RealGM

This is a tough question.

It "seems" like DJ is the future. He played great at certain parts of the season. At the same time, he hasn't played well recently, and I don't think you can say that his decline was only because of the return of Kaman. You kind of wonder how much he will improve, and if he will ever develop a consistent offensive game.

We were all calling for Kaman's head when he was injured, and many of us wanted him traded. Since he returned, his contributions in rebounding and points are obvious, and has helped us win. Further, it has helped give Blake additional rest, and spared him from playing 40+ minutes per game. While this is good, we know that when Kaman's contract is up, he's going to want a lot of money, and with the shortage of quality centers in the league, he's probably gonna get it. I'm wondering if you think he's in the future plans for the Clippers. If the guy is healthy and playing well before his contract is up, since there is an obvious lack of quality centers in today's league, I think he will be a huge trade chip for us, and I'm wondering if we make a move to bring in an all-star small forward, or other piece.

Nope. We will need the capspace to sign all of our future stars.

Kaman hates playing for the Clippers, I predict he'll end up in Detroit or Dallas somehow.

Neil has to do his homework between now and the free-agency period (whenever that begins due to the lockout). A little more scouting and talent evaluating took place last year with us having the number 8 pick and our sights set on a couple 1st round talents. This year, we don't have a 1st (however, we do have a pair of 2nd rounders), so time spent improving the team can be deferred elsewhere.

Prior to re-signing/matching DJ, extending EJ or signing our own free-agents or outside players, we'll have a little over $11M in cap space. Signing DJ will cut into that immediately, but right now we're only on the hook for the Qualifying Offer (which is slightly under $1.1M). 2nd round picks do not count against the cap until they are signed. We have 11M, the expiring contracts of Kaman & Foye as well as the Minnesota draft pick as assets.

We could sign or trade for that elusive SF with our cap space and then re-sign DJ using his bird rights. Then we would still have the expiring contracts of Kaman & Foye ($16.95M total) to move before the deadline in a potential extend and trade deal. Sweeteners could include a combination of our young players (Bledsoe, Aminu, Warren, 2011 Draft selections), a 2012 pick swap and future 1sts. Potential targets could include Howard, Deron or Paul. Donald has to open up his wallet at this point, but it would pay off in so many ways if he bit the bullet. This would get costly when EJ and Blake's extensions kicked in.

Another scenario is that we move Kaman (& Aminu?) for an upgrade at SF and sign DJ and potentially a free-agent around the mid-level price (with our remaining cap space) and not have much wiggle room come 2012.

I personally wouldn't be so quick to move Kaman unless we had a home run deal in place. If we had any other owner, it would be a no-brainer what would happen long-term, but we have the Donald. He has paid guys, but not to the extent where the Luxury Tax threshold was in reach. The new CBA may change a lot of the ways that contracts and the way that teams add salary takes place. None of what I just said may even matter if there are drastic changes.

I'd rather keep Kaman unless there is a way of upgrading out talent. I do think he will leave the team at some point. I do think at this time we need him on the team.

Hopefully we solve this quickly.

I believe he will be traded in the summer. He is a solid center with an expiring contract, a lot of teams are gonna make offers.

It all depends on us re-signing DJ.

And we can only do that after the new CBA's being hammered out, which could be sometime between draft night and 2012 or so...

If we do re-sign DJ then Kaman should be our main trade chip, together with Foye's expiring and that 2012 first round pick in an attempt to either get one of those disgruntled 2012 free agents before they hit free agency or to upgrade at small forward.

Though, right now it's really hard to say, because having Kaman coming off the bench and providing some scoring is probably more usefull then trading for those guys that are available at small forward.

I would keep Kaman, at least until the deadline. DeAndre seems to be developing well and being groomed to be our starting center fro the future, but what's so bad about having both Kaman and Jordan? With 48 minutes available at Center, and I'm sure Del Negro can find a way to use Kaman and Jordan together, they can get about 28 minutes a game each next season and keep pushing each other in practice.

If we are to deal Kaman though, I'd look to get a small forward who expires in 2012 as well. That would be a good scenario since we won't cut into 2012 cap space and can upgrade at SF.