Blakely Waived - Clippers Roster Stands at 14
by Steve Perrin on Oct 25, 2010 3:15 PM PDT
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PrintThe Clippers today waived rookie free agent Marqus Blakely. After I went through a rather lengthy explanation of why they probably didn't need to make the decision today, the NBA's deadline for getting rosters down to 15, the Clippers went ahead and did it today anyway. I'm not sure if this qualifies as a reverse mojo moment, but it's in the ballpark.
It may be that Blakely's contract was indeed tied to the end of pre-season. It may be that the decision was inevitable and the Clippers wanted to get the information out there when all the other teams were making cuts also. Blakely after all will be looking for another basketball job now, along with the other players waived today, so this gives him a chance to find another opportunity before the best ones are gone.
I am a little disappointed in this decision. Marqus Blakely honestly looked like the best of the Clippers four rookies in Summer League in Las Vegas, but he played only 18 minutes in pre-season, which was probably not enough of an opportunity to show what he can do. Given that they signed him and even gave him a modest guarantee in his contract, I would have thought they would have taken a good look at him in pre-season games. But it wasn't to be.
It was clearly going to be a tough transition for Blakely. At 6'5", he played power forward in college, getting almost all of his scoring in the paint at Vermont (go Catamounts!) He was going to have to be a small forward or even a shooting guard in the NBA. His athleticism and length are elite - he was the Clippers' best wing defender in Summer League by a long shot. But his ball skills on the offensive end need a lot of work, and that may be a lengthy process, if indeed he can ever get to an NBA level there.
Given the nature of the transition he was attempting, it could definitely take some time. To that end, don't be surprised if Marqus Blakely winds up back in the Assoc. in a year or two. The guy can play.
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Spelling Police
tied = died
almost = almots
"Chris Kaman IS Black Sikma" - KamanHomie, Steve Perrin & swamigusto
I'm disappointed as well.
Not so much that he was cut, but for the fact that he never really got the opportunity to showcase himself during the preseason games. I would have liked to have gotten a better look at him, but I guess the coaches saw enough in practice. He is an undersized power forward and there’s already stacked competition at small forward. The odds were never in his favor.
I do like some of the things that he can bring to the table and I will be rooting for him to make it official one day.
"Chris Kaman IS Black Sikma" - KamanHomie, Steve Perrin & swamigusto
But at least we got to see a lot of Brian Cook
I mean, Cook’s a great piece for a rebuilding team: he’s young, athletic, plays great defense, and has potential to become a solid rotation player in this league. OH WAIT that’s Marqus Blakely. Instead, we gave all the PT to an old pudgy chucker who has a well-known (and low) value. Why water the stone when you could water the seed? Bleh…
"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."
-John Wooden
I don't know what you're talkiing about.
Cook is the secret weapon. You’ll see. You all will see.
"Chris Kaman IS Black Sikma" - KamanHomie, Steve Perrin & swamigusto
by Lawler 4ever on Oct 25, 2010 8:06 PM PDT up reply actions
if this is not reverse mojo, i don't know what is!
Roger Sterling: To my knees, Don. They're bringing to my knees!"
It's not like I said he was definitely making the team...
I say it’s barely reverse mojo
In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant. - Elwood P. Dowd
by Steve Perrin on Oct 25, 2010 7:59 PM PDT up reply actions
I checked
Just looking at the headlines of the two posts, it seemed like very clear cut reverse mojo. But reading the original post, SP was relatively cagey (and detailed and thoughtful, of course), and he never directly came out and jinxed Blakely.
Preseason will never cease to amaze me. It’s always something. How does Blakely play only 18 minutes? Do you really need all those minutes for Rasual Butler? Don’t you want to see if he can play?
But this is part of the difference of being a fan vs. a professional. It seems like the guys who get paid to do this for a living have a pretty good general idea of who can stick and make plays, and there aren’t a whole lot of surprises.
Remembering that KA had a beefy glowing writeup on Blakely. It’s all a little disappointing, when we don’t have a sample to judge from.
by citizen zhiv on Oct 25, 2010 8:13 PM PDT up reply actions
"the guy can play"
So cruel to end the post with that line knowing that reverse mojo is now going to ruin him. =(
lol
"It's better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right"unknown
Blakely would have cut into AFAs minutes anyways
no harm no foul kind of deal
for all the good the new FO does…timing is something they need to work on. oh well keep the faith things will be good sooner rather than later
roster is chalk full of "potential"
AFA has potential too.
Clips are deep at SF (no real starters, but a lot of bench level/fringe starters at that position).
Potential wins championships, right?
Right??
"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."
-John Wooden
You can ask the Thunder about that
a couple years ago they were all just potential
"It's better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right"unknown
It's funny seeing that they still have less salary than us...
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?
"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."
-John Wooden
Rookie deals galore
they will have to make some tough choices in the next couple of years. Durant is a no brainer, Westbrook is probably a no brainer as well. But Jeff Green, Harden, Ibaka etc? They will have to pay market value eventually.
Help us Altered Beast you're our only hope.
by ClipperChuck on Oct 25, 2010 11:21 PM PDT up reply actions
Tough choices indeed...
I don’t see what’s so great about Harden. He looks like Tyreke Evans without the burst of speed, but with a better beard. Only resigned if he doesn’t ask for too much, I suspect. Jeff Green… I feel bad for him because he didn’t asked to get lumped with Westbrook and Durant, but now he’s getting all this criticism for not being as good as them. But he’s really not, so I doubt he gets a big contract. Maybe he’ll humbly accept a mid-level contract, to maintain the chemistry? Ibaka’s got a lot of potential, he’s built like Dwight Howard, and he won’t require as large a contract as the other two might. I’d give him some coin. OKC will make good decisions, as they always seem to.
"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."
-John Wooden
and...
how cheap the Clippers are.
Help us Altered Beast you're our only hope.
by ClipperChuck on Oct 25, 2010 4:42 PM PDT up reply actions
Sure...
So the costs are similar for all three players – waive any one of them and save somewhere between $400K (Warren) and $473K (Collins). And as far as I can tell, that money is pretty much just money – the Clippers are under the cap already, so there aren’t significant extenuating circumstances to consider. Strictly speaking, waiving a player before the guarantees kick in would allow the Clippers a little more room under the cap to make an unbalanced trade during the season – say $5.4M instead of $5M. That’s it.
So again the team saves a few bucks instead of holding onto a intriguing prospect.
Help us Altered Beast you're our only hope.
by ClipperChuck on Oct 25, 2010 4:59 PM PDT up reply actions
Wait and see then
and see what the team does with that roster space…
Help us Altered Beast you're our only hope.
by ClipperChuck on Oct 25, 2010 5:53 PM PDT up reply actions
I still have high hopes for this
One of the many experiments is bound to fail. It wouldn’t be that crazy for us to ship out Foye or Gomes or Cookie to take on a bigger contract, and help someone get under the luxury tax line.
Anyone know which teams in particular are over the luxury tax threshhold and might need some help down the road?
"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."
-John Wooden
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...
http://www.hoopsworld.com/Story.asp?story_id=17537
Utah? Kirilenko would be a nice piece…
Rockets? I <3 Shane Battier
Orlando? They’ve got a lot of good looking pieces too, and their so deep they might not mind a salary dump…
"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."
-John Wooden
Good article
a few weeks outdated, the Hornets moved into luxury tax territory when they acquired Bayless the other day. They will have to dump a small contract to get under it again.
Help us Altered Beast you're our only hope.
by ClipperChuck on Oct 25, 2010 6:39 PM PDT up reply actions
Luxury tax
The luxury tax is set at $70,307,000 (Read Here)
Based off Hoopshype (Read here) there are 8 teams over the luxury tax.
Lakers
Magic
Mavericks
Celtics
Nuggets
Rockets
Hornets
Jazz
The Lakers are stacked at every position save for PG. Matt Barnes would be nice but unless a team eats Sasha’s contract its doubtful they would move him. The Magic have some nice parts too but doubtful they make a big trade (though there is a Arenas rumor going around) when they are already a very good team. Celtics have no one the Clips could trade for. The Mavericks would probably be open to trading Caron Butler but he’s faded, is a expiring deal and doubtful Cuban would want back Gomes and cap space.
So that leaves the Nuggets (Melo of course), Rockets (Battier, Budinger), Hornets (Ariza, Peja, Belinelli) and the Jazz (AK, Hayward).
I like the idea of dealing Rasual to the Rockets for either Battier or Budinger (plus Jared Jeffries). Ariza would be nice too but the Hornets probably want to hold on to him for a few months after essentially trading Darren Collison for him.
Both AK and Peja are kind of attractive since they have expiring contracts. Not sure if a deal of Gomes, Foye and cap space would entice them but it is a lot of money with the tax factored in.
Help us Altered Beast you're our only hope.
by ClipperChuck on Oct 25, 2010 6:37 PM PDT up reply actions
That's a decent amount of options
Come February, hopefully something happens.
"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."
-John Wooden
I really think some of you are taking this too hard
You shouldn’t be so upset over the 15th man. In the end he would have made little to no difference in the success of the team. We already have many rookies with potential on this roster and I would rather have a veteran at the minimum for the 15th spot anyways.
Just take it easy. I can’t wait for the season to start!
blakely wasnt going to play
its better that he go to the d-league and work on being a 2 guard/small forward…he is probably 2 years away….and its not a $ thing…you need a spare roster spot in case something happens…if they had kept blakely and someone went down, the clips would have waived him and he wouldnt have any opportunity anywhere.
I hope he winds up dunking on AFA
I have to say i became a clippers fan this summer when they gave this guy a chance and am very disappointed to see him let go without really getting a good look in the preseason. I hope he makes the front office look like fools (i have heard it is not hard to do with the clippers). Anyway best of luck to Blakely and the Clippers organization i am sure they will meet again. Hopefully from different benches though.
thanks for sticking around the whole month
no need to call yourself a clipper fan, you never were one.
afa apologizes for being a lottery pick.
I get that though. The guy obviously has a personal relationship with Blakely. If I had a buddy who was made an NBA team I’d be a fan of the club too.
He didn’t need to go out throwing a “i heard it’s not hard to make the clippers look like fools” dig, but whatevs.
by Michael White on Oct 26, 2010 7:29 AM PDT up reply actions
I happen to be friends with the Vermont coach's brother (Lonergan)
He said too that Blakely is a special talent that will stick in the league.
While that may be true, seems to me to be silly to criticize the FO for deciding that they need another big at this point for the 15th spot.
We have bigger fish to fry although I wish Blakely well.
"[Fans are] not technically a lot of times savvy. They don't understand and they don't weigh issues the way that [I] weigh them."
Mike Dunleavy, Sr.
Clippers BLEW it AGAIN, this time by cutting Marqus Blakely.
The Clippers were stupid for cutting Marqus Blakely because he is an excellent defender, rebounder and athlete that will only get better. They cut the one and only guy on that team who enjoyed playing defense, hustling and doing the intangibles that don’t make the stat sheet (a la “Bruce Bowen”, but much better). That’s their loss and another NBA team’s gain, but we are talking about the Clippers so dumb decisions are not unusual with L.A.‘s other team. A word of wisdom to Marqus, keep your head up young man, and don’t let these bums shatter your dream! Do I hear Miami calling you?
I didn't realize Blakely had such a fan club
It would be a bummer if the Clippers just cut a much better Bruce Bowen.
Not likely Bruce Bowen is his floor projection though (or even his ceiling)
For the Blakely marching and chowder society. Respectfully, nobody here is bashing your BFF Blakely. Could you not come in and blast the Clippers on a Clippers blog?
by Michael White on Oct 26, 2010 8:48 AM PDT up reply actions
+1
And how much better was Blakely likely to get wearing a suit on the end of the bench. His ceiling for this season was representing the Clippers in the D-League, and now he can do that with the freedom to sign with any team that will offer him a contract. While it was disappointing that he didn’t see much action during pre-season, his value to the Clippers was minimal. Good luck to Blakely and his future career, but cutting a 4th string SF is not a great loss.
Two new profiles added on the 25th and 26th, respectively...
…that make anti-clipper pro-marqus posts on the 25th and 26th, respectively. Huh.
"Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there."
-John Wooden
athlete
Small foward on the clippers is a none issue with Blake and Kaman in the middle your best bet is to get out of the way our you might get hurt…He played great defence and has crazy hops didn’t get a fair chance in preseason…too bad offence is so over rated…When anybody who knows basketball knows defence wins championships Just ask Steve Nash..
What about Blakely vs. Warren?
Deep discussions about the 13,14 and 15 spot are generally a waste of time, but I’m curious about why no one is comparing Blakely to Warren here. And the larger issue is why didn’t Blakely get any significant preseason minutes; that’s the head scratcher. The Clippers do have much bigger fish to fry, and they had to spend an inordinate amount of preseason minutes working with their primary lineups, as available. And I’m not even sure that they did a very good job of that. Sigh.
I don’t get the reasoning for keeping Warren over Blakely. It might be keeping another shooter, but shouldn’t defense and rebounding come first? Are they counting Butler on the depth chart as a guard, especially since he’s going to get minutes as Gordon’s backup?
It looks like this to me:
PG/SG: 1Davis, 2Gordon, 3Foye, 4Butler, 5Bledsoe, 14Warren
SF: 6Gomes, 7Aminu, Butler
PF: 8Griffin, 9Smith, 10Cook (Kaman)
C: 11Kaman, 12Jordan, 13Collins (Griffin)
Not much discussion about Warren being expendable, but it seems to me that Blakely would have had a better chance to contribute, especially since the top two guard positions are very solid, they’re backed up by three obvious guys, and SF is dicey.
Doesn’t matter though.
Warren is Blake's buddy
I honestly think that has something to do with it. Two talented non-1st rounders… Keep the guy who has a relationship with your star.
PG is also a little dicey, no? If Baron goes out, then I guess Foye will start, with Bledsoe and Warren competing for the reserve role. In that sort of situation, where the learning curve needs to be steep, it’s good to have competition.
BTW, I think we should have just kept the roster at 15.
"i know huh........freakin clippers man.....its like a wild ride rooting for this team....gotta love em....(sometimes) lol" In GrIfFin We TrUsT
I hope that has absolutely nothing to do with it.
by Michael White on Oct 26, 2010 3:30 PM PDT up reply actions
Had Warren come out the same year as Blake, he would have been a late lottery or mid-first round pick. Around draft time this year, he didn’t really work out for too many teams and lowered his stock even more.
As far as Blakely goes, he’s a 6’5 power forward who is trying to transition into an NBA small forward. At small forward, we already have 2 players who will certainly get time and another rookie that we just spent a top 10 pick on. He can play defense, run the floor, rebound and finish, but needs to improve his shooting, ball-handling and passing. Aminu needs to work on a couple of those himself. Blakely wasn’t going to really get much playing time unless injuries kicked in. Butler was an iron man last year and Gomes doesn’t miss too many games. We didn’t get a good look at him in preseason, because he only played a handful of minutes. The Clipper coaches and staff have seen him nearly everyday for about a month in scrimmages and drills. Obviously, they didn’t think he was ready yet or that he would get much of an opportunity due to depth. They have had nothing, but nice things to say about him and believe that his time will come.
I would have preferred to have kept him and started the season with 15, but most teams prefer 13-14. I am hoping that he’ll continue to develop his game and show someone that he is an NBA player. I don’t know if he’ll end up on our D-League team, but it would be great if he did.
"Chris Kaman IS Black Sikma" - KamanHomie, Steve Perrin & swamigusto
by Lawler 4ever on Oct 26, 2010 4:04 PM PDT up reply actions
Maybe it's something simple
Maybe it’s not even about money. Griffin, Aminu, Bledsoe, Warren, Blakely, five first year NBA players, rookies that need to be developed, brought up to professional competitive speed, guys that need personal attention so that as the season plays out they can contribute more and more and five players is one rookie too many. And just maybe the coaches and staff have seen these guys much more then we have between Summer League and Pre-Season and have a better handle on these guys than even our leader Coach Shashevshi. Go Clippers. Get pissed when they are as shitty as you imagine and the season is two months old, until then chill out and enjoy as the whole team matures.
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