The Clippers made 2 different trades in the week leading up to the trade deadline and both gave me the obvious impression that the team has quit and as usual is just trying to save money for their owner Donald Sterling (a noted cheapskate and racist.)
The first trade, swapping Marcus Camby for Steve Blake and Travis Outlaw. On the face of it, it's not a terrible deal... Camby is an expiring contract and Steve "The Eliminator" Blake and Outlaw aren't terrible players. But Outlaw has been hurt most of the season and will likely never play a minute for the Clippers.
Because of that the trade brought out some serious emotion from the Clippers players. Camby was actually upset to leave LA, presumably because of the town not his team, and one Clipper rightfully pointed out, "All the guys are upset because our best defensive player got traded for basically a backup point guard and some money."
The Clippers then completed the trade deadline by moving Bassy Telfair (a former favorite T-Wolf of mine) and Al Thornton for Drew Gooden. Drew is one of my all-time favorite Jayhawks, but even I can't see him having any positive impact for the Clip Show and the got rid of two young pieces to get him.
The team did make one good move prior to the deadline though when GM Mike Dunleavy relieved himself of his coaching duties. I won't get into Dunleavy's coaching downfalls, they're well documented. But when Mike Dunleavy showed up at Allen Fieldhouse on Monday I wasn't happy to see an NBA executive in the building, I was just hoping to God he would stay away from the Jayhawks.
I understand what the Clippers are doing. They've cleared cap space and now have an open coaching position that they can use to lure new players for next season. But if the Clippers think the likes of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh are coming to play for them they're dreaming. I'll throw out the prediction right now that during this upcoming offseason the Clippers will give out a max contract to Rudy Gay after their turned down by everyone else. Just way too predictable.
The Clippers have some good young talent, but honestly what team that has been in the lottery the last 4 years doesn't have talent. I actually hope that the likes of Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon can turn them into contenders in the near future. A good Clippers team is always an intriguing story.
However, if this past trade deadline has proven anything to me it's that there is no reason you can ever root for the Clippers. Year after year they continue to make moves that infuriate both their fans and their own players.
Maybe someday he'll even wear the jersey!
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