It took less than a day for Artest to start something. Yao expressed his concerns about chemistry in an interview while in China, and Artest, without thinking (as if he ever does) went ahead and responded saying that he's "ghetto" and is the same Ron Artest he's always been and will never change. Nice. Again, I'm relieved he's someone else's headache.

In other news, the Clippers signed PF/C Brian Skinner, bringing him back to the fold, after drafting him in the first round 10 years ago. Skinner is yet another nice little edition. He's a bit undersized for a center, but he does a good job as a power forward. He'll never be anything spectacular, but he could play nicely alongside Kaman or Camby and can fill in adequately if either get injured (we're talking minor injuries here). He's a hustle guy who can get physical and at 265 can bang with some bigs adding more defensive depth to a team that has suddenly become very, very defensive-minded. He's a decent rebounder, and last year with Phoenix he showed he can shoot from 15-17 feet out at a pretty decent clip.  

Continue reading "Rounding Out Nicely"

Who would have known that one of the Clippers’ best trading chips would be the “option to exchange second-round picks” (OESRP). They used their 2010 OESRP to net themselves Marcus Camby. Thursday, they just used their 2011 OESRP to acquire Steve Novak from the Houston Rockets.

The OESRP has allowed the team to upgrade its talent without given any up. And, due to the nature of OESRP, the Clippers might not give up anything based on how they finish relative to the Nuggets (in 2010) and the Rockets (in 2011). Pretty nifty move there Elgin.

So, who the heck is Steve Novak? Well, he played at Marquette with Dwayne Wade for one season and made it to the Final Four. So he’s played on a winner. He’s got one of the best shooting strokes out there. Though he didn’t get much PT last year on the Rockets, he made the most of his time on the court burning up nets to the tune of 48 percent from downtown. He posted a 65.1 true shooting percentage to go along with an impressive 17.2 PER.

Continue reading "Hooray for the OESRP!!!!"

The Clippers are bringing in Jay Dub, the NBA Eminem, Mr. White Chocolate. Yes, Jason Williams joins a completely revamped Clippers squad and will get a lot of back up, and probably a decent chunk of starters minutes when the inevitable Baron Davis injury happens. I like it.

Everything about this Clippers offseason should have me concerned. I mean, this is, after all, the freaking Clippers we’re talking about here. Nothing about what the organization has ever done indicates that the flurry of signings this summer will work. From draft picks to trades to mishandling their own stars, the Clippers have been the joke of the NBA for…well, forever.

In spite of this sure-as-all-hell factual evidence, I don't know why, but I am overly optimistic and excited about what the Clippers have done. I am flying against the strong winds of conventional wisdom and getting pumped up about the team.

Continue reading "Feeling that Clipper Spirit (Part 1)"

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. 

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

Wow, these Olympics have really been something huh? The first week was dominated by Michael Phelps, his 8 gold medals, his 7 world records, that fingernail finish, the come from behind in the 4X100 by Lezac. The second week was all about the American track and field team failing to come through and the Jamaican team, led by Usain Bolt, blowing past the competition.

Fitting then, that the biggest star in China not named Yao Ming closed out the games in his typical fashion.

I’ve been down on Mr. Bryant for the past two weeks. I’ve neglected to write about him here because I didn’t want to be too negative. I didn’t want to jinx anything. He seemed to be doing all the right things, playing the team game. He just wasn't hitting shots. And where Dwayne Wade and Lebron James seemed to be everywhere on the floor all at once, Kobe seemed to be picking his spots.

Continue reading "Dream Team Vs. Redeem Team"

Okay, so a little quick Lakers update. The team has now signed 16 players to contracts and is looking to go into training camp with 18 players on their rosters. That means there are still two open roster spots. Who those other two guys are going to be remains to be seen. Also, only 15 players will make the official roster, so the rest will either be sent down to the NBDL or they’ll be released.

A few posts ago, I talked about the upside of a one Josh Powell. Well, he was signed to a Lakers contract before that post. So, sweet I say. A quick recap, he’s a relatively young journeyman who brings double/double potential, though only in some sort of warped, horrific world that sees Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom go down, will he ever even get a shot at getting those numbers.

Continue reading "Lakers Update"