Who's going to be our big free agent pickup this year?

[ClipperEric]

First we have to look at our needs:

1. SG - Maggette is not going to resign, at least not for a reasonable sum. And we need someone who can actually shoot.

2. Backup PG - I don't like Dickau, Knight is ok but I don't like him as the starter. Hopefully Shawn comes back to start but I'd like a 3rd option, preferably someone small and quick to balance out Shawn and run around with the other midget guards in the west. Somebody like Knight but a lot younger and a better shooter.

3. Backup Center/PF - Aaron Williams can only hang on so long, and he's not very productive as it is.

I think we spend the bulk of our money on a new SG. I'm thinking Monta Ellis of GS or Kevin Martin of Sacramento. Both are free agents who make very little but will command a big increase. By letting Maggette go we free up a lot of space. I'd really like to see Gilbert Arenas here but that's only a dream.

For the other 2 spots I think we go cheap, because we always do. For PG I see a couple of options, Beno Udrih may be the best option, Earl Boykins is another. Lets face it, the market for somebody like this is pretty slim. Why didn't we resign Jason Hart last year?

For the Center position, how about Diop? He's a pretty good defender and doesn't need to score. We've seen how good he can be against us in games past. And for a center he's very low on the pay scale.

Thoughts?

Roster Next Year:

1.Livingston/(Udrih/Boykins)/Knight
2.(Monta Ellis/Kevin Martin)/Mobley
3.Thornton/Thomas/Mobley
4.Brand/Diop/Powell
5.Kaman/Diop

I don't really expect to get all 3 positions filled. We also have our #1 this year. Maybe we can sign 1 of the SG's and a backup Center, then use the pick on OJ Mayo or some other guard.

[mj_shoefanatic]

Mark my words that foo we just inked named William "Smush" Parker will play extra hard for a new contract(with us) and knowing Dun Sr he'll push DTS and Elgin to re-sign him in the offseason for cheap, our FO will aggressively coax EB and Maggette to re-sign for more bucks and if they both don't then we should consider those other options that you suggested(i.e. Arenas, Ellis, etc..) BTW Diop would be an excellent backup to Kaman if P.Davis never comes back to full form after his terrible knee injury.

[ClipperEric]

I forgot about Paul Davis. He played pretty well before he went down.

Do you really want to keep Maggette? Doesn't it hurt watching him drive in the lane and throw up some junk while grunts hoping to get a foul? He's not a bad player but he's more like the 3rd option on a good team. After Brand we still need someone better than Maggette, and with his 22ppg he's going to ask for way too much money. And somebody will give it to him.

[illastrate]

I forgot about Paul Davis. He played pretty well before he went down.

Do you really want to keep Maggette? Doesn't it hurt watching him drive in the lane and throw up some junk while grunts hoping to get a foul? He's not a bad player but he's more like the 3rd option on a good team. After Brand we still need someone better than Maggette, and with his 22ppg he's going to ask for way too much money. And somebody will give it to him.

I don't want Maggs back, especially if we can get an Arenas or Ellis. A backcourt of Ellis + Rose/Bayless would easily make us the fastest backcourt in the league

[ClipperEric]

I don't want Maggs back either. I want good shooters and smart players. And no stupid turnovers.

[Hoops23]

Kevin Martin? I thought he is not a FA because he signed an extension last summer.

Monta Ellis? The restricted FA will choose to resign with GS if offered the same amount of money because he fits with the system.

Beno Udrih? He already said he likes to come back with the Kings because the team gave him the opportunity.

Don't be offended with this, it will take the Clipps to over pay to convince someone to sign with them having the questionable reputation about the owner's commitment to winning.

[mj_shoefanatic]

Do you really want to keep Maggette? Doesn't it hurt watching him drive in the lane and throw up some junk while grunts hoping to get a foul? He's not a bad player but he's more like the 3rd option on a good team. After Brand we still need someone better than Maggette, and with his 22ppg he's going to ask for way too much money. And somebody will give it to him.

I only want us to keep Maggz if we can't find a suitable replacement for around the same asking price.

[ClipperEric]

Kevin Martin? I thought he is not a FA because he signed an extension last summer.

Monta Ellis? The restricted FA will choose to resign with GS if offered the same amount of money because he fits with the system.

Beno Udrih? He already said he likes to come back with the Kings because the team gave him the opportunity.

Don't be offended with this, it will take the Clipps to over pay to convince someone to sign with them having the questionable reputation about the owner's commitment to winning.

Then I guess we're down to only one option then: Gilbert Arenas!

We will have to overpay him but he's the closest thing in this league to Kobe Bryant. (Actually TMac is filling that role now, but Gilbert is very close.) He'll get somewhere in the high teens to 20 million.

I'm not totally sure about the contract situation for any of them. I'm just going off of what http://hoopshype.com/salaries.htm tells me.

[ClipperEric]

What do you guys think of Stephen Curry from Davidson? He's the son of Del Curry.

He plays at a small school and he's pretty small as well, so its hard to compare. But I think he has the potential to be the next Tony Parker. I would certainly spend a late first rounder on him.

Pay attention to him at Tournament time.

[CelicaLuva]

Since the team isn't quite in a position to rebuild with those bad contracts, the other option is to build for the playoffs and in order to do that in the West you need a more than decent point guard. The key assumption of this post is that the Clips actually want to contend and not put another season to waste. With that and Brand's recent rather reassuring comments in mind, and assuming our management acts on common sense, any sort of Clippers offseason endeavors rests on two things: 1) where we will be picking in the draft and 2) livingston's progress.

Through the draft, anyone not named Derrick Rose just can't quite carry a team over the top immediately. Even with Rose there will definitely be some growing pains as you can't undermine the difficulty for a rookie point guard to learn how to direct an offense in a team with a well-established playbook, let alone ours. Two scenarios here:

a) We get lucky in the lottery and get in a position (1st or 2nd pick) to take Rose, or;

b) We pick where we are expected to (6th-8th). Unable to get an impact PG we take a much-needed combo guard (Gordon, Mayo, Bayless, even Russell Westbrook, with a preference for Gordon).

So far both scenarios are fine. (a) definitely makes the livingston uncertainty less relevant; with a guy like Rose you simply need to allocate quality mins (21-24 at the minimum) for him, and it wouldn't bother me to see the PG duties shared by Rose and Livingston. With (b), the livingston situation becomes more of a concern. We will look at the livingston uncertainty and its effects on our subsequent offseason decisions from both perspectives:

(a) (i) If we get Rose, there's less pressure on livingston and, even more so, the management to determine whether the player can still perform at a starting NBA PG level. Obviously if management discretion says that livingston is not quite there, we should lean towards letting him go unless we can sign him for a smaller trial contract, and our fortunes for next season will rest on Rose unless we make a packaged trade for a star point (e.g. something like Rose + S&T Maggette for Arenas + Young isn't completely out of the question).

If livingston seems ready to take on NBA level play (it's really too bad that he can't get several games in towards the end of season, because there's really no accurate way to gauge how ready he is until summer league games), things will look rosier. This scenario allows both Rose and Livingston's identities to be blurred a bit, adding extra versatility to our roster. This will definitely be a bonus, considering how ugly our PG situation currently sits.

Either case, If we do keep Rose, then trading for a shooter makes sense, and several potential deals come to mind: S&T Maggette for Mike Miller, or S&T Maggette + Mobley for Kevin Martin and take on Kenny Thomas/Shareef's contract.

(b) (i) The combo guard we acquired, while doesn't solve our PG uncertainty, will definitely add depth to both guard spots. If we decide to use Livingston as a starting PG, the rook can back up both guard spots and the team should look to S&T Maggette for a shooter in a similar package to the ones above.

If livingston is not ready, we are in the most dreaded but completely likely scenario - no real PG on the team. We should definitely try to pull a S&T with Maggette for an impact PG such as Arenas, or at least a capable starting PG with good potential like Jarrett Jack or Marcus Williams. Letting Maggette go for nothing in this scenario will be disastrous, as the upcoming free agent PG pool simply doesn't have anyone that's quite a fit for our team. In addition the rook will have a tougher learning curve as well as our other option for a starting SG will be Mobley or Ross.

[JJ LoDuca]

^^ True story. No matter what kind of FA moves we make, if we're left with Livingston/Knight/Parker at PG and Shaunie turns out to not be ready, we'll struggle even if we somehow land Gilbert Arenas. But speakin' of knee injuries, how do we know Gil is gonna be as effective as he was before his injury? I mean, he's a good enough player to take a year off and come back ready to do damage, but I don't wanna sign him with big bucks and have his knee be a recurring problem.

I love Monta Ellis, but his loyalty is with Golden State and it would take more than what he's worth to land him. If the deal is lucrative but still understandable, GS will match the offer no problem. I think we need a SG who can flat out shoot the basketball. The brass thought Mobley would be the answer to our 3-pt shooting woes, then they thought it would be Thomas, and now we're still one of the worst shooting teams in the league. I don't know who, but pick up someone who can shoot the lights out.

And a small side note: Personally, I'd like Maggette to return simply because I like the guy, and I hate the idea of letting another player who has made his name with the Clippers walk for nothing. At the very least, I wanna work out a sign & trade with Maggs. And again, my gut is that DTS is gonna refuse to let him go. For whatever reason, our owner is on Maggs jock so hard I doubt he'd let him go unless we were set up to replace him with a Gilbert Arenas type player.

I love the idea of signing Diop as a backup C. He's got size, big hands...shoot, a front court with Kaman/Brand by themselves is badass enough, but think about bringing Davis/Diop off the bench behind them! The talent level drops off significantly, but you can't teach size. That's essentially four 7-footers for the Clips front line (because EB plays like he's 7ft anyway). Add some good perimeter scoring to that mix, and we could be tough.

[mkwest]

A lot of good points made in this thread. Put me on the Diop bandwagon because I think he would be a great signing to add some depth at the center position. He would hit the boards (and actually give us a decent offensive rebounder other than a guy named Elton), alter shots, and give us a 7 foot, 280 pound body who won't be pushed around like a Thomas or a Powell. I have pretty much given up hope that Sofo will be joining us since he has a wait problem (he can't wait to eat). Last I heard he weighed nearly 400 pounds

Ellis would be great to have, I don't believe that the Dubs are going to him walk. They also have Biedrins and possibly Davis to have to negotiate with this summer as well. I wouldn't mind adding B-Diddy if that opportunity arose either.

Celicaluva hit the nail on the head by saying that the direction the team takes in the offseason weighs heavily on Livingston's capabilities & where we land in the lottery. The chances of us getting Rose are not that high. Plus even if we did, we would be relying on a freshman point guard to come in run things. He would take a few years to come into his own manning an NBA offense. The doctor's are saying that Shaun's knee will fully recover and that his knee has great stability. Let's say that happens, he still would need to conquer any mental issues (landings, bumps, etc.) given the injury, become a consistent player (since there's no Sam to fall back on), and be durable for an entire season. If we get a top 3 pick then we have a lot options. If we won 1st, I say we milk Beasley for all he's worth. 2, we take Rose. 3, Mayo or Gordon. 6-8, whoever's left of the 4 guards.

I have mixed feelings on Maggette. He's not a number 1 option which we've had to rely on him to be this season. You add in a healthy Brand & Kaman, plus Thornton (with a little more seasoning), then Maggette just adds to our solid offensive options while not being the focal point. I would love to see us upgrade in talent (e.g. Arenas) or add somebody like Miller who can knock down 42% of his 3's (Maggette is shooting 39% beyond the arc though). I don't want to see the guy just walk and we get nothing. We need a S&T at the very least. If we re-sign him then I wouldn't mind seeing him drop down to SG. If he's SG then we would definitely need to have drafted Rose or Mayo out of the 4 rookies. Bayless could work but Gordon is a SG.

[ClipperDomination]

What do you guys think of Stephen Curry from Davidson? He's the son of Del Curry.

He plays at a small school and he's pretty small as well, so its hard to compare. But I think he has the potential to be the next Tony Parker. I would certainly spend a late first rounder on him.

Pay attention to him at Tournament time.

The guy is actually the opposite of Tony Parker. He can flat out shoot the ball (shooting 44% from the three point line). He is possibly the best shooter in college basketball.

As for potential singings, I just don't see the Clippers organization paying the money to land a big-time FA.

Other names nobody has mentioned that you can hear (but don't expect the Clipps to go after them):

Baron Davis (Unrestricted FA)
Jermaine O'Neal (Unrestricted FA)
Jose Calderon (Restricted FA)
Antwan Jamison (Unrestricted FA)

[jgustav1]

Unless both Maggette and Brand opt of their options, the Clippers won't have anything more than the MLE to offer a FA. You can forget about guys like Arenas, Ellis, etc.

A guy like Calderon could certainly help the Clippers at PG, but the Clippers are at a distinct disadvantage versus other franchises already in the playoffs when trying to sign players for the MLE.

I'd like to see the Clippers a little more active around the draft than they usually are, I'd offer to trade the #6 pick and Mobley to Memphis for Miller and Critterton as an example.

[ClipperEric]

How much do you think a guy like Monta Ellis or Kevin Martin is going to command as a Free Agent? Ellis currently makes $770k and Martin only $1.8m. I know they are getting huge raises but how huge? And what do you think Maggette is going to get?

I'm glad somebody brought up the trade for Mobley, and I'm throwing in Thomas. I like Mobley but $9m is too much for what he does. And Thomas is just difficult to watch. We need to get rid of at least one of those guys.

I'd love to see some kind of deal to bring in Mike Miller. Then add Diop and pick up a PG in the draft. We'll be in pretty good shape.

[madmaxmedia]

If all we have is the MLE, I think we can forget about Monta Ellis. The GSW would resign him for that if he'd take it, and he's got it pretty good up there.

I guess Maggette is worth around MLE. For a decent team in need of scoring, getting him with a MLE would be a great way of injecting some offense. It's a very good point that he is a good 3rd option on a good team, but it's not his fault that he's the first option this year. He was the third option (more or less) when we made the playoffs a couple of years ago.

No one is going to take Mobley or Thomas in a trade, unless its for equally bad contracts. Neither of them is an expiring next year IIRC.

Diop would be fine to add as a backup C but actual impact on W-L is low.

Realistically, our biggest hope for improving the roster is the lottery. It's not totally the Clippers' fault, losing both Brand and Livingston was devastating. It's going to be a delicate situation next year with Brand if we lose Maggette to FA and don't get lucky in the lottery. Brand will be realistically looking at his last contract, where is he going to want to play out the remainder of his prime years?

If Brand wants to re-sign with us, then no problems. But otherwise I would consider some sort of sign-and-trade for both Maggette and Brand (it will have to be places they want to play, since they can just otherwise opt out), vs. standard status quo of waiting for the draft and doing nothing else. We'd be starting over, but we'd have a young roster with a few 1st round picks. I don't know if there are any realistic trade partners, it would have to be good teams who have acquired first round picks from other teams (at least in the case of Brand.)

[illastrate]

How much do you think a guy like Monta Ellis or Kevin Martin is going to command as a Free Agent? Ellis currently makes $770k and Martin only $1.8m. I know they are getting huge raises but how huge? And what do you think Maggette is going to get?

I'm glad somebody brought up the trade for Mobley, and I'm throwing in Thomas. I like Mobley but $9m is too much for what he does. And Thomas is just difficult to watch. We need to get rid of at least one of those guys.

I'd love to see some kind of deal to bring in Mike Miller. Then add Diop and pick up a PG in the draft. We'll be in pretty good shape.

I think K-Mart signed an extension for 5 years, 55 mil. Monta should go for around that much, but someone will overpay for him.

Maggs will probably get between the 10-12 mil range and he's not worth that. A S&T would be our best option.

[chrbal]

For the other 2 spots I think we go cheap, because we always do. For PG I see a couple of options, Beno Udrih may be the best option, Earl Boykins is another. Lets face it, the market for somebody like this is pretty slim. Why didn't we resign Jason Hart last year?

Beno, cheap option? The guy who has started 46 of 59 games for the Kings. The team he really likes. So who is the Kings starting PG next year? Quincey Douby? Dan Dickau? Who?

Udrih will stay a King, because they gave him his first real shot in this league and they need him as much as he needs them.

[ClipperEric]

So if Udrih is staying a King, who else you got? What other PG's are available? I know its nobody good. We were lucky to get someone like Brevin Knight last year. Hopefully we can get somebody in the draft, but that still leaves us with a lot of inexperience and question marks about Shaun.

[PlinkingPanda]

I think Chris Duhon will be a FA. He sure as hell isn't staying in Chicago with Hinrich and Hughes playing PG. He may be a decent pickup compared to the PGs we have now.

Thats pretty much it...