The most likely scenario, I'm told, is still signing one of the top "restricteds" (as the GMs and agents like to call them) to an offer sheet. According to NBA front-office sources, L.A. has expanded its list of restricted candidates beyond [Josh] Smith and Charlotte's Emeka Okafor to Chicago's Luol Deng and, yes, Philadelphia's Andre Iguodala.
The Clips are now determining whether to schedule face-to-face meetings -- potentially in Vegas -- with the other three players in that quartet, knowing they need as much info as possible before committing to one of them and then waiting up to seven days to see whether their contract offer is matched.
Challenge No. 1, as always in the restricted game, is forecasting which offer would be most likely to go unmatched. (My unsolicited opinion: Okafor is the most gettable, then Smith.)
Yet we repeat that the Clips, fearing an offer to any of them would be matched, might ultimately decide that it's better use their cap space to absorb a veteran's contract. New York's Zach Randolph has already been mentioned as a possibility, but there are more appealing names that could be available and have to be investigated first. Just to name two: Miami's Shawn Marion and Detroit's Rasheed Wallace, whom Dunleavy has coached before.
Marc Stein, ESPN
