Great Expectations

I need to vent. I've been holding in my rage concerning this Cleveland draft pick thing for far too long now. Most of us citizens were frustrated on the night of the Baron-Mo trade, and I think it's fair to say that most of us are frustrated now. Perhaps it's beyond frustration. Maybe, just maybe, it's torches and pitchforks time, if you know what I mean. You do. So let's talk Clippers and this draft pick, just one more time, for the sake of nausea. And let's counter ClipNation's awful homer-ism with some heaping helpings of healthy realism.

I think most of us agree that Baron-for-Mo was an awful idea. But, I've heard arguments from the other side: Baron is always injured, yada, yada. Well, that's been debunked already; a more capable citizen can provide for you Mo Williams' injury history, proof that he's no better than Baron at staying healthy. Now, I say that a more capable citizen can provide these injury numbers because I'm not a big numbers guy; I don't like stats and facts; I'm more of a "feelings" guy, trusting the 'ole gut... but more on that later.

Mo and Baron break even on health, but elsewhere, Baron reigns supreme over the former King's former sidekick (just typing "Mo" is much more efficient, isn't it?). Let's see: Defense, Baron, check, and it's not even close. Shootin-... well, let's just stop after defense because I can really sum up this whole comparison rather quickly: I feeeeeel like Baron is a better basketball player, just like I felt the Lakers were a better team than Dallas before their series here in the '11 playoffs. Homers like to quickly point out that Baron is undependable, mercurial even, as one talented Clippers blogger might say. But what does "undependable" really mean? I don't know. "Undependable" didn't really ring a bell when Baron was alley-oooooping Blake Griffin from endzone to endzone. Oh, but then there's the whole "Baron doesn't actually show up to training camp in-shape" thing. Again, this is kind of irrelevant. Which part don't the homers understand, the alley or the oop? You don't have to be a world-class sprinter to pass basketballs to Blake Griffin and conditioning rarely, if ever, becomes visible on the court. Last team to say that they won a ring because of training-camp-inshapeness? None? Exactly. It seems to this Clippers fan that the complaints surrounding the Baron Davis era were issues concerning hard work and commitment to the Clippers. Those things, however, are not exactly tangible, they're so very opaque. If Mo Williams is a much more committed talent than Baron, it shouldn't really matter. Think about Baron&Mo in Blake Griffin terms. We love Blake because he can jump super high, not because he works hard and not because he demonstrates admirable commitment. 

All of that explains the first part of my rage. The second part stems from the favorite ClipsNation debate point right now, the draft pick. First of all, just to get it out of the way, Eric Bledsoe sucks. He just does. I'm a part of the camp that laughs at the idea of "player development," especially with point guards. Bledsoe is who he is. He will always be mediocre. Magic Johnson's stardom was always obvious, just like Phoenix knew Steve Nash would be a two-time MVP when they drafted him (trading him to Dallas was like a lay away plan, I think), and Just like Boston knew Chauncy Billups would be a finals MVP (they probably foresaw that he would blossom some 6 years later, but deemed him expendable as they likely also foresaw Rajon Rando... 9 years later); it's logical, is all.

Now, the draft pick, I'm getting there. I promise. I had to mention the Baron&Mo and Bledsoe before the draft pick because, as we all know, that pick is going to become the next CP3, Kyrie Irving, or CP4 rather. Irving was a a shoe-in for the first overall pick until very recently.The only other contender for the top spot being... Derrick Williams?... or is it Steve Johnson? William Stevens? Whatever it is, it's something that isn't called Kyrie... So Kyrie Irving wins the top spot because of his name alone, if by nothing else. And that's really the crux of it, I think. Considering the awful state of the Clippers point guard spot, they truly could not afford trading away Kyrie Irving; this type of simple analysis is called realism, folks. Homers, on the other hand, will try to argue that the Clippers didn't actually trade away Kyrie Irving or John Smith, or whatever his name is, but rather they traded away a draft pick that held a loose value much, much closer to the tenth overall pick than the first. Or they might argue that the Clippers could've only predicted the eventual value of the pick if they somehow learned how to see the future. To that I say... I'm not sure, but it would be really cool if they could see into the future. It's mind-bottling.

Then there are the numerous number variables, win totals fluctuating across the board because players are changing teams. But, like I said before, numbers. You know, facts. I don't know what these fancy numbers really say, but I do know that I feeeeeel like the Clippers would have the first overall pick had they not made the trade.

This realism is truly enlightening. See, if this is going to be the logic that I use, then I have to apply it to other Clippers happenings as well. So, I looked back in the Clippers yearbook for other Clippers screw-ups, looking for other valuable assets that the Clippers have idiotically lost, like they lost the choice between Kyrie Irving and John Doe. 

• Cleveland Draft Pick: As mentioned, the Clippers gave away either Kyrie Irving or some guy who I'm sure I've met somewhere.
• Elton Brand: During the previous coaching era, the Clippers let this all-star walk away, only to watch him in the playoffs this season with Philadelphia. 
• Lamar Odom: Similar to the Brand fiasco, the Clippers let Odom walk away, but rather than seeing him lose to the Miami Heat in round one like Brand, the Clippers watched Odom make the playoffs 7 times with both Miami and the Lakers and they watched Odom win two championships with the Lakers.
• Marko Jaric: His name is actually oft-mentioned with one of the biggest Clippers wins in history, the Sam Cassel trade; however that perspective is blatant homer-ism. The Clippers traded Jaric after the 2004-05 season, then in 2009, Jaric married supermodel Adriana Lima. This is perhaps the greatest give away in Clippers history. Sure, the Clippers had a short playoff appearance out of the trade, but at what cost? I'll tell you. They gave Minnesota a couple of Lima's best years, which is much more valuable than a single, short playoff appearance. I could have really enjoyed Lima on the sidelines for a couple of years. As a fan, I deserved that much.

 If you're counting, the Clippers have given away 8 playoff appearances. The Clippers have given away 2 NBA Championships. The Clippers have given away Kyrie Irving and William Derrickson. The Clippers gave away Adriana Lima. And frankly, the Clippers have given away way too many free tickets to under-privileged youth. Tell me if this franchise sounds like a competent one after just four examples. Clippers fans need to stop being such homers. We need to be realists and hold the front office responsible for the unforeseeable future. It's what the responsible fan does, I think. Better yet, it's what the responsible fan does, I feeeeeel.