CLIPPERS

The Los Angeles Clippers have only made three appearances in the playoffs since the 1976 season (1992, 1993, and 1997) and in each of those seasons, the Clippers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. The Clippers have averaged just over 25 wins over the last ten seasons with one playoff appearance and zero finishes with at least a .500 record and also haven’t finished better than 5th in the Pacific Division in any year. This is part of the reason that the Los Angeles Clippers have been looked at as a laughing stock in the National Basketball Association. Much of the blame for this has gone to team owner Donald Sterling and his business principles. In recent years, it seems as though Sterling has put more thought into how do make or save money than building a team that could potentially challenge for a playoff spot or eventually a championship. The Clippers have had numerous coaches in recent years due to their futility but they seem to have settled on Mike Dunleavy, a coach entering his 12th season as an NBA coach. Dunleavy played in the league years ago and has a .490 winning percentage while going 31-28 in the playoffs over his coaching career.

Last season, the Los Angeles Clippers were led by power forward Elton Brand, small forward Corey Maggette, and shooting guard Quentin Richardson. Brand, who played his college ball at Duke, broke a bone in his foot in the first game of the season but finished the season averaging 20 and 10 a night. Maggette, who also played at Duke, played very well last season by averaging 21-6-3 while Richardson played consistently and averaged 17 points and more than 6 rebounds a night. Richardson also led the team in three point shooting while Maggette was the team’s leader in free throws. The off-season saw the team win the #2 spot in the draft lottery and trade down to the #4 pick while acquiring a second round pick from the Bobcats of Charlotte. The Magic took Dwight Howard first and Charlotte jumped on Emeka Okefor out of UConn. The Bulls took fellow Husky Ben Gordon at #3 and the Clippers were left with numerous options. They decided on a point guard so it came down to Devin Harris from Wisconsin or high school player Shaun Livingston. Harris was NBA ready but Livingston is likely the only player in the draft that could be a superstar in the league at some point in the future so the team chose him at #4. With the pick that came from Charlotte, the team drafted Lionel Chalmers, a point guard out of Xavier.

The off-season was a busy one for the Clippers. They were heavily involved in the Kobe Bryant sweepstakes and really thought they had a chance to sign him. The team lost Richardson to free agency but made a trade for Kerry Kittles, a shooting guard who enters the final year of his contract. The team also traded away Melvin Ely and Eddie House to the Bobcats and watched Keyon Dooling sign with the Heat. With all the movement, the starting five could change before the start of the season, but for now it looks likely that Marko Jaric will start at the point guard position with Livingston providing a backup and Kerry Kittles joining him in the backcourt. Maggette and Brand will start at the three and four while Chris Kaman controls the middle as the center. Chris Wilcox and Bobby Simmons will also provide help off the bench in the frontcourt.

This season, the Clippers will move out of the old Pacific division and move into the new and revamped Pacific. They’ll be competing for a division title against the likes of cross-town rivals the Los Angeles Lakers, the Sacramento Kings, the Phoenix Suns, and the Golden State Warriors. The Kings are in a bit of a transition mode and the Lakers will look drastically different from last year. The Suns had a successful off-season by signing Steve Nash and the Warriors would contend more than the past this season so the Clippers will need to use their youth and flashiness to propel themselves into the conversation with some of the best teams in the West.

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