Clippers postmortem
April 17th, 2008, 6:13 pm · Post a Comment · posted by ART THOMPSON III, OCREGISTER.COM
The last remnants of the Clippers’ disappointing 2007-2008 season began to be swept away Thursday, as exit interviews with players were conducted at Spectrum South, by Coach Mike Dunleavy.Those final meetings, including one that Dunleavy will conduct with star forward Elton Brand, will conclude Friday.
Ahead for the Clippers is finding out the order in the upcoming NBA draft lottery that they will pick, followed by the draft itself in June and then the Las Vegas summer league in July.
The Clippers and the New York Knicks finished the season with identical 23-59 records. One of those teams will be slotted fifth in the lottery, the other sixth.
Once the lottery is conducted, the Clippers would be able to rise as high as first overall, depending on how the ping pong balls pop out. However, by rule, the Clippers can’t fall more than three spots below their assigned slot.
Although Clippers owner Donald T. Sterling has been most reluctant to trade the team’s first-round draft pick in past years, arguably the most successful trade the Clippers ever made was in 2001, when they selected Tyson Chandler with the second overall pick, then traded him to the Chicago Bulls for Brand.
Dunleavy said all options would be considered in approaching the draft, including trading the pick altogether for a player or swapping places in the draft with another team, to possibly acquire an extra draft pick and/or a player.
Key decisions that must be made in the next few months are whether or not to sign Brand and forward Corey Maggette to contract extensions. Both players are signed through next season but can opt out of those contracts this summer.
The other most pressing decision involves injury-prone guard Shaun Livingston. The Clippers have until June 30 to tender him at least a qualifying offer of $5.8 million, which would allow the organization to retain Livingston’s rights. Otherwise, he would become an unrestricted free agent July 1.
Baylor said that both Maggette and Brand have expressed to him the desire to remain with the Clippers.
But publically, Maggette and Brand both said that they would allow their respective agents, Rob Pelinka and David Falk, to handle the upcoming negotiations with the Clippers.
“Whatever it takes to have them back, we’re willing to do,” Baylor said.
As for Livingston, Dunleavy said that he needs to evaluate Livingston in a 5-on-5, full-court pickup game, with other NBA players, in order to make a decision on what the team will do with the 22-year old guard, who was compared to a young Magic Johnson, when Livingston chose to bypass college, and the Clippers selected him fourth overall in the 2004 draft.
Livingston missed this entire season while recovering and building back strength in his left knee, which he injured in what initially was feared to be a career-ending injury Feb. 26, 2007.
Although the extensive surgery required was announced as successful, Livingston has not, as far as anyone knows, played half-court or full court basketball since his injury occurred.
“We have some questions (that have) to be answered,” Dunleavy said. “The biggest is with Shaun Livingston. Come draft time, that can be a factor in what we do.”
If all goes well with Livingston’s workouts, he is expected to play on the Clippers’ summer league entry, which for the third year will be playing in Las Vegas.
Assessing the team’s final 23-59 record, Elgin Baylor, the Clippers’ vice president of basketball operations conceded Thursday, “We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
The Clippers’ final crawl to the season’s finish ended on a seven-game losing streak. The Clippers dropped 26 of their final 30 games.
“It was a nightmare of a season,” Dunleavy said.
Analyst work
Dunleavy has been hired to work as a playoff analyst by TNT. He is scheduled to work Sunday’s game between Toronto and Orlando, and then Tuesday’s game between Dallas and New Orleans.
Davis on the mend
Forward-center Paul Davis has began running again, less than four months after having surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. Davis was injured last Dec. 21, in a game against Dallas.
“I never thought I’d be so excited to run again,” Davis said Thursday.
Davis is scheduled to fly to Birmingham, Ala., Sunday for a Monday appointment with James Andrews, the orthopaedic surgeon that operated on both Davis and Livingston.
The Clippers also have a decision to make on Davis, who was a second-round pick by the Clippers in 2006. They must tender him a qualifying offer of $875,000 by June 30, otherwise Davis would become an unrestricted free agent.
“There’s always a little doubt but I definitely want to be here and all signs point toward that,” Davis said.
The short-range goal that Davis has is to be ready by July to play on the Clippers’ summer-league team.
Ross bound for Texas
Unlike the past three summers, swingman Quinton Ross intends to spend most of his time working out in his home town of Dallas.
The reason why is simple - Ross will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and although Dunleavy has said he would like the organization to re-sign Ross, that bit of business likely won’t be conducted right away.
