ESPN's NBA Future Power Rankings

15th- Los Angeles Clippers

It's kind of like the immovable object against the irresistible force. With an emerging superstar in Blake Griffin, a high-scoring wing in Eric Gordon, and strong rookies in Al-Farouq Aminu and Eric Bledsoe, the Clippers have so much promise that they couldn't possibly screw it up.

L.A. rated 11th in players and is likely to have more coming down the pipeline. It'll have a high pick after this season and owns an unprotected pick from Minnesota in 2012, and a future first-rounder owed to the Thunder is heavily protected until 2016. The Clippers also have a fair amount of cap space coming online this summer and have the desirable L.A. market working strongly in their favor.

So it seems they can't screw this up ... except that this franchise is so screwed up that they couldn't possibly make this work. Sadly, there's no telling whether they'll be able to take full advantage, at least until long-time laughingstock Donald Sterling sells the team to a more reputable owner.

We don't know how the Clippers will manage to waste this opportunity, we just know that they will -- just like they've done for the past quarter century under Sterling's watch. Even if Griffin turns into the best player in the league, the Clips may still find a way to go 37-45 ... and Sterling may still find a reason to heckle his players from the sidelines.

(Previous rank: 16)