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The Clippers will be a playoff team next year... and its scary to think how good the West is going to be..

PG: Livingston/Bayless or Rose
SG: Mobley/Ross
SF: Maggette/Thornton
PF: Brand/Thomas
C: Kaman/Davis

That lineup has a shot to be a top 4 seed if healthy...

The key to this season for the Clippers is to TANK as much as possible so they can get Rose or Bayless... their only weak position is PG (i'm not sold on livingston... I was hoping they'd draft Harris that year)

Ross and Maggette are going to be questionable. Ross being a free agent, and Maggette having a player option on the last year of his contract. Brand does as well, but I am pretty sure he will stick around for at least next year to see how things go. If we underachieve then I have a feeling he may leave after next season.

Don't forget Knight either. He still has another year on his contract.

Davis is a question mark too, because he's not signed thru next season and he's comin' off that ACL injury. I'd bet the Clippers keep Maggette, but Livingston and Thornton are gonna TEAR IT UP next season.

JJ LoDuca wrote:Davis is a question mark too, because he's not signed thru next season and he's comin' off that ACL injury. I'd bet the Clippers keep Maggette, but Livingston and Thornton are gonna TEAR IT UP next season.

I believe we hold a club option for Davis next season, so I could see him back next year since he won't be too expensive. It's a shame he went down right when he was starting to show something.

I'm looking forward to seeing how next year will play out. Livingston, Thornton, EB, Kaman & whoever may be at the 2 are going to lead us to a redemption year. EB's game is sick. I know that he'll come back and play at a high level. There's no quit in him. The guy is the epitome of a "blue collar baller". Thornton has some things that he needs to work on but has the tools to be a special player. He has a great work ethic and I think this summer is going to do him well. Kaman has shown that when he is focused he can really contribute. He just needs some help and EB is more than enough. If Livingston can develop a respectable shot, then he's going to be really effective. His vision is what made him so special anyways so I'm not too worried about the leg.

Even with Brand back, I don't see the Clippers breaking 40 wins next year unless they get lucky in the lottery and pickup Derrick Rose. That won't be close to making the playoffs in the West next year. Thornton looks like he could be a real scorer in the league, but the team probably will lose some wing players in the offseason so depth will be an issue.

Many of the Western conference that will likely just miss the playoffs this year are young and improving, putting Oden on the Trailblazers should make them a playoff team for sure. The Warriors will also be competing for one of the Western conference playoff spots and should be better in the future if young players like Monta Ellis and Biedrins continue to improve. I don't see the Clippers able to overtake either of these teams next season without major offseason moves.

mkwest wrote:I believe we hold a club option for Davis next season, so I could see him back next year since he won't be too expensive. It's a shame he went down right when he was starting to show something.

Oh, well in that case I'm glad I was mistaken, I'd love to see P-Diddy playing for us again next year. Based on what he was showing before he got hurt, he is just as good as any other backup C in the leauge. And when we got Kaman & Brand playing ahead of him...average is all we need.

mkwest wrote:EB's game is sick.

Nice.

mkwest wrote:If Livingston can develop a respectable shot, then he's going to be really effective. His vision is what made him so special anyways so I'm not too worried about the leg.

I maintain that SL14 should be one of the best jumpshooters from about 15-19 ft in the league next season-- his J is literally all he could work on for almost a year! His FT% should be up too, using that same logic. But I'm with you on all accounts about the guys you mentioned, MK. We definitely have the tools to be a beast next season, no matter what happens with the lottery in June.

jgustav1 wrote:Even with Brand back, I don't see the Clippers breaking 40 wins next year unless they get lucky in the lottery and pickup Derrick Rose. That won't be close to making the playoffs in the West next year.

This might be just me, but I don't think the West is gonna be nearly as good next year. You know how sometimes a team will have a great season and eveybody jumps on the bandwagon, they waltz into the playoffs, get swept and aren't in the playoffs again for years? They call that a fluke season, and I think the entire NBA is having one of those this year. I can see your argument about Portland & Golden State only getting better, but the main thing that gets you a large number of wins is chemistry. Right now I think there is just an unnatural amount of
it floating around the West this year, so much so that I don't think we'll ever see something like this again, let alone in consecutive seasons.

gmurray8 wrote:The Clippers will be a playoff team next year... and its scary to think how good the West is going to be..

PG: Livingston/Bayless or Rose
SG: Mobley/Ross
SF: Maggette/Thornton
PF: Brand/Thomas
C: Kaman/Davis

That lineup has a shot to be a top 4 seed if healthy...

Agreed. However, Mayo would be a nice addition if Bayless or Rose do not fall to us. Also, if we can find a way to get Arenas, M.Miller or Redd over here then we'll be a lock for the 'offs in 09 fasho!! Keep in mind that we do have a very serviceable PF in Powell.

Powell doesn't have a contract next year so he could be questionable as well heh.

Here's the Salaries for everyone.

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/la_clippers.htm

I didn't realize how bad Mobley's contract really was. 9M a year.. yikes. x.x

Fishy~McFish wrote:Powell doesn't have a contract next year so he could be questionable as well heh.

Here's the Salaries for everyone.

http://hoopshype.com/salaries/la_clippers.htm

I didn't realize how bad Mobley's contract really was. 9M a year.. yikes. x.x

Powell signed a 3-year deal, but it's not fully guaranteed. I usually use hoopshype too. ShamSports is another site that gives team salary info as well.

I really like what Mobley can offer and if his contract were a couple million lower it would be a good value imo. Ginobli's getting around $9M as the Spurs have probably the best salary management in the league. That makes Mobley's contract look even worse.

mkwest wrote:-= original quote snipped =-



Powell signed a 3-year deal, but it's not fully guaranteed. I usually use hoopshype too. ShamSports is another site that gives team salary info as well.

I really like what Mobley can offer and if his contract were a couple million lower it would be a good value imo. Ginobli's getting around $9M as the Spurs have probably the best salary management in the league. That makes Mobley's contract look even worse.

Yeah I think Mobley would worth it if he had Thomas' contract. Thomas needs to drop about 1-2M for his contract to be worth it.. Or if he actually used his post up game he would be worth the 6M he's getting. His shot is too inconsistent.

Good to hear about Powell though.

mobley aint gonna start next year for sure. he is our 6th man along with t thomas.

pg: livingston
sg: gordon or majo
sf: thornton
pf: brand
c: kaman

this all can change though if we re sign maggette. maggette can play sg and we will have a really deep team. cant wait.

JJ LoDuca wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
Oh, well in that case I'm glad I was mistaken, I'd love to see P-Diddy playing for us again next year. Based on what he was showing before he got hurt, he is just as good as any other backup C in the leauge. And when we got Kaman & Brand playing ahead of him...average is all we need.

I like what he can bring as well and if he only has to spell Kaman for a few minutes he's serviceable. We do need to add another legit Center though. 6'9" guys aren't going to cut it in the west. Thomas & Powell really should not be logging any minutes at the 5 at all.

JJ LoDuca wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
I maintain that SL14 should be one of the best jumpshooters from about 15-19 ft in the league next season-- his J is literally all he could work on for almost a year! His FT% should be up too, using that same logic. But I'm with you on all accounts about the guys you mentioned, MK. We definitely have the tools to be a beast next season, no matter what happens with the lottery in June.

I think we have a good shot be a playoff contender next season if we just stay healthy. We've had only a handful of games where our main guys were all healthy. If Maggette stays and puts time in at the 2, our lotto pick is used on a point, and we add some depth at center then I really like our chances. That's a whole lot of ifs though.

Fishy~McFish wrote:-= original quote snipped =-
Yeah I think Mobley would worth it if he had Thomas' contract. Thomas needs to drop about 1-2M for his contract to be worth it.. Or if he actually used his post up game he would be worth the 6M he's getting. His shot is too inconsistent.

Good to hear about Powell though.

Thomas has shown he can be effective when he actually takes the ball to the hoop. There's been some games where he was scoring at will. However, his long ball has been pretty much nonexistent since November. Don't even get me started on his defense or the lack thereof.

MastaR1987 wrote:mobley aint gonna start next year for sure. he is our 6th man along with t thomas.

pg: livingston
sg: mayo or bayless
sf: thornton
pf: brand
c: kaman

There I fixed it.