Clipper 2015 Offseason

[Ranma]

I agree. Our options look to be dwindling. Losing Hudson's temporary salary cap number hurts the Clippers' ability to build up a package to bring back a bigger contract in trade. It seems like Cleveland is the only remaining suitor for Crawford, but it is increasingly likely that the Cavs will bring back J.R. Smith, which would negate the need for Jamal. I like JayClips92 proposal of Collison from the Kings, but Lawson's latest DUI incident may hamper interest unless Denver waives him, which the Nuggets are reportedly considering but seems unlikely given the remaining 2 years and $25.6 million remainin on his deal.

With the anticipated waiving of Hudson and apparent keeping of Crawford, there may be 3 roster spots left if Hamilton is also let go. One spot is reserved for either Josh Smith or Darrell Arthur; I suspect Arthur will be signed quickly if and when Smith signs elsewhere. So that leaves two roster spots for signing a performer from training camp, signing another free agent, and/or bringing back someone from the 2014-15 roster.

Options include Liam McMorrow, Nate Wolters, D.J. Newbill, Royce White, John Lucas III, Kendrick Perkins, Big Baby, and Jordan Hamilton. I think Hamilton will be kept due to the flexibility of his contract through January 10th. It also seems likely that one roster spot will go to the best newcomer from training camp. The last spot will probably go to a retread like Baby or Lucas. Flexibility from those remaining roster spots, particularly Hamilton's, would allow the team to move quickly to sign a suddenly available player like Emeka Okafor or a surprise roster waiving.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/latbbolch/status/621363150437220352[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/latbbolch/status/621376213647405061[/tweet]

[nickhx2]

i wonder if us not signing arthur (yet) is because we've been waiting on josh smith's decision.

ugh

also i keep looking at our roster and thinking "there's no way jamal fits here, he has to be traded" and then realizing doc rivers is still our gm and coach and getting really depressed.

[Captain Ballmer]

I think, Doc can always move Crawford till deadline. When the right time(partner team) comes, you could easily find better one than today's garbage offers.

Upcoming season Jamaal will be 36 yo. So, he does not have to play more than 15 minutes per game. The problem that we saw in the last playoff's is Doc letting Jamaal who was playing like 30 minutes a game, like a starter with CP3-JJ-BG, unlikely what we need!! Jamaal could be more effective if Doc used him like a 15'ish minutes veteran bench player instead of starter who gots a wild card for insane amount of shooting and steals scenes of our actual Stars!!

Keep Crawford's playing time and role limited. He'll probably being better on shooting and stays fresh, only after that trade him. His basketball value could be less than know, but a finishing contract is always looks good in February!!

[nickhx2]

hello, welcome to the board.

not to shoot you down because i think in general what you say makes sense for an over the hill veteran. but how does limiting crawford's playing time fix the hole in his brain?

dude is one of the dumbest players you'll ever find in the nba both on offense and defense. changing how much he plays in a game will only limit his volume, not his quality.

[Ranma]

At least Hidayet Turkoglu is no longer in consideration, right? That's kind of progress...I guess. I'm also hopeful Doc doesn't bring back a worn-out retread like Kendrick Perkins. Even though I like Big Baby's energy, he's another player I'm not inclined to have back given his continual negative overall play.

I do get the feeling that we're waiting on Smith's answer before moving onto Arthur. Obviously, a worst-case scenario is that Arthur is picked up by another team just before J-Smoove signs elsewhere. I'm hearing the Clippers, Rockets, and Kings are the current front-runners for Smith's services. The Kings can offer the most money out of the trio of teams, but Smith's next contract would be "set-off" from what the Pistons are paying him in the stretching out of the remaining money owed to him, so Smith will only receive a portion of any "additional" money during the next 5 years in the form of new contract(s) signed.


Eric Pincus, BasketballInsiders.com (1/16/15)

Because Smith had two years left on his contract, the $27 million owed will hit the team’s salary cap at $5.4 million over each of the next five seasons.

That’s a hefty penalty, but one General Manager and Coach Stan Van Gundy was clearly willing to pay.

Had Smith been waived during the past offseason, after June but before September, his entire salary would have been stretched over seven seasons at $5.1 million. Instead, Detroit has a single charge of Smith’s $13.5 million salary for the 2014-15 campaign.

By signing with the Rockets, a portion of Smith’s salary with be “set-off” from what the Pistons owe him.

The set-off amount is his $13.5 million, less the salary of a player with one year’s experience ($816k this season, $845k the following, etc.), divided by two. For Smith, it’s ($2.077 – $816k)/2, or $630k.

The Rockets will pay the full amount of Smith’s new contract, but the Pistons are absolved of that $630k from their $13.5 million debt.

Set-off will be computed each year. If Smith signs a deal next season, starting at $5 million, the set-off would be $2.1 million. If he cashes in at $10.8 million for 2015-16, the Piston’s obligation would shrink to nothing for next year.

Smith will only net an additional portion of his new salary ($1.4 million for the current year, $2.9 million of a $5 million salary or $5.8 million at $10 million).

Cap 101 – The Stretch Provision and Offset

[Ranma]

Melissa Rohlin, Los Angeles Times (1/15/15)

On Tuesday, Crawford said on Twitter that he was unsure whether he would be part of the team next season.

During a Q&A with fans he was asked whether he was still with the Clippers. His response: "I think".

Crawford was also asked why he's not a starter for a different team. His response: "??"
...

On Tuesday a fan asked Crawford how he copes with the rumors. Responded Crawford: "go work even harder".

Jamal Crawford Expresses Doubt He'll be with the Clippers Next Season

[nickhx2]

turkoglu clearly needs to go but i think davis gets a lot of unfair flak.

he's a solid defensive player with high energy but a lot of limitations. when you put him next to guys like hawes/hedo/crawford and the like he's gonna be pretty horrible. he's not a guy who can carry the second unit by himself and cover deficiencies left by the trash cans we had playing for us last year.

the thing to me is that solid defensive/energy guys like him tend to give you more than they're worth when you stick them together all at once. if the entire 2nd unit can be better than neutral he'll do his part and look good enough. if rivers/wes/lance give us great defensive efforts night in and night out then davis is going to stand out as well. but if they're bad we'll end up getting what we got last year from davis.

so i think it would be a huge mistake to let him go. i don't mind if he's relegated to 3rd PF on the depth chart or even our main backup center if we get darrell arthur or josh smith as our main backup PF. but he can give us some juice still and in spite of all that he can be used almost exclusively as an expiring contract to be traded away. if we re-up him for 5m we can package him, crawford (if he's unfortunately still on the team), lance, etc. and get a bigger fish back who is making 20m. that's pretty useful.

anyway, he's an asset on a team lacking them, so letting him walk would be bad for us.

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/EricPincus/status/621503096707878912[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/bedardnick/status/621461598155116544[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/FredKatz/status/621504089847824384[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/FredKatz/status/621504638290759680[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/FredKatz/status/621505235182157824[/tweet]

[LACtdom]

In my (bias) eyes, Hedo adds more value than Jamal. At least Hedo can knock down open 3's and has a locker room presence.

[Method28]

I'm not a Jamal fan really, however I think the bashing is getting a little out of hand here lol

Jamal is a still a weapon on offense. If we keep him, we could do a lot worse. If we move him, I just hope its for something of value.

[Dynamix]

Jamal is one of those weapons that looks really nice, but should never be taken out of the gun cabinet because it backfires often. Trading him would be the final piece of a solid offseason. Getting something decent in return might make me start to come around on GM Doc.

[nickhx2]

Jamal is one of those weapons that looks really nice, but should never be taken out of the gun cabinet because it backfires often. Trading him would be the final piece of a solid offseason. Getting something decent in return might make me start to come around on GM Doc.

pretty much this. damn near blew off the entire arm a couple times.

i'd say trading him would be the cap to a GREAT offseason. being able to offload crawford while at the same time solidifying one of our last true needs would be nothing short of amazing.

i just can't tell if if there's an actual center out there we could pursue or if trading for another SF would be best. perhaps a 3-way trade can be had where we can snag ian mahinmi and pacers pick up something they're interested in (what that is, i don't know).

[playaloc916]

Melissa Rohlin, Los Angeles Times (1/15/15)

On Tuesday, Crawford said on Twitter that he was unsure whether he would be part of the team next season.

Crawford was also asked why he's not a starter for a different team. His response: "??"
...

Jamal Crawford Expresses Doubt He'll be with the Clippers Next Season

Yeah I'm sure there are teams beating down his door to have him as a starter. Whatever teams that are in rebuild should quickly trade for him so that he can be their tank commander.

Remember when we had Danny Granger? Doc should be giving him a role like he did Granger. Minutes during blowouts, or as necessary due to injuries. Even Tracy McGrady had a very reasonable role during his final years. 10~15 minutes, a couple of points and assists, I wouldn't be mad at that. But as long as Doc is expecting him to be an actual game changer, it's not going to work. Maybe the reduction in minutes will actually make him "work harder" as he tweeted, and he could go back to being the instant offense player he used to be years ago. I don't know, but it seems like Crawford has some passive aggressiveness about him, which could cause some locker room issues.

I would agree to hold onto him only if Doc reduces his role. No more of this wildcard/x-factor stuff. There could be some teams that thinks he can still provide a scoring spark off the bench. I doubt his value is going to go any lower at this point.

[Quake Griffin]

I'd get off Doc's case for certain if Jamal was dealt.

Jamal is becoming attached to Doc in a way that is not good. Doc can buy himself some points here by dealing him….He can buy himself extra points if he can turn Jamal into a contributor.

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/JCrossover/status/622074505695891456[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/JCrossover/status/622078296671387649[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/DanWoikeSports/status/622079678946226176[/tweet]

[Worm122]

What about Andre Miller? I think he is a good veteran point guard

[nickhx2]

too old. hates the clippers. clippers hate him back.

really, it's difficult to name someone i detest more in this league.

[Worm122]

too old. hates the clippers. clippers hate him back.

really, it's difficult to name someone i detest more in this league.

why man? i didnt now this beef

[nickhx2]

you know? i really have no idea. but when he came over in the darius miles trade he just wasn't having any of it. talked crap about the entire org. not that it was unfounded, but we had a real chance to do something special and he just mailed it in completely from the minute he walked in.

ever since then it's been a hatefest between the two, especially when he tackled blake and then was pissed at the league for suspending him.

[Ranma]

why man? i didnt now this beef

you know? i really have no idea. but when he came over in the darius miles trade he just wasn't having any of it. talked crap about the entire org. not that it was unfounded, but we had a real chance to do something special and he just mailed it in completely from the minute he walked in.

ever since then it's been a hatefest between the two, especially when he tackled blake and then was pissed at the league for suspending him.

Apparently, the Clippers are not the only NBA team on Ratface Miller's hate list:

Marc J. Spears, Yahoo Sports (2/15/14)

The Nuggets were reportedly attempting to bring back the veteran but the relationship is beyond repair, according to the source.

"The vibe is delusional," the source said. "It's a burned bridge. No reconciliation. He's waiting by the door with his bag already packed. The relationship is irreparable. Under no circumstances does he want to come back to Denver.
...

Sources said Nuggets coach Brian Shaw also has no interest in bringing back Miller and the two have not spoken with one another about a possible return. Miller was suspended two games in January after yelling at Shaw during a game.

Source: Andre Miller Not Interested in Denver Return


Bill Simmons, ESPN (6/24/09)

Summer 2002: The Clips break up Q and D-Miles -- whose partnership doubled as the only happy thing to happen to the team in 10 years -- by sending Miles to Cleveland for Andre Miller. Poor Andre hates being a Clipper so much that when we approach him that season to appear in a taped "Jimmy Kimmel Live" piece about his teammates' cars, Miller hisses, "Man, I ain't doing s--- for the Clippers!" and walks away. That's your new team, Blake.

Open Letter to Blake Griffin


Jason Quick, The Oregonian (2/3/11)

When told Aldridge did not make the team, Miller cursed.

“It’s all publicity and hype,’’ Miller said. “The league don’t appreciate the blue collar workers. They don’t appreciate that. They make their money off the high-flyers ... That’s a slap in the face to LA.’’

What particularly irked Miller, who is in his 12th NBA season, is the selection of Griffin, the Clippers rookie. Griffin is averaging 23.0 points and 12.7 rebounds.

“They are putting this guy on every ESPN highlight. Yeah, it’s cool because fans want to see that, but you isolate him from his team,’’ Miller said. “Especially ... he ain’t made nobody better. It’s basically his rookie year, as an All-Star? LeBron James didn’t make an All-Star team as a rookie.’’

Miller, of course, has a history with Griffin. Miller’s streak of 632 consecutive games played -- the longest active streak in the NBA -- was snapped in December when the NBA suspended Miller for bulldozing into Griffin. Miller’s physical actions was retaliation for two pushes in the back by Griffin earlier.

“LA was supposed to make it. He was supposed to make it,’’ Miller continued. “We have a better record than those guys (the 19-29 Clippers), and LA is putting up just as good numbers. Now, you are not going to see a lot of highlights -- Blake Griffin highlights and stuff like that -- but they are giving these young guys too much respect. Too much respect to the young guys. It’s good for him personally; I’m not no hater. But I am biased toward my teammate. No. 1, we have better record, and No. 2, (Aldridge) is just as good and he has paid his dues.’’

The LaMarcus Aldridge All-Star Snub: Aldridge Understands, But Andre Miller Doesn't


[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQrNYIBw3fw[/youtube]