Clippers stay true to word and draft Blake Griffin
There is, however, a surprising amount of interest in forward Zach Randolph, massive contract and all, but the Clippers, at least for now, are maintaining they are reluctant to trade a player consistently capable of scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds per game.
"We're in a very good position in that we have a lot of bigs that are very talented," Dunleavy said. "Right now, what we're just doing is trying to make a good basketball decision for us. We're patient and if something comes up that would be a good opportunity, then we'll look to take it."
"This past couple of weeks I've been running around all over the place doing a lot of different things," Blake Griffin said. "I really just want to get down to business and start working because that's what I believe in and that's what I'm about."
"I think he looked clean," said USC's DeMar DeRozan, who went to the Raptors at No. 9. "You'd think he was getting drafted by the Lakers with that purple."
Said Griffin: "It was accidental. I didn't even think about it until right before the draft somebody brought it up to me and said, 'Next time you wear purple, it's going to be $5,000 fine.' So I'll be sure not to make that mistake again."
Lisa Dillman, LA Times
Camby Weighs In
I text messaged Baron Davis, Al Thornton and Marcus Camby tonight to get a bit of reaction to the Clippers draft. Only Camby wrote back, which on the surface is a little surprising because Blake Griffin's presence is one of the main reasons why Camby's name keeps popping up in trade rumors. But if you know Camby -- as stand-up a guy as there is in the NBA -- it's not all that surprising.
Anyway, here's what he had to say:
``I think Blake is a tremendous young talent with a great future,'' Camby wrote. ``I feel he can really help this team and organization.''
Ramona Shelburne, Inside the Clippers
Q&A: No. 1 Draft Pick Blake Griffin
Thursday, Jun 25
Congratulations! How does it feel to know exactly where you're going to be next season?
Blake Griffin: Thank you very much. It feels great to know where I'm going to be. I've been waiting for it.
Can you describe in detail what your today was like for you, starting with what time you woke up, until the moment you were drafted.
BG: I woke up and I had a couple of radio interviews. Immediately after that I went over to NBC Studios to do an interview with CNBC. After that, I went back to the hotel and went straight to a players meeting with the NBA staff. After that I had a financial meeting with my family and somebody. After we did that, we had a luncheon with the Commissioner. As soon as that was over I went back to my room with some of my family and friends and just kind of hung out for a little bit. Then I went and got my hair cut. They had a barber up in a suite upstairs so I got my hair cut. I hung out there for a little bit before I came back to my room to get ready. When I was ready I went down to the ninth floor and met up with the rest of the players. As soon as everybody was there we left on a bus to come to The Garden. As soon as we got to The Garden we started taking pictures. We took a group photo with the commissioner and some of the sponsors and then we went in the back and took some individual pictures with the Commissioner. After that we went to the Green Room and just hung out there until the Draft started. At some point today I also met up with some Clippers fans who won a contest sponsored by Kia to come to the NBA Draft.
Tell us about your game of S-U-B-W-A-Y (HORSE) against Jared from Subway yesterday.
BG: It was fun. It was a good opportunity to get out in New York and see some of the New York people. We played at "The Cage" on West 4th Street. We played best out of three, and Jared actually beat me the first game. Then I had to get serious about it for the second round.
So what's next? Where do you go from here?
BG: I'll come to LA tomorrow. I'll start working out as soon as I can, so we'll see.
myClipper Nation
Blake Griffin Post-Draft Press Conference
Fans React to NBA Draft
Darrell Bailey, a.k.a. Clipper Darrell, who wears a blue-and-red suit and is a mainstay at Clippers home games: "We've all been down; now we're going to rise up. Don't worry about the past; worry about the future. I don't believe in curses; that's superstition."
On getting Blake Griffin: "I think he can be the face of the franchise."
Jamial Clark, a Lakers fan:
"I don't like the management for the Clippers. You've got a lot of talent. They have one person [Mike Dunleavy] trying to do too much. He should just be a general manager, not a coach. [The Clippers] are always second fiddle in L.A. to the Lakers. They have the opportunity to make the playoffs but not with the coach that they have."
Evan Rosen, 12-year old from Santa Monica, a Clippers fan since he was seven when he went to his first game:
"I like the underdogs. It's so annoying at school. I make sure everyone knows I'm a Clippers fan so that like, when they win the championship next year, I can get all in their faces. So I get made fun of a lot. But it's fun. And now that we have Blake Griffin . . . he's so athletic and, like, he can dunk over anybody . . . But the problem is that we already have a lot of forwards and centers so we're going to have to trade some people. Most everybody is a Lakers fan. It's like a Lakers city. I actually didn't know there were this many Clippers fans."
Lauren Goldman, LA Times
Griffin pick will finally turn Clippers around
As Jay Leno said goodbye after 17 years of hosting The Tonight Show he pointed out one thing that had never changed: "The Clippers still suck."
Upon arriving in L.A. to succeed Leno, Conan O'Brien took the baton and bashed the familiar pinata with it. "This studio holds 380 people. It's exactly like being at a Clippers game." Laugh it up. While you can. The longest-running punch line in sports history is about to lose its rim-shot reliability.
Blake Griffin has heard the jokes. He's heard about the Clippers' "aura of negativity." He doesn't care.
"I've heard a lot about it over the past couple of weeks," he said before being drafted No. 1 overall by the Clippers Thursday night. "When I got to Oklahoma they were 15-16 the year before. You can't linger on the past." Every new era in Clippers history begins with the standard litany of what went wrong before. (Answer: everything.) But this time it's going to be different. Blake Griffin is not Danny Ferry, a cerebral-but-unathletic set shooter who the Clippers selected over Sean Elliott with the No. 2 overall pick in 1989. Blake Griffin is not Michael Olowokandi, an unpolished project out of a weak conference who the Clippers selected No. 1 overall in 1998.
No, Griffin is a physical freak who knows how to play the game and dominated a conference (Big 12) that has had 16 players taken in the last three NBA drafts. Listed at 6-10, 251 pounds, he plays on a pogo stick with absurdly quick ups for a guy his size. He has great hands, makes quick post-to-post passes when the double comes from the weak side and runs the floor like a gazelle.
Kevin Hench, Fox Sports
Griz fail to land Randolph
The Grizzlies had agreed in principle to acquire power forward Zach Randolph Thursday night but Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling later nixed the trade, according to two NBA sources.
During the NBA draft, executives from both teams hammered out a package with Randolph and Darko Milicic as the key pieces. Griz guard Greg Buckner would also have been included in the transaction.
The Griz ended up dealing Milicic to the New York Knicks for swingman Quentin Richardson after they waited on a final answer from the Clippers and received a curious no.
Los Angeles selected power forward Blake Griffith with the No. 1 overall pick.
Power forward is a position where the Griz need the most help. This was Memphis' second flirtation with a Randolph deal over the past year.
Ronald Tillery, The Memphis Edge
