Feeling that Clippers Spirit (Part 2): The Brothers Davis

Well, it's taken me a minute to write this second part, mostly due to the fact that I’ve been swamped with work. Some good news, well, for me anyway, is that this blog will soon become available as a podcast. I’m working out the details but a big thanks to Bill Takeshita for getting me into it.

Anyways, onto the interesting stuff.

Make that a trio of Davis’s playing for the Clippers next season. Announced Monday was the official re-signing of Clippers big man Paul Davis. He, of course, joins Ricky and Baron. I don’t know what to think about this or Davis. He underwent season ending surgery for a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and torn lateral meniscus in his right knee only 22 games into the season. But, it’s not like he was lighting the world on fire before that. You’d think with Elton Brand not playing, DAvis would have tried to take advantage of the situation. 

Davis got some game time, but he regressed in the major statistical categories that matter to bigs, especially bigs trying to just hang on in the NBA. His shooting dropped over 5 percentage points to a ghastly 37 percent. His rebounding rate dropped (though he averaged more boards due to more minutes). His freethrow continued to move in the wrong direction. He did cut down turnovers while playing more minutes and he was able to find his teammates better upping his assist rate. But the slight bump in overall averages were only higher because he got 3 more minutes of game time. His per minute production was down. His PER dropped 2.39 points to a horrific 8.86.

So, after only 50 plus games in the League, what can we as Clippers fans possibly expect from this guy? Well, he had a pretty polished game in college, though it was marred by inconsistency. His last year he averaged 17 and 9.5 while shooting better than 55 percent from the field. So, that’s pretty promising as a second round, 6-11 guy. He’s got some athleticism going for him. He’s supposedly got a fifteen-foot J that has yet to materialize at the pro level.

Personally? I would have rather seen the Clips retain Josh Powell who really started to play some solid ball at the end of last season. Powell’s per 40-minute numbers come out to a double/double. Powell’s a couple inches shorter, listed at almost 40 lbs lighter, and a year older, but he’s played in a 140 games and been effective. I just think Powell’s game fits a little better with Camby and Kaman, although, I’ve really only seen a little bit of both players. I hope the decision to keep Davis over Powell wasn't a pride issue since the Clippers drafted him. Oh well. 

I guess we’ll just have to wait and see with Davis. He is coming off major knee surgery and he’s already 24. Not that there isn’t upside evidenced by his college stats. But, for comparison sake, Marc Gasol of Spain (who Kobe recently said he wished the Lakers kept along with Pau) is also 24. The astronomical difference is that Gasol won MVP honors in the ACB League, widely considered the best league outside of the NBA.

I can’t fault the Clippers though. Dunleavy and Baylor have done a terrific job remaking this squad in light of Brand's defection. If nothing else, the edition of Davis gives the Clippers a huge frontline rotation with Kaman (7-0), Camby (6-11), Davis, Tim Thomas (6-10) and newly acquired Brian Skinner (6-9). Throw in second round pick, 7-foot DeAndre Jordan and that’s some big bodies.

This is a good thing with the Lakers getting even bigger with the edition of Andrew Bynum. The Blazers getting bigger with Greg Oden. The Suns already big with Shaq, Amare and Robin Lopez. Of course there’s Yao. Not to mention all the bigs out East. Brand/Dalembert. O’Neal/Bosh. Dwight Howard.

In fact, now that the Cavs have traded way the tough, wiley and smart veteran Joe Smith, the Clippers might have, top to bottom, the best collection of bigs in the entire league.

These are some big…assumptions I’m making. I also wrote that the Clips had one of the better collections of point guards. Some might think I’m overstating the Clippers offseason acquisitions, but you’ve got to hand it to them. They went out and filled holes and didn’t overspend for anyone. They have a nice mix of veterans and youth and in a couple of years will have significant cap space to go after potential free agents if this team fails miserably, or, hopefully, is a piece away.

In closing, in case you were disappointed that the Clippers didn’t try to retain Shaun Livingston, well, apparently the kid turned down a one year offer from the Clips that would have paid him $1 million. That’s guaranteed money for Livingston who isn’t even sure he can ever play again, let alone this season. Whoever is counseling this kid seems to have no clue as to what’s best for him. Clippers offseason, I rank it an………………….A-