Some news tidbits (injury returns, trade talk and more)

[mkwest]

Team-By-Team Trade Outlook

The emergence of DeAndre Jordan as an athletic complement to Blake Griffin has made Kaman expendable. Coach Vinny Del Negro acknowledged earlier this month that the team was open to dealing Kaman, who is owed $12.7 million next season in the final year of his deal. A source said the Clippers are interested in Portland's Andre Miller.

Chris Mannix, Sport Illustrated

Andre Miller? That makes no damn sense.

Eric Gordon could return Tuesday

Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro said in a report on ESPN.com that the team hopes to have guard Eric Gordon back next week after the All-Star break. He sprained his right wrist when he fell Jan. 22 against Golden State and has been out since, missing the past 13 games. The Clippers next game is Tuesday at Oklahoma City.

CBS Sports

Blake Griffin Is The New Editor-In-Chief Of Myspace (And Hilarious)

It seems like it’s been a minute since anyone’s been talking about Myspace. I mean, put it this way: The movie The Social Network wasn’t about them. But with that said, they appear to be making a comeback. That is, with the help of Blake Griffin. As part of their “Hijacks” program, which has seen everyone from Jack Black to Russell Simmons takeover the site, Griffin brings tons of personality and humor to the site for All-Star Weekend. In addition to exclusive footage of “The Rim Reaper” dunking with a camera literally strapped to his head, the following two videos of him sitting down with comedian Ben Gleib are absolutely hilarious: Myspace

Aron Phillips, Dime Magazine

Bill Simmons gives his Top 50 ranking of player trade values

Notable Omissions
DeAndre Jordan: You will laugh. I don't care. I go to Clippers games. On the right contender, Jordan would thrive as a rebounder/shot-blocker. Mark my words. By the way, he's a great example of a lousy pre-draft reputation being completely undeserved: One of the league's best teammates, he somehow knows every player on every other team and would win "Mr. Popularity" if they made an NBA yearbook. (Which really, they should -- if only so we could see everyone's yearbook quotes.) If you attend a Clippers game, watch Jordan in the pregame warm-ups -- he will dole out 20-plus different handshakes, hugs and handshake/hug combos and always seems like he's telling someone on the other team "All right, I'll see you next week!" He's also smartly positioned himself as Blake Griffin's best friend and go-to chest-bumper. There's just a lot to like. Danny Ainge owes the entire Celtics fan base an apology for taking J.R. Giddens over him.

GROUP F: "Borderline Franchise Guys"

27. Eric Gordon
Yet another young guy who plays hard. I don't know whether it's the rookie salary scale (so guys don't get overpaid too soon), the league's emphasis on player conduct, smarter agents, the veterans leading by example, the lessons learned from all the idiots before them, or all of the above, but we've never had more young stars playing their asses off. The best thing about Clippers games -- as opposed to, say, a Nets game featuring Kenny Anderson and Derrick Coleman in 1993 -- is that everyone walks into the Staples Center knowing that Gordon and Blake Griffin will give a crap about that night's events. It's a nice feeling. A feeling that quickly dissipates when you see Donald Sterling sitting courtside with a big, oily smile on his face, but still.

GROUP A: "Completely And Utterly Untouchable"

5. Blake Griffin
And now, I am no longer depressed! I want to self-plagiarize a point I made on a podcast recently: However Blake's career plays out, we'll remember him as the first sports hero of the MultiTasker Generation. When Blake had a monster dunk, not only did you know about it right away, you practically saw it right away. Usually within 8-10 minutes. Like Jordan came to personify the mid-'80s -- crisply directed commercials, snazzy posters, trend-setting sneakers, highlights perfectly edited for the "SportsCenter" generation -- Blake personifies what's happening right now. You can watch every Clippers game on DirecTV or your laptop if you want. You can tweet during games with your buddies waiting for something to happen. If you want to skip the game and wait to be alerted that something magical happened, followed by your Twitter account exploding and the inevitable YouTube link getting forwarded around, you can do that, too. Either way, it's 2011 and you can consume Blake Griffin any way you want.

Bill Simmons, ESPN

[TheNewEra]

I would bet Blake would kill the Front office if the traded for Andre Miller

[SportsFan215]

I LOL'd so hard when I read Andre Miller's name there.

[PlinkingPanda]

I would want the entire FO wiped clean if that ass came to this team. You don't surround young players with whiny punks like him.

[playaloc916]

That would be a sight. I wonder what Blake and Miller's first conversation would be like, if there was one to begin with.

[Det the Threat]

Just found that on Yahoo

Rasual Butler(notes), F, Los Angeles Clippers: Butler is hoping for a fresh start after playing sparingly for the Clippers this season, a league source said. The Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Nets are interested in the long-range shooter. Butler is making $2.4 million in the final year of his contract.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A ... zzer021811

I doubt we'll get more then an expiring and some protected 2nd rounder, if we don't add anything else.

Or do we even buy him out?

[mkwest]

Just found that on Yahoo

Rasual Butler(notes), F, Los Angeles Clippers: Butler is hoping for a fresh start after playing sparingly for the Clippers this season, a league source said. The Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Nets are interested in the long-range shooter. Butler is making $2.4 million in the final year of his contract.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A ... zzer021811

I doubt we'll get more then an expiring and some protected 2nd rounder, if we don't add anything else.

Or do we even buy him out?

I'm kind of expecting him to be bought out soon. EJ and Willie should be back next week and Butler wasn't even able to really log any minutes while they were out. The good thing is that he remained positive and supportive even while being relegated to the bench. He has not had anything negative to say or voice out and I respect that. It would be great if we could get a 2nd rounder for him, but I wouldn't anticipate that.

[mkwest]

Modifying the Draft

While there wasn't much negotiating during the meeting and very little progress was made, one intriguing concept was proposed by the players. Rather than changing the salary structure to level the playing field for small market teams, an alternative was proposed that would involve making drastic changes to the draft process.

The union made the argument that the quickest way to turn around "crummy" teams is through the draft. Because first-round picks have become so valuable in today's NBA and many teams have had success building a roster with this model, the union feels that the best way to increase parity is to focus the draft around the underachieving teams.

The fourteen non-playoff teams that make up the lottery would not only receive the first fourteen picks, but the next fourteen as well. The team that wins the lottery would receive the first overall pick as well as the fifteenth overall pick. The second team on the clock would also own the sixteenth pick, the third picking team would also own the seventeenth pick and so on.

Each team would receive two first-round selections so that the top twenty-eight players go to the teams that are struggling and the playoff teams that need the least help receive second-round talent. Those playoff teams would follow the same structure in the second round with two late picks each. The union is willing to lower the number to the eight worst teams, but they feel this is a much better way for the league to level the playing field.

Alex Kennedy, HoopsWorld

The players union is proposing that the 14 non-playoff teams have 2 first round picks in a snake order. 2 round (28-60) goes to the playoff teams in a snake order. I don't know about that one. It would drastically improve the non-playoff teams, but teams that just barely make the playoffs would be screwed. They pretty much get stuck where they are until they drop out into the non-playoff team pool.

[mkwest]

It sounds like Korolev jacked up his knee. I hope it's not too serious.

In case you already had a few bumps in the road of CB Granada, yesterday fell another more far-reaching, which became yet another setback for the club this season Nazari. Yaroslav Korolev will not play again this season after an MRI that was performed on his right knee has been detected in their articulation many injuries, some of them quite serious.

Among the ailments found the fracture of the external tibial plateau, complete rupture of the posterior cruciate ligament and partially torn medial collateral ligament. For these multiple injuries to his knee, the medical services of CB Granada considered extremely complicated that the player can return in the remainder of the campaign. However, he will continue practicing evidence 'Yari' to confirm such a serious prognosis. Nothing presaged that fateful outcome when Pietrus fell on him to Korolev in the second quarter of Saturday's meeting with the Power Electronics Valencia. In fact, the player himself said after the game that "I received a blow and it hurts me, but as I feel I do not think it's something serious." Subsequently be left the Palacio de los Deportes like that, just limping a little.

ideal.es