation (There are definitely some young guys challenging that though) so having him there is definitely going to make everything easier for everyone. He was strapped with a subpar situation in New Orleans and went to the playoffs multiple times, so just imagine what he can do with some real players here. They shipped out the suddenly often-hurt Chris Kaman to open up time for DeAndre Jordan. If you're unfamiliar with his game... think Tyson Chandler 2.0... rebounding,shot blocking and catching really nice alley oops is what you get out of him... so I just went through almost a paragraph without mentioning Blake Griffin.....he averaged 22.5ppg, 12 boards and 4 assists as a rookie.... he already has a decent post game and jumper (and jumping on or through people helps too) and if his game will continue to evolve (which there's no reason it won't) he will be one of the scariest forces in the entire league.
X-Factor
I have three issues with the Clippers... 1-a little thin up front... why does Brian Cook still collect paychecks again?...he's your backup center. Not sure if thats going to be fixed but yeah...that. (ed: I think Ryan is being nice here, the Clippers frontcourt depth is disastrous at this moment and has to be addressed or they're in trouble) 2-Three of their 5 starters (Blake,Paul and Butler) have a knee issue within the last 2 years...and you play for the Clippers?... yeah I need the reddest of red flags on that one... combined with being a tad thin upfront... health is definitely needed to make good on these expectations. And 3-Vinny Del Negro... he's still there coaching... not a good coach by any measure... so if he can somehow minimize his mistakes and stay out of the way, the team will be better off.
Predicted Finish
4th in the West
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