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How the Clips Can Win a Championship Next Year

I will give some free advice on how to assemble a championship-caliber team.  You never know, Mike Dunleavy might be a secret fan of this blog site.

Point Guard:

We have just signed the best point guard in the league in Baron Davis.  When healthy, nobody is better than Davis.  Davis can shoot.  Davis can run the offense.  Davis can dunk.  Davis can post up.  All the other great point guards lack one or more of these qualities.  So we automatically have an advantage over the rest of the league by just having Davis. 

One suggestion I have for this position is to trade Tim Thomas + 1st round draft pick (and maybe a second round pick too) for Leandro Barbosa.  The Suns are shopping Barbosa right now and I think he can be a major spark plug off the bench and play either the point or SG.

We should also consider signing Mike Taylor and Livingston to minimum contracts.

Shooting Guard:

If one analyzes all the championship teams, one realizes that they all have a dominant All Star at either the 2 or the 3.  Think Kobe Bryant or Paul Pierce or Manu Ginobli or Michael Jordan or Dwayne Wade.  The Clippers lack a dominant SG/SF.  One perennial All Star that might be available is Vince Carter, due to the fact that the Nets are restructuring and are about to relocate.  So I suggest trading Mobley and Knight and Powell and a draft pick for Vince Carter.  He may not be the player he used to be, but he can still make big plays. 

Of course, our sharpshooter Eric Gordon would be a perfect backup to Carter.

Small Forward:

While the PG and SG positions are now stacked with All Stars, the SF position  belongs to Al Thornton, who will act as a role player and a 4th option for this team. 

We also need a capable glue guy at the SF position who can play defense.  Eduardo Najera would be a good choice.  We should spend the MLE on him.  As a bonus, he can play the power forward position as well, and he has improved his perimeter shooting.  Marcus Williams should also be given a minimum contract.

Power Forward:

This position is currently our biggest hole, and in order to stay competitive against Duncan, Stoudamire, Boozer, and others, we need to fill this position with a defensive presence.    Emeka Okafor fits the bill perfectly.  He defends and he rebounds well.  He can play center too when Kaman gets tired (Najera can slide over to PF in his place).  We should give Okafor a 13 million per year offer immediately.  He wants out of Charlotte.   

As a backup, we can sign Paul Davis to a minimum contract.

Center:

Kaman is one of the top centers in the league.  And if we get Okafor, we'll be set down low.  We could also sign Fazekas and Jordan to minimum contracts. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Conclusion:

Take a look at our championship-caliber roster.  It has all the necessary components of a great team (dominant PG, dominant SG/SF, spark-plug guy, sharpshooter, glue guy, athletic wing, lockdown defender, shotblockers, dominant big men, etc.):

 

Baron Davis  /  Leandro Barbosa  /  Mike Taylor

Vince Carter  /  Eric Gordon  /  Shaun Livingston

Al Thornton  /  Eduardo Najera  /  Marcus Williams

Emeka Okafor  /  Paul Davis

Chris Kaman  /  Nick Fazekas  /  DeAndre Jordan

 

Another beautiful thing about this team is the number of "interchangeable parts" (if I may borrow a term from Avery Johnson) due to the versatility of Barbosa (PG/SG), Carter (SG/SF), Najera (SF, PF), Okafor (PF, C), and Livingston (PG/SG/SF).  With such a roster, we can play any style: small ball, half court, all-defense, perimeter shooting, etc.

If I were Dunleavy, this would be the team that I would construct.  It is a perfect mix of being a win-now team while also developing the superb young talents of Thornton, Gordon, and possibly Jordan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

0 recs  |  Comment 11 comments

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Nice Job

Its a good plan, but Carter is too expensive. We need durable players not constantly injured players.

by Elton Hater 1 on Jul 10, 2008 12:30 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Too much salary

That team is not winning a championship. B Davis is not the best PG in the league.

Hell, he could turn into Marbury in this offensive system.

F-Elton!

by mikey p on Jul 10, 2008 5:40 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Salary should not be a problem

I think all the trades I proposed would go through, no problem. To be able to win, we need to be willing to spend.

by bballanalyst on Jul 10, 2008 11:43 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Now now mp

Davis is as good as any other PG. He is also a crunchtime scorer, and a guy who loves to step up in the big moment. Cassell was the same guy, just not nearly as good a player, without the same penetration skills.

My quarrel with this formula is to that I think it makes more sense to go one step at a time. Make the offer to Okafor. See if the Bobcats match. If they don’t, make the offer to Biedrins. Then go from there.

I don’t want to dismiss the Vince Carter idea. It might look very different if the Clips have Okafor. And let’s get the first returns from summer league about Gordon and Jordan, etc.

First things first. Clips need a big man.

by citizen zhiv on Jul 10, 2008 11:59 AM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

I think Davis will be awesome

but the guy above said that BD was the best PG in the NBA. That is just not true. Nobody is better than Chris Paul. And Deron Williams and Nash are pretty good, too.

But Davis is great. I can see a scenario, sadly, where he is not used right in a bad offense and ends up just being a chucker, a la Starbury. But I doubt it.

Not thanks on Vince Carter right now. Work out the other stuff first.

F-Elton!

by mikey p on Jul 10, 2008 12:13 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Salary is a problem then

Ownership has never shown they are willing to spend unless forced to. We wait for our FAs to get offers from other teams and then decide whether to match (Brand and Odom in 03), we don’t trade them in there last year if we know we can’t resign them (Maggette, Brand) and we don’t lock them up to extensions while things are going well. Hard to compete when fine organizations like the Spurs routinely make the right choice while we’re always a few steps behind.

Oh no! We suck again - Idiot from The Waterboy

http://ohnowesuckagain.ytmnd.com/

by ClipperChuck on Jul 10, 2008 11:50 AM PDT reply actions   0 recs

Also not fair

Just made the deal with Baron Davis. Made the deal with Tim Thomas—who might have been okay and very helpful last season if FElton hadn’t been hurt. Made the deal with Kaman.

Now isn’t the time to be critical of management. They did their part.

Let’s give them a chance to fill the hole left by the traitor. They filled the PG hole in magnificent fashion. Baron Davis played 82 games last year, and he’s younger than Steve Nash was when Nash went to Phoenix and won two MVP awards.

by citizen zhiv on Jul 10, 2008 12:03 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Right. The wallet is open

It has been for a few years now. They have ponied up for Brand, Maggette, Gilbert Arenas, Kobe, Ray Allen, Cat Mobley, Tim Thomas, Kaman, and now Baron Davis.

That is not the problem .

F-Elton!

by mikey p on Jul 10, 2008 12:14 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

Can't change your spots

Were we proactive or reactive to these situations? Did we chase Baron because we should we could get two stars (Baron, Felton) for a packaged price? We lost Vlad (after dumping Wilcox) so we sign TT. I see alot of lateral steps, nothing aggressive. I do think management is taking more chances than before (not tough to do) but why didn’t DTS take a more active role. Most important player in our history wants to discuss his life, his future and he can’t take time from lewd acts to pick up the phone?

Who’s this jackass in the front office who responded if Philly offers 5/75 how would the Clippers react… and the guy said go to Philly then. Who is this moron, can we egg his house?

Oh no! We suck again - Idiot from The Waterboy

http://ohnowesuckagain.ytmnd.com/

by ClipperChuck on Jul 10, 2008 12:30 PM PDT up reply actions   0 recs

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