DJ needs to go, and definitely does NOT deserve the max.

[og15]

Not sure about that. If your plan was followed, the Clippers would have no player that is more valuable signed and based on the free agents last season, any cap space gained would have been used to resign useless guys they resigned or to sign worse / less valuable contracts and would not have the great trade asset the is DJ on a contract that only has 1+1 PO left and is below max since the cap increased.

This is also a player who has All-Star, All-Defense, All-NBA all tagged to him and has fairly good value and perception to teams around the league.

This is what I said before, signing him was good because when the cap goes up he's not only a value contract relative to others, he's a Clipper who can be traded for actual value. Losing him for nothing is losing an asset, and every good GM knows that you never want to just lose assets for nothing.

That's also what West said when asked about Paul and Griffin and whether they keep the so called "big 3" intact. You want to protect your assets. After you protect your assets then you can determine what comes next, but the first part is the most important part. That's why decisions shouldn't be made on emotional reactions or personal feelings.

[mttwlsn16]

Looks like the great Jerry West agrees with me:

Read on Twitter

Leave it to you to bump your own thread the hasn't been posted in for more than 6 months

[basketballwacko2]

Well I'm not sure if DJ was going to demand the max, or if we would even give him the max.

DJ's defense has never been about his man to man defense, so I wouldn't call his defense a product of what C's can or can't do. The biggest need with big men on defense is their help defense, pick and roll, getting to spots and rotating, communication, weak side shot blocking.

What if you could get Paul George for DJ and a #1 pick in 2021?

[madmaxmedia]

Well, DJ is basically the one trade asset we have, so it's good to see the wheels in motion. I read the Clippers were exploring this even before Jerry was brought on, but I feel much better with Jerry overseeing (or helping to oversee) whatever overall game plan the Clippers have. If the wheels finally are falling off this wagon, then at least we hired Jerry before it was too late. I don't know if I could stomach a Doc Rivers 'rebuild'.

I think DJ can be a good piece on a good team, but he has a particular bag of skills and so there has to be a good fit. And that fit on the Clippers is starting to show its limits. Doc is a grinder which I actually respect in a coach, but Jerry will offer a much needed perspective from higher up/longer term.

I'm sort of conflicted on what I'm hoping will happen over the next couple of months. I guess the ideal situation would be to re-sign one or both of Chris and Blake, and also a good return for DJ giving us at least a good pick this year or next, something like that. In a way the worst case scenario would be business as usual, and Doc continuing to trade draft picks for ineffective vets. But I don't think that's going to happen any more. There's Doc, there's Jerry, and then there's Steve who will make the final decision and I think he will generally go with Jerry.

[madmaxmedia]

Well I'm not sure if DJ was going to demand the max, or if we would even give him the max.

DJ's defense has never been about his man to man defense, so I wouldn't call his defense a product of what C's can or can't do. The biggest need with big men on defense is their help defense, pick and roll, getting to spots and rotating, communication, weak side shot blocking.

What if you could get Paul George for DJ and a #1 pick in 2021?

It would be very dicey, with the Lakers starting to clear significant cap room for next year. If we could somehow simultaneously pull off that trade, and then sign-and-trade Blake (if we even can) for a better complementary piece, then I would strongly consider that IF PG expressed a genuine interest in staying longer than a year.

But in the real world I think any such scenarios fall apart, there are too many moving pieces right now with Blake, CP3 and Redick entering free agency, and PG entering free agency next year.