2017 Offseason Thread

MartinToVaught · Post #541 » by **MartinToVaught** » Fri Jul 14, 2017 6:38 pm

I'd be shocked if Kawhi wasn't at the top of West's wish list in 2019. Yes, I know he was Klay's #1 fan with the Warriors. But Kawhi is the far better player, he was born and raised in LA, and West has referred to him as his "favorite current player."

https://www.poundingtherock.com/2016/6/6/11872682/jerry-west-likes-kawhi-leonar-nba-san-antonio-spurs

Enticing him away from the Spurs won't be easy, but I think we can do it if we stay respectable in the post-CP3 era and the Spurs fail to get another star for him to play with.

Ranma · Post #542 » by **Ranma** » Fri Jul 14, 2017 7:01 pm

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MartinToVaught · Post #543 » by **MartinToVaught** » Fri Jul 14, 2017 7:08 pm

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Ranma · Post #544 » by **Ranma** » Fri Jul 14, 2017 7:54 pm

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Ranma · Post #545 » by **Ranma** » Fri Jul 14, 2017 8:53 pm

I haven't listened to the interview yet but I'm certainly looking forward to hearing from Jeff Weltman, who's another former Clippers employee whose contributions stood out to me during his time with the organization during the Sterling years. We seemed to find gems with players cited by Weltman as contributing his input.

I valued his acumen for identifying talent and he has since had an impressive rise with other organizations upon leaving the Clippers, though he was apparently once considered for the GM position with the Clips. With stops in Denver and Detroit, Weltman was with the Bucks when they drafted Giannis Atentokuonmpo, then served as Masai Ujiri' right-hand man in turning the Raptors around, and is now President of Basketball Operations for the Magic. We certainly missed out when he left.

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EuropeanBball · Post #546 » by **EuropeanBball** » Fri Jul 14, 2017 11:37 pm

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Ranma · Post #547 » by **Ranma** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 12:08 am

EuropeanBball wrote:

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Neddy · Post #548 » by **Neddy** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 2:06 am

that doesn't matter as we are a different team going forward. other than a few, the expectation is not about winning it all but getting farther than the second round for now.

Post #549 » by **mkwest** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 4:53 am

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Ranma · Post #550 » by **Ranma** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 8:18 am

DieHardFan wrote:I agree with what you sad in general. But for the bold part, I think West's efforts and chess moves alone are not gonna be enough to accomplish a true BIG3 in Clipperland. Our entire organization should take role this kind of recruiting notably Blake Griffin himself.

This is something i'd expect from Griffin hereafter since he's now the face of the franchise. That's a new frontier for him. There's a role for him he needs to embrace just like freaking Parsons recruiting DJ at 2015 or Wade recruiting James and Bosh at 2010 or James Harden recruiting CP3 last year. I dont think anyone coming over here to play for Clippers without that.

Very true what you said. Jerry West can't do it alone but Doc and Blake can be hindrances just as likely as they are to help in free agency. Doc is a smooth talker who got Danilo Gallinari to buy in, but as MartinToVaught showed us recently, free agents could just as likely avoid us because of the impression that he's coasting in a cushy gig and on a worn-out reputation for winning something once. Griffin isn't exactly a natural as a pitchman to NBA free agents despite the amount of commercials featuring him. He would need to have a monster season in order for other stars to want to hitch their wagon to him, but injuries have been routine for him. If he gets hurt again, prospective candidates will not give the Clippers serious consideration.

We can count on Ballmer to be the money bags and bring the enthusiasm with his grand vision with pomp and circumstance, but at the end of the day, star free agents want to team up with special star players and not over immensely rich owners no matter how affable he is.

Captain Ballmer · Post #551 » by **Captain Ballmer** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 9:21 am

DieHardFan wrote:
wco81 wrote:This is getting national attention. Or at least ESPN wants to play it up.
It seems most of the Clippers fans here are in favor of keeping this team, not necessarily with the expectation that they will break through, but only because you can't let key assets, who can still make this a 50-60 win team, just walk away.

We haven't playing a good basketball since 14-2 run starting the season. Sadly, we represent every single bad habit a winning team should avoid. Our team is lazy, laid back and soft that involves tons of emotional, self-seeker, uncompetent morons whom prioritizing his pockets over winning. I'm struggling to find a way to support those group of players and coaches. If you want an evidence, just see the homecourt game 7, the team just quit. Only guy who were still trying was Felton forcing his next paycheck to look better unfortunately.

Winning is a culture he haven't had obviously. You can see it in the Utah Jazz team when you face them, they are a team who enjoys the basketball, cares more about winning than flashy plays, smart-tough-resiliance team.

Years of Spurs, Warriors for last 4 years, and now Utah... Even healthy in the future, we can't beat them with this mentality. we need a serious change sooner rather than later. Team is just not responding.

I don't want to see Doc rivers and his soft, drama queen players in this team anymore. No JJ, Jamal, Pierce, DJ, CP3.

Only way i would be OK with that massive contract CP3 would get is that we sign-and-trade it to get a guy like Kyrie irving from Cavs.

Time to blow this.

4 out of 5 on the players side. Great summer so far. I'm pretty much sure we will move DJ at the trade deadline too. That brings us, Doc Rivers still on the realm is the only thing keeps it from being excellent off-season.

Quake Griffin · Post #552 » by **Quake Griffin** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 1:37 pm

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Ranma · Post #553 » by **Ranma** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 5:27 pm

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Ranma · Post #554 » by **Ranma** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 8:18 pm

I already knew that the Clippers used to have John Hammond, Neil Olshey, and obviously Jeff Weltman on staff, but I forgot we used to also have Quin Snyder as well. I totally didn't know that R.C. Buford was with us before being an integral part of the Spurs executive leadership. Wow! If we were a competent organization during the Sterling years, we could have been at the forefront of NBA front offices.

It's also interesting that Weltman noted that figuring out where players would be drafted was so much more certain back in the day than it is now with the misinformation and gamesmanship employed nowadays with the easy access to information. Wojnarowski points out how there's less of a camaraderie and brotherhood among GMs helping each other out rather than a more cut-throat competition among them now.

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clips4ever · Post #555 » by **clips4ever** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 8:49 pm

Why does no one look at Ettore Messina? The man is going to be a hell of a coach onces he gets an opportunity. If we fire Doc and hire Messina it would be one of the best summers in Clippers history.

Ranma · Post #556 » by **Ranma** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 9:09 pm

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Ranma · Post #557 » by **Ranma** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 9:18 pm

clips4ever wrote:Why does no one look at Ettore Messina? The man is going to be a hell of a coach onces he gets an opportunity. If we fire Doc and hire Messina it would be one of the best summers in Clippers history.

I've actually advocated for the Clippers to hire him in the past back before we hired Vinny Del Negro, I think as I don't remember for sure. He's now an assistant coach with the Spurs and I believe he's being groomed to take over for Popovich. Heck, if we can pry him or Pop from San Antonio, I would support it. I just don't see it happening given the line of succession he's aligned in.

MartinToVaught · Post #558 » by **MartinToVaught** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 9:44 pm

Pop's not leaving San Antonio, but Messina might. It wasn't that long ago that Budenholzer was assumed to be the Spurs' coach-in-waiting. I still think Itoudis would be an even better choice if we were to hire a Euro coach, because of the Teodosic connection.

Wammy Giveaway · Post #559 » by **Wammy Giveaway** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 10:01 pm

Ranma wrote:I've actually advocated for the Clippers to hire him in the past back before we hired Vinny Del Negro, I think as I don't remember for sure. He's now an assistant coach with the Spurs and I believe he's being groomed to take over for Popovich. Heck, if we can pry him or Pop from San Antonio, I would support it. I just don't see it happening given the line of succession he's aligned in.

The Clippers would have to do a compensation trade to acquire Messina. Problem is, the Clips are once again deprived of draft picks, the Rockets 1st round pick acquired from the Chris Paul trade was used in a sign-and-trade for Danilo Gallinari. They would have to trade Wesley Johnson and/or Brice Johnson to another team to get a pick first before contacting the Spurs about Messina.

Oh yeah - Clips and Spurs would be under a gag order: can't trade with each other for a full year.

But I think Martin would jump in on the trade if the silver lining in the deal was getting rid of Doc Rivers. And that's my main issue with the Clippers as of now: using the powers of business to deal with personal matters.

Post #560 » by **mkwest** » Sat Jul 15, 2017 11:01 pm

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