2010 season, looking back after five years

[Don Tommy]

I'm a big "what if" kinda guy, so I looked back to where our team was five years ago. We had just drafted AFA and Willie (Warren, not the better Willie Green that came later), we had Blake in his rookie year, Eric Gordon, DJ, Baron Davis and Ryan Gomes starting for us. For the bench we had Brian Cook missing threes, Rhino playing his ass off, Bledsoe still learning, Randy Foye and Rasual Butler (until he was released) rounding out the bench with AFA. Kaman was hurt, playing in only 32 games. In season we traded for Mo Williams (more on that trade later)

Predictably we sucked, finishing 13th in the western conference. It was fun watching Blake and Gordon, and I believe that was the year where DTS would yell at Baron Davis from the sidelines. But that was basically it. DJ started 66 games compared to Kaman's 15. That was the start of him becoming the player he is now. We only had two winning months, and in Feb we went 2 -12.

But that's not why the season fascinated me. It was what happened with our draft pick that year and the events that occured in the draft itself. The number one pick went to the Cavs, winning the lottery with the pick we gave them in the Baron Davis - Mo Williams trade. (I know we wanted to get rid of Baron, but I hate giving up first rounds picks in trades unless they bring in a good player. At least we are done with doing those kind of trades! (Wait, Jared Dudley you say? Trading a first rounder for a coach that was going to be bought out anyways? Yeah, we still are the Clippers of old at times)

So I looked at what would have happened if that trade never happened. A lot of assumptions, you never know how we would have finished, if we would have won the lottery. So going into the draft, because we had Bledsoe and Baron Davis (never traded) we wouldn't have drafted Kyrie. We would have gone for Derrick Williams as an athletic 3, and I would have loved the pick. Bledsoe, Gordon, Williams, Blake and DJ. In the second round we took Trey... one pick before DJs best friend, Chandler Parsons. Funny how life works out!

[QRich3]

I gotta be the first to eat crow, when the Paul trade happened I was a bit pissed because we had given up the chance at a proper rebuild, we gave away a player that would be better than Paul in a few years in EJ, a pick sure to be a future allstar (it ended up being Austin), and we would've had capspace to sign Deron Williams in free agency anyway, who (I thought) was not a worse player than Paul and fitted perfectly as a big PG next to EJ. Goes to show you how little a clue I have about predicting future development heh

So happy we made the trade, we have been a fringe contender or close to it for a few years, we've had several of the kind of nail-biting playoff series that we had barely ever had the chance to enjoy, and it seems like it's gonna keep being like that for a few years still.

Letting the imagination run wild though, there was a little chance we could've kept EJ and Aminu, keep the draft pick and take Irving, then using the amnesty clause to dump Baron, instead of spending a pick in doing it, and maybe draft someone useful with the Minny pick (say Drummond falls one more spot?). That could've developed into a title team too, but too many things would have to go our way to be realistic. And we'd probably still have DTS and Vinny running things

[Don Tommy]

That's why it's fun to look back. I do it every year. By the way I felt the exact same way as you with the trade. I forgot about the Minny pick though. That was like gold to us!

[Neddy]

if we didn't trade that pick for Mo, that would have turned into a 10th or 12th pick and not #1 overall. David Stern was a crook and he owed what's his name who owns the Cavs some major favor after letting Lebron go and his franchise's worth was downed by half, all the bouncing balls in the bubble, we only see a random ball pop out but did that ball really come from the bubble? nowadays they don't even show the pingpong balls, do they? remember that one year when NBA brought one special guest who was suffering from some random genetic disease, and that team won the #1 overall? then they brought in that widow of Bullets owner and boom! they get John Wall. each of them were the only ones brought in, and neither was supposed to be #1. I love my clippers, of course. but NBA as a whole is a con league. players play for real. the coaches coach for real, but the refs are bought. they can heavily tilt the odds like 2001 western conference championship game 6. some overcome, most don't. but I believe after spending 2 billion on the clips, Adam Silver owes a favor to our big ole Steve. we are never gonna be given anything, but this year we won't be fought against either.

this is it!!! 2016 NBA champs barring injury.

anywho. yeah I play those alternate reality all the time myself. what if Bo Jackson didn't dislocate his hip? or tried to pop it back in which severed his femoral artery? I see Art Shell's Raiders winning the 4th within two seasons from his injury, and young Tim Brown hoisting the Vince Lombardi trophy. what if Darren Dreifort worked out as he was supposed to? and we had Darren as an Ace caliber pitcher he was supposed to be, and still had Hideo Nomo and ChanHo Park blow up as they did, Ismael Valdez becoming a good back of the rotation guy, and Ramon Martinez was still at the top of game while our back to back to back rookies of the year position players were rocking the dodger stadium?

but most of all, what if Larry Brown stayed...... and he was our coach all these time. despite DTS I think we could have won it at least once.

[Don Tommy]

The Darren Dreifort thing still hurts Neddy...
And Bo Jackson is the greatest athlete I have ever seen. Can you imagine him full speed running down the court? No one would have stopped him. To this day there has been no greater injury that changed a sport like Bo's. That's why as much as I hated it personally, I supported Barry Sanders retiring early.

[Neddy]

The Darren Dreifort thing still hurts Neddy...
And Bo Jackson is the greatest athlete I have ever seen. Can you imagine him full speed running down the court? No one would have stopped him. To this day there has been no greater injury that changed a sport like Bo's. That's why as much as I hated it personally, I supported Barry Sanders retiring early.

you know Barry retired early because his own father was a fan of walter payton and did not wish to break his pop's hero's record, which Emmit Smith ended up doing just that anyhow.

I still hang Bo's autographed picture in a frame to this day, as he will always be the #1 athlete I have ever had the privilege to watch in his prime. it really was amazing to watch him come back from his hip replacement surgery and still be the slugger he was on a baseball field.

GOAT ever.

[raul28]

Even though the Clippers had a losing season, my brother and I would enjoy watching every game on TV just because it was a very fun team.

[Chronz]

if we didn't trade that pick for Mo, that would have turned into a 10th or 12th pick and not #1 overall. David Stern was a crook and he owed what's his name who owns the Cavs some major favor after letting Lebron go and his franchise's worth was downed by half, all the bouncing balls in the bubble, we only see a random ball pop out but did that ball really come from the bubble? nowadays they don't even show the pingpong balls, do they? remember that one year when NBA brought one special guest who was suffering from some random genetic disease, and that team won the #1 overall? then they brought in that widow of Bullets owner and boom! they get John Wall. each of them were the only ones brought in, and neither was supposed to be #1. I love my clippers, of course. but NBA as a whole is a con league. players play for real. the coaches coach for real, but the refs are bought. they can heavily tilt the odds like 2001 western conference championship game 6. some overcome, most don't. but I believe after spending 2 billion on the clips, Adam Silver owes a favor to our big ole Steve. we are never gonna be given anything, but this year we won't be fought against either.

this is it!!! 2016 NBA champs barring injury.

anywho. yeah I play those alternate reality all the time myself. what if Bo Jackson didn't dislocate his hip? or tried to pop it back in which severed his femoral artery? I see Art Shell's Raiders winning the 4th within two seasons from his injury, and young Tim Brown hoisting the Vince Lombardi trophy. what if Darren Dreifort worked out as he was supposed to? and we had Darren as an Ace caliber pitcher he was supposed to be, and still had Hideo Nomo and ChanHo Park blow up as they did, Ismael Valdez becoming a good back of the rotation guy, and Ramon Martinez was still at the top of game while our back to back to back rookies of the year position players were rocking the dodger stadium?

but most of all, what if Larry Brown stayed...... and he was our coach all these time. despite DTS I think we could have won it at least once.

Paranoid as ever. There is no way to rig the draft these days, too many witnesses/team reps, they actually let a 3rd party firm oversee the event (some company thats worth far more than the NBA and stands nothing to gain from rigging), not to mention the only plausible way to rig it would be to weigh the balls differently, in which case they wouldn't let team reps take those balls as mementos. I mean the only way its rigged is if ALL the teams are in on it, which doesn't sound viable.

And if anything the 2001 WCF were rigged in favor of the Kings, I'd rather believe it was just an inconsistent ref job but there is no denying, if the games were called square, the Lakers win that series FAR sooner.

[Chronz]

Also, a what if revolving around Larry Brown staying is beyond unrealistic. His friends made jokes about his nomad quirks long before he joined the Clips. At some point the what ifs become unrealistic.

[Chronz]

That's why it's fun to look back. I do it every year. By the way I felt the exact same way as you with the trade. I forgot about the Minny pick though. That was like gold to us!

Minny was beyond desperate. I cant believe we got that pick for MARKO JARIC. A man best known for dating the hottest Victoria Secrets model ever. I really did like his game tho, 6"6 PG with a decent all-around game (save for defense).

[nickhx2]

the marko pick will always kill me because i was praying the clips would take this argentinian guard by the name of emmanuel ginnobili.

wonder whatever happened to that manu fella

[Neddy]

Paranoid as ever. There is no way to rig the draft these days, too many witnesses/team reps, they actually let a 3rd party firm oversee the event (some company thats worth far more than the NBA and stands nothing to gain from rigging), not to mention the only plausible way to rig it would be to weigh the balls differently, in which case they wouldn't let team reps take those balls as mementos. I mean the only way its rigged is if ALL the teams are in on it, which doesn't sound viable.

And if anything the 2001 WCF were rigged in favor of the Kings, I'd rather believe it was just an inconsistent ref job but there is no denying, if the games were called square, the Lakers win that series FAR sooner.

nice to see you too, Chronz. how is PSD? I hope you are getting along with those flaker mods and don't meet the fate of some of us here now because of it.

and no, I think you are quite naive. what do you think about John Boehner's retirement? not everything is what it seems. two special guests, one per each year, both very sympathetic figures.

14 X 14 = 196. that is one out of one hundred and ninety six odds. and you think I'm paranoid? and that is if the odds are 1/14 per draft. the actual odds, if you account for the probability of each team's percentage, at John Wall's draft, the Wizard had 3.5% to win the #1 pick, and 2.7% for the Cavs with our pick. that is 9.45/10000 chance. that is 0.000945%, my friend.

good to see you anyway, Chronie.

[Chronz]

Paranoid as ever. There is no way to rig the draft these days, too many witnesses/team reps, they actually let a 3rd party firm oversee the event (some company thats worth far more than the NBA and stands nothing to gain from rigging), not to mention the only plausible way to rig it would be to weigh the balls differently, in which case they wouldn't let team reps take those balls as mementos. I mean the only way its rigged is if ALL the teams are in on it, which doesn't sound viable.

And if anything the 2001 WCF were rigged in favor of the Kings, I'd rather believe it was just an inconsistent ref job but there is no denying, if the games were called square, the Lakers win that series FAR sooner.

nice to see you too, Chronz. how is PSD? I hope you are getting along with those flaker mods and don't meet the fate of some of us here now because of it.

and no, I think you are quite naive. what do you think about John Boehner's retirement? not everything is what it seems. two special guests, one per each year, both very sympathetic figures.

14 X 14 = 196. that is one out of one hundred and ninety six odds. and you think I'm paranoid? and that is if the odds are 1/14 per draft. the actual odds, if you account for the probability of each team's percentage, at John Wall's draft, the Wizard had 3.5% to win the #1 pick, and 2.7% for the Cavs with our pick. that is 9.45/10000 chance. that is 0.000945%, my friend.

good to see you anyway, Chronie.

Who?

I know the odds, doesn't change the facts I mentioned. Gimme the motive for a multi billion dollar corporation, then tell me why they allow reps to take the smoking gun behind the alleged rigging, then explain why everyone would be up for it.

Always a pleasure, nervous ned.

[Neddy]

Paranoid as ever. There is no way to rig the draft these days, too many witnesses/team reps, they actually let a 3rd party firm oversee the event (some company thats worth far more than the NBA and stands nothing to gain from rigging), not to mention the only plausible way to rig it would be to weigh the balls differently, in which case they wouldn't let team reps take those balls as mementos. I mean the only way its rigged is if ALL the teams are in on it, which doesn't sound viable.

And if anything the 2001 WCF were rigged in favor of the Kings, I'd rather believe it was just an inconsistent ref job but there is no denying, if the games were called square, the Lakers win that series FAR sooner.

nice to see you too, Chronz. how is PSD? I hope you are getting along with those flaker mods and don't meet the fate of some of us here now because of it.

and no, I think you are quite naive. what do you think about John Boehner's retirement? not everything is what it seems. two special guests, one per each year, both very sympathetic figures.

14 X 14 = 196. that is one out of one hundred and ninety six odds. and you think I'm paranoid? and that is if the odds are 1/14 per draft. the actual odds, if you account for the probability of each team's percentage, at John Wall's draft, the Wizard had 3.5% to win the #1 pick, and 2.7% for the Cavs with our pick. that is 9.45/10000 chance. that is 0.000945%, my friend.

good to see you anyway, Chronie.

Who?

I know the odds, doesn't change the facts I mentioned. Gimme the motive for a multi billion dollar corporation, then tell me why they allow reps to take the smoking gun behind the alleged rigging, then explain why everyone would be up for it.

Always a pleasure, nervous ned.

I would think that is rather obvious? David Stern was a commissioner not of an unbiased third party like the very first commish of MLB was, but was a carefully chosen by every owner of the league to represent their interest while disguising to be fair, just as Roger Goodell is for NFL today. he owed the bullet's owner his due as well as for the Cav's owner while their teams lost major market value. simple as that. if 0.000945% seems normal to you, I have no reason to elaborate, my friend.

[Neddy]

BTW, if you are not sure who John Boehner is, I have to say you must be a young man. hope you eventually pay attention to what is most important for our country, and it is not sports. he will be a very successful lobbyist and I have no doubt. a legal bribery does not mean it is moral or righteous, but it is the reality, my friend.

[Chronz]

nice to see you too, Chronz. how is PSD? I hope you are getting along with those flaker mods and don't meet the fate of some of us here now because of it.

and no, I think you are quite naive. what do you think about John Boehner's retirement? not everything is what it seems. two special guests, one per each year, both very sympathetic figures.

14 X 14 = 196. that is one out of one hundred and ninety six odds. and you think I'm paranoid? and that is if the odds are 1/14 per draft. the actual odds, if you account for the probability of each team's percentage, at John Wall's draft, the Wizard had 3.5% to win the #1 pick, and 2.7% for the Cavs with our pick. that is 9.45/10000 chance. that is 0.000945%, my friend.

good to see you anyway, Chronie.

Who?

I know the odds, doesn't change the facts I mentioned. Gimme the motive for a multi billion dollar corporation, then tell me why they allow reps to take the smoking gun behind the alleged rigging, then explain why everyone would be up for it.

Always a pleasure, nervous ned.

I would think that is rather obvious? David Stern was a commissioner not of an unbiased third party like the very first commish of MLB was, but was a carefully chosen by every owner of the league to represent their interest while disguising to be fair, just as Roger Goodell is for NFL today. he owed the bullet's owner his due as well as for the Cav's owner while their teams lost major market value. simple as that. if 0.000945% seems normal to you, I have no reason to elaborate, my friend.

Heres the thing, its also obviously not incriminating. If you cant explain away the facts or at the very least provide motives then you truly have nothing to elaborate on. David Stern had nothing to do with this 3rd party firm so Im not seeing the parallels. Unless I misunderstand you, are you actually suggesting that every team is in on the rigging? I dont pay attention to sports outside the NBA so ur not helping me here. He didn't owe those franchises a dime, losing market value they previously never held before drafting Bron doesn't add up. Why would he owe them anything when what you're alleging is that he has complete control? Its like he gave them Bron and now he owes them even more? LOL, just stop.

Again, the 3rd party firm has NOTHING to gain, they overshadow the profits the NBA makes, why jeopardize that? Why give away the evidence that would damn the league if anyone cared enough to inspect? The truth is, they wouldn't, UNLESS, the ENTIRE league was in on it. Are you willing to go that far?

[Neddy]

Who?

I know the odds, doesn't change the facts I mentioned. Gimme the motive for a multi billion dollar corporation, then tell me why they allow reps to take the smoking gun behind the alleged rigging, then explain why everyone would be up for it.

Always a pleasure, nervous ned.

I would think that is rather obvious? David Stern was a commissioner not of an unbiased third party like the very first commish of MLB was, but was a carefully chosen by every owner of the league to represent their interest while disguising to be fair, just as Roger Goodell is for NFL today. he owed the bullet's owner his due as well as for the Cav's owner while their teams lost major market value. simple as that. if 0.000945% seems normal to you, I have no reason to elaborate, my friend.

Heres the thing, its also obviously not incriminating. If you cant explain away the facts or at the very least provide motives then you truly have nothing to elaborate on. David Stern had nothing to do with this 3rd party firm so Im not seeing the parallels. Unless I misunderstand you, are you actually suggesting that every team is in on the rigging? I dont pay attention to sports outside the NBA so ur not helping me here. He didn't owe those franchises a dime, losing market value they previously never held before drafting Bron doesn't add up. Why would he owe them anything when what you're alleging is that he has complete control? Its like he gave them Bron and now he owes them even more? LOL, just stop.

Again, the 3rd party firm has NOTHING to gain, they overshadow the profits the NBA makes, why jeopardize that? Why give away the evidence that would damn the league if anyone cared enough to inspect? The truth is, they wouldn't, UNLESS, the ENTIRE league was in on it. Are you willing to go that far?

someday, you will grow up to understand how politics work. and as a business owner myself, I see a ton of corruption among my colleagues and how our industry buy lobbyists to make our will lawful no matter how corrupt it may be.

and for the record, my friend, John Boehner is the ousted speaker of the house who is retiring due to the **** crazies of his own party. smfh.

I have respect for you, my friend. but you need to grow the **** up.

[Neddy]

BTW, let everyone else who read our posts be the judge, I know your tendencies so I will stop here out of respect for my old pal. peace be with you, my friend.

[Chronz]

I would think that is rather obvious? David Stern was a commissioner not of an unbiased third party like the very first commish of MLB was, but was a carefully chosen by every owner of the league to represent their interest while disguising to be fair, just as Roger Goodell is for NFL today. he owed the bullet's owner his due as well as for the Cav's owner while their teams lost major market value. simple as that. if 0.000945% seems normal to you, I have no reason to elaborate, my friend.

Heres the thing, its also obviously not incriminating. If you cant explain away the facts or at the very least provide motives then you truly have nothing to elaborate on. David Stern had nothing to do with this 3rd party firm so Im not seeing the parallels. Unless I misunderstand you, are you actually suggesting that every team is in on the rigging? I dont pay attention to sports outside the NBA so ur not helping me here. He didn't owe those franchises a dime, losing market value they previously never held before drafting Bron doesn't add up. Why would he owe them anything when what you're alleging is that he has complete control? Its like he gave them Bron and now he owes them even more? LOL, just stop.

Again, the 3rd party firm has NOTHING to gain, they overshadow the profits the NBA makes, why jeopardize that? Why give away the evidence that would damn the league if anyone cared enough to inspect? The truth is, they wouldn't, UNLESS, the ENTIRE league was in on it. Are you willing to go that far?

someday, you will grow up to understand how politics work. and as a business owner myself, I see a ton of corruption among my colleagues and how our industry buy lobbyists to make our will lawful no matter how corrupt it may be.

and for the record, my friend, John Boehner is the ousted speaker of the house who is retiring due to the **** crazies of his own party. smfh.

I have respect for you, my friend. but you need to grow the **** up.

Someday you'll realize you need more than unsubstantiated opinions when faced against cold hard facts. Dont quit bro, we can always agree to disagree, just answer the Q's laid out for you.

You comparing your vague business venture to a multi billion dollar enterprise is beyond hubris, again, the firm has NOTHING to gain.

I dont need to do anything, Im quite comfortable with my FACTS when faced against such hollow complaints.

[Chronz]

BTW, let everyone else who read our posts be the judge, I know your tendencies so I will stop here out of respect for my old pal. peace be with you, my friend.

Take your case to the courts bro. If its soo obvious you would be able to provide some semblance of a motive and explain away the FACTS provided.