Why David West Is a Better Fit Than Kevin Garnett for LA Clippers’ Future
As the Los Angeles Clippers mull over exactly what happened for them to earn a first-round exit from the playoffs this season, eyes begin to turn to the offseason and improvements that can be made. Most notably, rumors have swirled around David West and Kevin Garnett.
Where Garnett is concerned, there have been rumors about the Boston Celtics attempting a radical revamp since Rajon Rondo tore his ACL back in January.
One of the biggest thoughts was sending Garnett to Los Angeles for DeAndre Jordan and Eric Bledsoe. Either side dragged their feet and eventually nothing happened.
The latest rumor, according to NESN.com, is that the Celtics and Clippers are at least “talking about” a trade that would send Garnett, Paul Pierce, and even Doc Rivers, to the Clippers for Blake Griffin, Bledsoe, Jordan and Caron Butler.
It sound’s completely far-fetched, and it should since the notion is coming from Stephen A. Smith, but it’s rumor nonetheless.
However, it seems that the Clippers are more interested in picking up West, whose contract with the Indiana Pacers runs out this summer, per a recent article on Pro Basketball Talk.
The idea here is that West, a former teammate of Chris Paul, would not only serve as a formidable duo, but also convince Paul that Los Angeles is the place to be.
Paul leaving via free agency this summer could absolutely wreck the progress that the Clippers have made over the past few seasons and leave them wondering where to go next.
A deal bringing Garnett to the Clippers would improve them almost immediately (although I don’t think the elaborate move involving Pierce and Rivers would be the way to go here) and give Griffin a frontcourt running mate who not only exists as more of an intimidator than Jordan, but can also play crunch-time minutes, as he’s not completely useless from the free-throw line.
However, Garnett is a 37-year-old big man who has had troubles with his body for years now and is a threat to retire at any moment.
On the other hand, West is a 32-year-old floor-spacing forward who is not only a much-improved defender since his days in New Orleans, but has also proven to be a successful running mate to Paul.
In his days with Paul on the Hornets, they put together one of the most formidable pick-and-pop duos in the entire NBA.
He’s the type of player the Clippers’ offense dearly needs in order to open things up. Instead of big guys cramming the middle, a few shooters and Paul doing all the work, West would give them a consistent mid-range threat. Just check out his shot chart from this season:
In essence, West is exactly what the Clippers hoped Lamar Odom could revert to, only useful on defense and miles more effective.
Not only that, there are few players in the NBA who Paul has shown more affection for than West.
Back in 2011, a torn ACL ended West’s season. Paul’s reaction is a pretty big indicator of how much he enjoyed playing with the big dude (via NOLA.com).
Man, that’s my guy, that’s all I can say. We lost my brother; it’s been the hardest day ever. I was emotional in my post-game interview, but that’s my guy. Plain and simple.
I told him some people in your life that you meet, you have friends that are closer than family. He’s one of those guys for me. It may sound crazy, but I’m hurt just as bad as he is that he can’t play.
Here you’ve got a defensively sound big man who not only completes the Clippers offense, but has a proven history with Chris Paul. What more could the team ask for?
Of course, the only problem here is actually getting West onto the Clippers.
Actually convincing West that Los Angeles would be a better place for him than Indiana would be the hardest part. Many times he’s expressed how much he enjoys the team and the group of guys he’s playing with, including this quote from NOLA.com:
This is the most together group that I’ve been a part of. We don’t have any egos. We don’t have a bunch of `I’ guys. We have guys who are intent on doing whatever we have to do to go out and win the game.
Apart from prying the big man away from the Midwest, there’s the little issue of paying the guy.
After re-signing Paul (which is obviously the only reason West would consider going out to L.A.), Los Angeles is going to be over the salary cap (which will be around $58 million), but under the luxury tax line (which should be just north of $70 million).
That means Los Angeles will have nothing more than the $5 million mid-level exception to offer West, who made $10 million this season.
Asking him to cut his pay in half to play for the Clippers is too much of a sacrifice for such a talented player—that is likely looking for their last big contract—to make.
That would mean a sign-and-trade would be in order for Los Angeles.
It’s hard to imagine the Pacers going in on a straight-up swap for Jordan, as they already have a defensively sound center that struggles to consistently produce on offense.
However, bringing another team into the mix and giving up Eric Bledsoe as well would likely be plenty to get the Pacers interested.
There’s a lot of work left to be done with this Clippers squad in order to make Chris Paul happy, but there are plenty of options out there.
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Clippers won’t offer Del Negro new deal as coach (Yahoo! Sports)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Vinny Del Negro is out as coach of the Los Angeles Clippers after a season in which the team won its first division title but lost in the first round of the playoffs.
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Clippers, Del Negro part ways
Vinny Del Negro has been fired by the Los Angeles Clippers in a move that is long overdue, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports. Del Negro coached the team the last three seasons. They went 32-50 in his first season, 40-26 in his second season, and 56-26 this season. The Clippers beat the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA playoffs last year, but they lost to them in the first round this year. Despite having success last season, there were questions about his job security going back to last year. Del Negro has long been considered the weak link on a team with a talented roster. His substitution patterns are questionable, as was the way he managed some of his key reserve players in the playoffs this year. Moves such as having top bench player Jamal Crawford only play 12 minutes in a season-ending Game 6 loss to the Grizzlies were inexplicable and, when asked about the decision, Del Negro had little explanation. At various points throughout the season, the playe…
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Vinny Del Negro won’t return to Los Angeles Clippers
The Clippers were disappointed with the loss in the first round of the playoffs
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Twitter Reacts to Clippers Parting Ways with Vinny Del Negro
After three seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers, Vinny Del Negro will no longer serve as the team’s head coach.
Del Negro led the team to a 56-26 record this season, although the squad lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Memphis Grizzlies in six games. Overall, he put together a 128-102 regular-season record in Los Angeles with a 6-11 mark in the postseason.
Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported the news via Twitter:
Of course, he was not the last person to comment on the move. Plenty of experts and average fans have an opinion on the situation one way or another.
Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! Sports was one of the first to poke fun at the coach’s style:
The parody account Not SportsCenter seems to think that a picture of a good coach can be better than a bad one in person:
Chris Emma of Fox Sports compares the coach with another sports figure who is currently looking for a job:
It is simply not easy to keep a job as a basketball coach in Los Angeles, according to Doug Gottlieb of CBS Sports:
Maybe Del Negro should start coaching football instead.
Still, it was not always bad for the man in charge of the Clippers. Ethan J. Skolnick of the Palm Beach Post points out the fact that Del Negro did earn one first-place vote for Coach of the Year:
That voter does seem to be in the minority, though, when it comes to the coach’s perceived success.
This has some people thinking that there are good times on the horizon. Josh Newman of SNY.tv believes that the Clippers are now a very attractive spot for a new coach:
With so much talent on the squad, Los Angeles is likely to get whoever it wants as the next man in charge.
Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated speculated that Phil Jackson could be in play, although no contact has been made:
Ethan Strauss of ESPN comes up with another possibility for the next coach:
The big question still is what this means for the future of Chris Paul. The point guard is a free agent this year, but the team wants to keep him around.
Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News seems to think the All-Star has a lot of say in the process:
Either way, it is mostly speculation at this point. We must all wait to see whether the next coach can take the Clippers further than Del Negro, and whether Del Negro can land with another organization in the near future.
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Report: Clippers fire Vinny Del Negro
Vinny Del Negro has been fired by the Los Angeles Clippers in a move that is long overdue, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports.
Del Negro coached the team the last three seasons. They went 32-50 in his first season, 40-26 in his second season, and 56-26 this season.
The Clippers beat the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the NBA playoffs last year, but they lost to them in the first round this year.
Despite having success last season, there were questions about his job security going back to last year.
Del Negro has long been considered the weak link on a team with a talented roster. His substitution patterns are questionable, as was the way he managed some of his key reserve players in the playoffs this year. Moves such as having top bench player Jamal Crawford only play 12 minutes in a season-ending Game 6 loss to the Grizzlies were inexplicable and, when asked about the decision, Del Negro had little explanation. At various points throughout the season, the playe…
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Vinny Del Negro Fired as Head Coach of the Los Angeles Clippers
A franchise-record 56 wins and two straight playoff appearances weren’t enough for Vinny Del Negro, who has been fired by the Los Angeles Clippers.
The news comes from Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski:
It’s been a truly polarizing run for the 46-year-old head coach.
On one hand, he took over a franchise that had been to the playoffs just once in the last 13 years, and immediately guided it to two postseason appearances in three seasons.
During his time in L.A., he compiled a record of 128-102.
On the other hand, however, his in-game decisions and coaching strategy often left much to be desired (via CBS Sports’ Ken Berger):
And that’s putting it very lightly.
In fact, Del Negro’s coaching ability has become somewhat of a running joke within both media and fan circles—and it’s not exactly difficult to see why (via The Basketball Jones’ J.E. Skeets):
Most recently, Del Negro not only received a boatload of criticism for the lineup decisions he made against the Memphis Grizzlies, but his team was also noticeably flat en route to a disappointing first-round exit.
He wasn’t just drawing crestfallen reviews from the fans and media, either, as the players also chimed in (via HOOPSWORLD’s Alex Kennedy):
It’s difficult to put yourself on the hot seat after following up a Western Conference semis appearance with a 56-win season, but Del Negro is special that way.
The Clips have yet to announce a replacement for the incredibly maligned head coach, but time is of the essence. All-world point guard Chris Paul is set to hit free agency this summer—and finding a coach who increases the chances of bringing CP3 back to Los Angeles is of the utmost importance.
In early May, ESPN’s Ric Bucher suggested a potentially fascinating idea that was being tossed around:
A tantalizing candidate to be the Clippers’ next head coach posited by one NBA executive if the team would like to maximize its chances of Chris Paul re-signing with the franchise: Chauncey Billups. I can’t tell you if Billups is interested in retiring as a player at this point, or even if being a head coach is what he wants to do next, but he certainly knows the game well enough, has long held unusual authority among his peers on the court and in the locker room.
No matter who replaces Del Negro, most see this as a major step forward for the Clippers organization.
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Chris Paul Must Remain with L.A. Clippers to Cement Superstar Legacy
Chris Paul is going to have the freedom to choose whichever team has the means to sign him as an unrestricted free agent this summer, but he would be wise to remain with the Los Angeles Clippers.
The superstar point guard has just begun forging his legacy with his current club and would only be setting himself—and his chances of winning a championship—back by uprooting and playing for another organization.
While the Clips experienced severe disappointment in the form of a first-round playoff exit after six grueling games against the Memphis Grizzlies, it’s simply not time for CP3 to abandon ship.
One of the main reasons why L.A. has struggled so much is due to its inexperienced and overmatched coach, Vinny Del Negro.
The talented players on the Clips’ roster—including Paul, Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, Jamal Crawford and others—simply deserve better. Because Del Negro’s contract is set to expire this offseason, he could conceivably be easily be replaced by a more capable candidate.
The latest buzz, as per ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Marc Stein, indicates that VDN may return for another rodeo, but it would behoove Paul—for not only himself, but also his teammates’ sake—to recommend the franchise go in another direction.
Fortunately, the 28-year-old has plenty of say within the organization at this juncture. ESPN Los Angeles’ Arash Markazi is reporting that the Clippers brass will ultimately make the decision, but Paul and Griffin will be consulted before the final verdict is in.
If CP3 can persuade owner Donald Sterling to bring in a more playoff-hardened head coach to help guide this young squad on a deep run, his Clips will be in great shape as early as next season.
With big names like Phil Jackson and Jerry Sloan potentially available, it would be downright insane for this team—which is right on the cusp of contending for the Western Conference crown—to remain loyal to Del Negro.
Paul has only been in L.A. for two years and made a pair of solid forays into the postseason during that time period. He’s completely revitalized one of the worst clubs in basketball and brought the Clippers some modicum of respectability.
Now he has to remain with the organization to see them through to a title, which could be right around the corner—assuming there is a coaching change this offseason.
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Can the Clippers Get Dwight Howard And Chris Paul?
via 5thquartermag.com Recently, I have been wondering how the Clippers are going to improve their roster to appease Chris Paul. I think if they got Dwight Howard to join with him and Blake, then the Clippers big 3 would be on par with the Miami Heat. Yet is this possible? Eddie Sefko brought up that the Clippers are trying to do it, but how would they? Lets look at the salaries. Right now the Clippers salary for 2013/2014: Blake Griffin: $16,402,500 DeAndre Jordan: $10,986,550 Caron Butler: $8,000,000 Jamal Crawford: $5,225,000 Eric Bledsoe: $2,626,473 Grant Hill: $2,045,065 Willie Green: $1,399,507(Team Option) So the total salary is: $46,685,095 The salary cap for the 2013/2014 season is $58,044,000 so that means the Clippers will have $11,358,905 in Salary Cap. How much salary cap will the Clippers need to be able to sign both Dwight and CP3? According to HoopsRumors, the max Dwight can make is 20,513,178 and Chris Paul can make 18,668,431. I am not exactly sure how the bird exc…
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After battling the Clippers and Thunder vigorously, the Memphis Grizzlies proved that they are ready to contend for anNBA title.
The only problem standing in their way, is the most complete team left in the western conference; the San Antonio Spurs.Though the Spurs struggled against the hot shooters in Golden State, they made the correct adjustments and overcame a much younger more athletic team. In part due to Danny green and Kawhi Leonard, the young stars were phenomenal in defending both Curry and Thompson. It is because of these rising players that the spurs will have the advantage.
The season series was split 2-2, but neither team was complete for any of the four games. This series will showcase both teams at full strength. The Grizzlies and DPOY Marc Gasol, versus Tony Parker Tim Duncan and a lethal team of young stars.
At 6’7 Leonard has the size and wing span to disrupt shooters and he as physical as most when it comes to rebounding. He is resilient and shows a knack for locking down players. He will be needed to contain Tony Allen and Tayshaun Prince, if Leonardcan continue to develop…
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