Clips Aquire Steve Blake & Travis Outlaw

These guys are both decent, serviceable, starter quality guys and we can just try them out for now, keep them if they mesh or dump them for cap space at the end of the season! Then we can get LeBron!!!!!!

Oh wait. That was last year.

So this year we got Mo Williams and Jamario Moon! Look Donald, Neil loves you! He bought you the MOON!!!!

So OK the NEW plan is....

These guys are both decent, serviceable, starter quality guys and we can just try them out for now, keep them if they mesh or dump them for cap space at the end of the season! Then we can get LeBron!!!!!! <-Insert 2012 Free Agent Superstar here!!!!!

My reaction last year? - MEH. This year? - EH.

Is this eventually gonna work out to us signing another Foye/Gomes combo? Because I sure don't wanna do that again.

All this trade consequences talk on CN here today is mind boggling - my head hurts!

Do we keep DeAndre? How much will that cost? Will we have cap space for any big names if we re-sign Jordan and Gordan? Who will be available? Can Mo play point? Is Bledsoe ready? How much playing time will Moon take away from Gomes/Aminu? Was it acceptable to give away the draft pick?

As a side note I knew Cleveland would take Baron's "unmoveable" contract the day they beat the Clips. Sources tell me that Olshey begged the Cavs to take on the remainder of Baron's millstone deal. The Cavs management agreed then added a big BUT. Olshey was told that the Clips would have to take a fall that night, ensuring the end of the worst losing streak in NBA history. And so Baron's contract, whom NOBODY thought anyone in their right mind would take, was indeed moved.

OK. Back to reality. What do you think about this trade?

Doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter what you or I or anyone here or anywhere else in this sports loving world thinks about this trade. The only opinion that matters is that of one - Blake Griffin.

Does Blake like this trade? Is he OK with it?

In this day and age where SuperStars are dictating which teams will be good and which will be horrible, the front office must appease the Griffin to ensure he stays, right? It's only a matter of time before Blake's burning desire to win and compete for a championship turns into frustration and he begins entertaining the idea of asking out. Sure it could take years to get to that point, but why even let it get that far?

At what point will the Clippers stop banking on the future and make more than mediocre moves that may only slightly improve the team? When will they make a move that makes a majority of fans and media say "With this trade the Clippers are now contenders for the WC champions"?

The moment has arrived. The Clippers are ONE BIG move away from greatness. Give up an arm for Deron Williams. Sacrifice a leg for Chris Paul. Bite the bullet for Superman. You have to ditch the diapers one day with the risk of messing your new whitey tighties. The Clippers will never satisfy Blake if they aren't willing to jump.

The Jazz are gone. Nuggets - Melo = Yellow. The Rockets are in Post Yao transition. The Suns' Nash may soon give way to Brooks. The Spurs' Duncan is fading gracefully. Heck, even Durant called Kobe "the old guy". Kobe even acknowledged that his career is towards it's end, specifically saying that he knows that this was his last All Star game in LA.

It's all perfect timing for Blake and the Clippers to make a serious run in the next decade.

The Clips front office pulled off a miracle in dumping Baron's contract. Can they pull off another one by opening day of next season and get a bonafide superstar? If they do it truly won't matter what anyone thinks about today's trade - even Blake.

PS: Just so people don't think I'm living in a bubble - yes, OKC looms large, as well as maybe Memphis. Do you get the feeling that they both sense that the balance of power maybe shifting in this next decade? OKC grew up big time today, giving up Green, who they valued so much as a future piece alongside Durant to get Championship experience and presence in Perkins. Memphis got experience in Battier. So I acknowledge that the West will still have powerful teams, but with Amare, Melo and D-Will moving East, Sloan gone, Kobe, Nash and Duncan aging, there's definitely a sense that a door is opening over the next few years for any team making the right moves.