Fatal Staples Center Collapse Brings Merciful Early End To Clippers Game

This year, we’re doing a division-by-division preview with quick-hitting analysis for every team in the league. If a franchise is a legitimate championship contender, I’ll focus on what stars have to line up for a title run. If a team is a playoff “also-ran,” I’ll identify the weaknesses that have to be shored up via trade, free agency or draft over the next couple of seasons to make it a contender. If a team is likely to miss the playoffs, I’ll take a look at the salary cap, and provide a blueprint for how the team should proceed in the near future to get back in the postseason. At the end of each divisional preview, I’ll provide some (random) thoughts for the fantasy hoopsters out there.

For each division, I’ll pick the order of finish. You’ll also see the team’s league-wide preseason rank in parenthesis. Be sure to check back over the course of the next couple of weeks for previews of each division.

Los Angeles Lakers (1)
The biggest obstacle for the Lakers this season is Ron Artest. This may sound odd, but the franchise is rolling the dice that Ron-Ron can behave for another season. They gave up on the quietly improving Trevor Ariza and made a big move to add the unruly Artest to the roster. This is risky, especially for a team coming off an impressive title run. Why fiddle with your chemistry like that? Well, GM Mitch Kupchak is well aware that the Lakers aren’t getting by on chemistry. They are a group of very talented players, held together loosely by Phil Jackson’s thoughtful approach and Kobe Bryant’s will to win. In other words, chemistry may not matter to the Lakers, because it’s a by-product of winning. (For most teams, it’s the other way around.) There’s no doubt that Artest brings a lot to the table, but he’s the biggest change from last season, so if the Lakers take a step back, he’ll probably get the blame. Meanwhile, it appears that the big lineup question surrounds the Lamar Odom/Andrew Bynum quandary, but the truth is that Bynum’s game has not developed enough to demand that he be on the floor in crunch time. Odom can shoot (albeit, only a little) and is a terrific ball handler/passer, so Jackson knows that he can better space the court than Bynum can. When both Bynum and Pau Gasol are on the floor, the lane gets clogged and Kobe can’t find driving lanes, so look for Odom to get the edge in minutes again this year. But back to Artest — assuming he accepts a reduction in his offensive role, the Lakers are the odds-on favorites to once again represent the West in the Finals.

Phoenix Suns (17)
The Suns took a wrong turn back in 2008 when they made the bold (but ill-advised) move to trade Shawn Marion for Shaquille O’Neal. That summer, they let Mike D’Antoni get away and tried to use a slower style that would benefit Shaq. The Suns have been on the slide ever since. Let’s not forget that in the 2007 Playoffs, Phoenix was a couple of bench-clearing suspensions away from upsetting the eventual-champion Spurs. Why not keep that team together for one more run? Anyway, not much is expected from this year’s Suns, whose best players are Steve Nash, a 35 year-old point guard that can’t defend in the half court, and Amare Stoudemire, a 6’10” man-child who doesn’t really want to play for the Suns. This looks like a team that’s rebuilding, but doesn’t even know it yet. They still have enough talent to make the postseason, but they aren’t going anywhere.

Los Angeles Clippers (23)
Poor Baron Davis. He was supposed to join Elton Brand in L.A. until Brand pulled…um…an Elton Brand and signed with Philadelphia instead. However, things are looking up. The Clippers won the lottery and the right to draft probable ROY Blake Griffin, and they somehow found a way to get rid of Zach Randolph’s anchor of a contract. (Just what was Memphis thinking?) The Clips are now in position to be a player in 2010 free agency and have a good nucleus of Griffin and Eric Gordon to build around. As for this year, it’s not going to be pretty. But Griffin is an upgrade over Randolph, so if their key players can stay healthy, the Clippers will be competitive. Just don’t expect them to go anywhere with GM/HC Mike Dunleavy leading the way.

Golden State Warriors (26)
Ah, what promise the Warriors once held. Remember when they upset the Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs? That seems like a long time ago. Baron Davis is gone, Monta Ellis is grumpy and Stephen Jackson wants out. Still, there is a lot of talent here, and if HC Don Nelson can somehow find a way to make it work, the Warriors are capable of winning 40 games. But right now, this franchise just looks dysfunctional, which is why Stephen Curry and Ricky Rubio didn’t want to work out before the draft. Curry drew the short straw, but he should make for an exciting backcourt mate with Ellis given a favorable matchup. However, the guy to watch is Anthony Randolph, who appears to be the only untouchable player on the roster. He’s averaging 14/9 in 29 minutes in the preasason, and I’d expect those numbers to rise as he consistently sees starter’s minutes. Also keep an eye on Anthony Morrow, who is averaging better than 22 ppg in the preseason and is absolutely killing people from long range. From a salary cap standpoint, the Warriors won’t have any financial flexibility until the summer of 2011, but they have the pieces to make a big splash via trade if they choose to do so.

Sacramento Kings (30)
The young Kings suffered a setback when starting small forward Francisco Garcia broke his hand in a freak balance ball accident, so the season isn’t getting off to a very good start. Sacramento went with Tyreke Evans in the draft and is now building around a backcourt that also features Kevin Martin. The Kings’ payroll is only around $40 million for the next three years, so they can become a player in free agency if they choose to do so. Considering Garcia’s injury, the signing of Andres Nocioni looks pretty good and he should provide a steady veteran presence on the wing. With Jason Thompson at power forward and Spencer Hawes at center, the Kings are very, very young, and they’re going to struggle mightily to win games this season.

Fantasy Thoughts: The Lakers are likely to use a three-headed monster at point guard again. Derek Fisher is the wily, but fading vet, Jordan Famar is (was?) the heir-apparent and Shannon Brown is the crowd favorite…Channing Frye is now the starting center in Phoenix and should be able to post 14/7 if he gets 30+ minutes per game…Looking for a couple of sleepers in the Bay Area? Look no further than Anthony Randolph and Anthony Morrow. Randolph tore up the summer league and is averaging 14/9 in the preseason, while Morrow is a long-range sniper who hit almost 47% of his three-point attempts last season…Even though the Kings will be bad, that doesn’t mean they should be ignored in fantasy hoops. Kevin Martin, Tyreke Evans, Spencer Hawes and Jason Thompson are all likely to post good numbers, and Andres Nocioni is a sleeper now that Francisco Garcia is sidelined for four months with a broken hand.

Carlos Boozer wants to play in Miami.

The two-time NBA All-Star said Monday that he and the Jazz have “mutually agreed” to a trade, and it would be “a beautiful thing” if he wound up reunited with Olympic teammate Dwyane Wade on the Heat.

“We first came here for tax reasons and fell in love with it,” Boozer said, taking a break from his campers. “We love the palm trees, the laid-back attitude, the sun, quality of life. It’s like paradise here, and I would love to be part of the Heat. They’re a very good team, and I’m real close to some of the guys. Dwyane and I started to get close at the Athens Olympics in 2004, and I’d love to play on his team. Plus, I already live here. I’m just waiting to see what happens.”

The Heat have a few trade chips, but when considering Boozer, who is in the final year of his contract, the Jazz aren’t going to want to take only expiring salaries in a trade. They might as well keep him for the year and hope they can make some noise in the playoffs.

Udonis Haslem is a good player, but he’s in the final year of his deal. Would Miami be willing to part with Michael Beasley? Would Jerry Sloan even want him? Miami may need to get a third team involved to facilitate this deal.

Knicks, Clippers interested in Ramon Sessions.

Sessions, the Milwaukee Bucks talented young point guard who is a restricted free agent, is drawing intense interest from the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Clippers.

Both teams are considering offering Sessions their mid-level exception, which starts at $5.854 million in the first season. The annual salary then can increase each year thereafter by a maximum of eight percent — or $468,000.

It is believed James “Chubby’’ Wells, Sessions’ agent, is looking for a five-year deal that would be worth approximately $34.5 million. Both the Knicks and Clippers apparently are amenable to that request.

Meanwhile, the NY Post reports that the Knicks are prepared to offer Sessions a long-term deal worth $26 million.

The Knicks became reluctant to get serious about Sessions earlier this month. They felt the Bucks would match a mid-level offer and didn’t want to be tied up waiting on Milwaukee.

Now they think the Bucks will pass because of their comfort level with first-round draft pick Brandon Jennings, who is the centerpiece of the team’s season-ticket marketing campaign on their Web site.

After giving away Richard Jefferson and letting Charlie Villanueva walk with no compensation, are the Bucks prepared to let Sessions walk without getting anything in return? He is one of the best young point guards in the league, but with Brandon Jennings’ solid performance in summer league and the team’s decision to use Jennings as the centerpiece of their marketing campaign, the Knicks and Clippers smell blood. Whoever gets Sessions is going to get a guy who has a great chance to be a top 10 point guard for the next seven or eight years.

Andre Miller isn’t getting much love in free agency.

“We are still in the sign-and-trade mode,” Stefanski said about his talk with Andy Miller, with whom he has spoken frequently since NBA free agency began.

According to an NBA source, the Sixers have not been exactly bombarded with offers for a sign-and-trade agreement involving Miller. The 33-year-old Miller, who was hoping to land a three-year contract in the $30 million range, was offered one year for about $6 million by the Sixers.

Miller wants $30 million over three seasons, but I don’t think he’s going to get it. If he lowered his price tag to the mid-level, he might be able to get a three- or four-year deal, but even that is a long deal for a 33-year-old. He played very well last season, so he can be of help, but he’s at his best in an up-tempo offense and there aren’t a lot of suitors out there. Save for the Knicks and Pacers (who are rebuilding), he teams in the top 10 of pace (possessions per game) are all set at point guard.

Bulls will be careful in 2010, according to CEO Jerry Reinsdorf.

Q: The Bulls will have some $25 million in salary-cap room projected to spend on the star-studded 2010 free-agent class. After spending $60 million on free agent Ben Wallace with little to show for it, are you leery of courting another big-money player?

A: Yes. But the only way you can avoid making a mistake is not to make a decision. Even Jerry West has made mistakes, and he’s probably the best in the business. Even [Red] Auerbach made mistakes. Was Ben Wallace a mistake? Probably. Because what we didn’t think about is Ben needs to play alongside somebody who can score a lot of points. But I don’t think it’s about Ben Wallace that makes us be careful. It’s the thought that when you make a mistake, you own that mistake. So we’ve got to be careful.

Really? Ben Wallace needs to play alongside a guy who can score? It took a contract worth $60 million for you to realize that, Jerry?

$60 million was waaaaaay too much to pay for a player with Wallace’s offensive limitations. Even if a guy is the best defensive center in the league, it doesn’t make him worth $15 million per year.

Reinsdorf goes on to say that Pau Gasol is the Lakers’ “third-best player,” so I guess he’d put Lamar Odom (or Ron Artest?) ahead of the Spaniard. Sigh.

The NBA offseason is by no means over, but the lion’s share is behind us, so it’s a good time to take a look back at a few of the…um…let’s say “questionable” decisions of the summer. Here are my Top 10, in no particular order. Feel free to add to the list if I missed something.

1. Trevor Ariza plays spiteful hardball…and loses.
Let’s get this straight — the Lakers offered Ariza the same deal he was getting on the open market, and he refused since the Lakers could have offered more, but didn’t? Um, okay. David Lee (the agent, not the Knicks forward) says that Ariza wanted to go somewhere where he’d be “appreciated.” Lee overestimated the market for his client, and the Lakers quickly moved on to acquire Ron Artest. Now instead of playing for the world champs, Ariza is stuck in Houston on a team that faces a very uncertain future. Lee now says that Ariza turned down a deal worth $9 million more, but still picked Houston. It sounds to me like he’s just trying to save face.

2. Grizzlies acquire Zach Randolph.
Once the Clippers traded for Randolph (and his toxic contract) last season, I thought the bar for NBA general managers had hit a new low thanks to Mike Dunleavy and his wily ways. But Dunleavy proved that he wasn’t the dumbest GM in the league when he convinced the Memphis Grizzlies to take on the final two years Randolph’s contract at the tune of $33.3 million. Remember that $25 million or so of cap space that the Grizzlies were going to have next summer? Yeah, that’s down to about $8 million with this brilliant move. Just when it looked like Chris Wallace was going to rehab his image after the Pau Gasol trade — Marc Gasol panning out, trading for O.J. Mayo — he goes and does this. Sigh.

3. T-Wolves draft both Ricky Rubio and Jonny Flynn with no (good) plan in place.
When GM David Kahn drafted two point guards with back to back picks, everyone around the league thought that he had a trade in place. Not so, according to Kahn, who likes the idea of playing two smallish, ball-dominating guards in the same backcourt. Now Rubio is threatening to stay in Europe for another year or two, and Kahn is seemingly happy to wait until Rubio finally makes his way to the NBA to see if his unorthodox plan (and that’s being kind) will ultimately work.

4. The Magic trade for Vince Carter.
Let’s see, your team just lost in the Finals — losing two games in overtime — and your main ballhandler is a free agent. What do you do? It’s tough to create the kind of chemistry that gets a team to the Finals, so you re-sign him, right? Not the Orlando Magic, who balked at Hedo Turkoglu’s $10 million-per-season asking price and instead pulled the trigger on a trade for Vince Carter. So essentially they gave up their most consistent player (Turkoglu) and a budding star (Courtney Lee) for the 32-year-old Carter. A healthy Jameer Nelson (along with a savvy mid-level signing) may have been enough to put this Magic team over the top, but now we’ll never know.

5. Pistons sign Ben Gordon for $11 million per season.
Look, I like Ben Gordon…for about $8 million per season. The guy is a great scorer, but he has sketchy shot selection at times and is a big liability on defense. For years, the Bulls didn’t even deem him good enough to start, but the Pistons are going to throw $11 million per year at him? And it turns out that they were bidding against themselves, as the Bulls didn’t even bother to make an offer before Gordon signed with Detroit.

6. No one makes an offer (that we know of) to Ramon Sessions.
7. The Bucks don’t extend one-year offer to Charlie Villanueva and lose him without compensation.
8. The Bucks give away Richard Jefferson.
Let’s tackle my beloved Bucks all at once. First, they give away a former All-Star Jefferson in a salary dump. Then, they elect not to take the option to make Villanueva a restricted free agent, which allows the Pistons to sign him away without having to give the Bucks anything in return. I know why the Bucks made these moves — they don’t feel that this roster is worthy of being in luxury tax territory and I don’t disagree, but small market teams can’t give away assets for nothing. Yeah, maybe signing Villanueva for the final year of his rookie contract would have cost them $4 million or more, but they could have traded him for a young prospect or maybe a draft pick. And why didn’t they get a first rounder out of the Spurs for Jefferson? Small market teams have a tough time signing stars, so they have to build through the draft and via trade. Giving away the rights to a $7 million-per-season player (which is what the Pistons paid Villanueva) is not the way to get better. Lastly, why hasn’t anyone made RFA Ramon Sessions an offer? The Bucks have proven that they are trying to cut salary and they picked up Brandon Jennings in the draft. Does anyone really think that they’d match a significant ($4-$5 million per year) offer for Sessions? He had the 13th-highest PER amongst all point guards, and the 5th-highest amongst all point guards under the age of 26. Moreover, his +/- numbers are the best on the team for anyone who played more than 1200 minutes. Why hasn’t a team in need of point guard help (Portland?) jumped on this guy?

9. The Suns give away Shaquille O’Neal.
Regular readers know that I’m not fond of the job Steve Kerr is doing in Phoenix. First, he trades Rudy Fernandez away for cash. Then he ruins one of the most exciting teams in NBA history by trading Shawn Marion for Shaquille O’Neal. Now he seemingly admits that the Shaq trade was all for naught by giving him away in a salary dump. Shaq made the Third Team All-NBA last year, and Kerr traded him for Ben Wallace and Sasha Pavlovic’s expiring contracts. Geesh.

10. Six teams pass on DeJuan Blair IN THE SECOND ROUND!
When I first heard that there were concerns about Blair’s knees, I thought he might fall into the bottom third of the first round. Even if the guy is missing ligaments in his knees, he was still one of the best rebounders in all of college basketball last season and he ate up #2 pick Hasheem Thabeet in Connecticut. When Blair fell into the second round I was stunned as the Kings, Wizards, Blazers, Nuggets, Pistons and Grizzlies all passed on Blair. A second round pick doesn’t require the same kind of financial commitment as a first round pick, so there’s very little downside if the guy doesn’t pan out. Blair fell and fell, right into the inviting arms of the Spurs, who will be lucky to have him on the roster for the foreseeable future.

Zach Randolph was packaged for delivery to Memphis on Wednesday when the teams agreed to a deal that will bring back former Clipper Quentin Richardson, and open a starting spot for rookie Blake Griffin.

In a surprise, the Clippers didn’t do it to dump salary. Owner Donald T. Sterling actually resisted the move when a similar deal with Memphis came up on draft day, saying he wanted to do it only if it was a “basketball decision.”

When his people said it was a basketball decision, the deal was resurrected.

Nevertheless, with Randolph under contract for two more seasons at $33 million, and Richardson on the last year of his deal at $8.7 million, it will impact their bottom line, and, with their payroll now far below the salary cap after this season, can make them a major player in the big 2010 free-agent class.

With the move the Clippers’ projected payroll for the 2010 season is only about $32 million (plus whatever they have to pay Blake Griffin), so the franchise will be able to join the free agent frenzy of 2010.

I honestly don’t know what the Grizzlies are thinking. It’s not like Randolph has shown any signs in the last few years of being a piece to the championship puzzle.

Two sources told the Commercial Appeal that the Clippers were thisclose to unloading Zach Randolph and his ridiculous contract.

The Grizzlies had agreed in principle to acquire power forward Zach Randolph on Thursday night but Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling later nixed the trade, according to two NBA sources.

During the NBA Draft, executives from both teams hammered out a package with Randolph and Darko Milicic as the key pieces. Griz guard Greg Buckner would also have been included in the transaction.

I have no idea why the Grizzlies would want to trade for Randolph, but if this report is true, it is mind boggling. He has two years and $33.3 million remaining on his deal, which is widely regarded as one of the worst contracts in the league. Had the Clippers made the trade, they would have saved at least $5 million this season and $13 million in 2010, giving the team around $17 million in cap space heading into the fabled free agency summer of 2010. The numbers might be a bit higher depending on how much of Buckner’s contract is guaranteed.

Why keep Randolph? Sure, he’s more talented offensive player than Darko Milicic, but the Clippers just drafted Blake Griffin, who is ready to play now. Why keep another power forward on the roster who has a reputation for being a malcontent? If I’m running the Clippers, I’d consider buying Randolph out just to keep him away from my star rookie. Griffin needs to develop in the right environment if the franchise hopes to turn their fortunes around anytime soon. This is paramount. Moreover, the team isn’t going to win with the lineup it has now, so the best idea is to get as much salary cap flexibility as soon as possible.

This is a serious head-scratcher.

Truthfully, Blake Griffin would be a great fit just about anywhere, but the Los Angeles Clippers can really use him. He’s athletic, has an improving offensive game and can really rebound. He has the potential to be a franchise power forward.

When the Clippers signed Baron Davis to a fat contract last summer, things we’re looking up for a franchise that only had one winning season in the last 185 years. But the Baron Davis/Elton Brand marriage was not to be when the latter signed his own fat contract with the Philadelphia 76ers. The Clippers (a.k.a. GM/coach Mike Dunleavy) overreacted by trading for Zach Randolph, and they would be so much better off right now had they showed some restraint.

Had the Clippers held onto Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas, they would have an additional $17.3 million in cap space (for a total of $27-$28 M) heading into the summer of 2010. With that much cap space and a core of Griffin, Davis, Kaman, Eric Gordon and Al Thornton, the Clippers would have really been in business. They wouldn’t have been able to woo LeBron or Wade, but Bosh or Stoudemire would be possibilities, as would Joe Johnson. Now they are locked into Randolph for two more years at the tune of $33.3 million and won’t have the cap space next summer to sign a star.

Obviously, landing the right to draft Griffin last night was huge for this franchise. Now they just need to can Dunleavy and find someone who knows what they’re doing. Honestly, he should have been fired on the spot when he suggested the team trade for Randolph.

It’s going to take a while for the Clippers to turn things around, but with a young core of Griffin and Gordon, the potential is there. Last night was a big step in the right direction, though don’t underestimate Dunleavy’s ability to screw things up.