If og's salary numbers are correct, going $1M over the cap is not bad to feature such a trio IMO. If the Clippers really want to contend for a title, that is what it's going to take. The returns a HEALTHY EJ would bring would justify it IMO. We don't have enough offensive firepower that would go a long way in counteracting some of our deficiencies against the SA's of the world (look at what GS is doing right now.)
We'd also have a center that could actually play fourth quarters...
mkwest wrote:I don't think it'll happen, but it's interesting to say the least.
For sentimental reasons, I'd love it.
However, for every other reason, I wouldn't be all gung ho about it. EJ makes a lot of money and is unreliable on the health front.
I was initially disappointed that we had to include EJ in the deal for Paul. At the time, I would have rather moved Bledsoe, Aminu, Kaman and the pick. The thought was that we'd be a good team with Paul/Grifin, but we would have a legitimate shot at a title if it were CP3/BG/EJ. Is Gordon as hurt as we were led to believe? Was New Orleans just being extremely cautious and conservative to help their draft position? Was he dogging it in New Orleans and would he give more effort on a team that he wants to be on? It's easy to speculate, but we won't know for sure until he is actually on another team.
Provided he gets back (or close to) his 2010-2011 form, he would be one of the first 2 options offensively. He spreads the floor and can get to the foul line. Defensively, he's a big upgrade over every other 2 guard on the team.
Financially, it would leave us hamstring with $50M+ going to 3 players. Luxury Tax concerns may arise, but we don't have to worry about the Repeater Tax for quite some time. If the team needs to go over, then I think that they should, however it's not my money.
Robin Lopez is a solid center. I would like to see him increase his defensive rebounds, but he is decent on the offensive glass, can hit his free-throws and is a solid shot blocker. Throughout his career, he has nice percentages from the mid-range (16-23ft), but on low volume. I'd like to see him expand on that.