Clippers 1st round pick watch thread

[Yoki_IsTheName]

They're still the best team in the division, for my money, which means that they'll be squarely in the playoffs.

Golden State > LA Clippers

Clippers have the best two players and are still the better team.

Disagree, by a million.

Dubs have 3 legitimate stars, 4 if you count Iggy. Better defensive team overall (ranked 3rd last year) and they have a much more deeper bench (Dubs can go 12 deep).

And they have Draymond Green.

Only thing that will kill the Warriors is the very same thing that killed them last year, and that is Bogut getting hurt. Other than that, the Dubs are a better team than the Clippers.

[saltlover]

Clippers are legit title contenders, so I'm not too concerned with the pick. In fact, I would say the Sixers 2nd rd pick has greater value since it's not guaranteed.

Very salient point.

I think this is an overrated point.  It really depends on the draft.  If it's a deeper draft, as 2015 is projected to be, I'd rather have the earlier pick, since I should be getting a player worth keeping for multiple years.  If it's a shallow draft, like 2013, then yes, maybe I'd prefer to not have salary committed to a player I'm not confident in.

I'd wait to see how the K.J. McDaniels situation plays out before preferring pick 31 to pick 30.

[MBunge]

They're still the best team in the division, for my money, which means that they'll be squarely in the playoffs.

Golden State > LA Clippers

Clippers have the best two players and are still the better team.

They took them to 7 games in the playoffs last season, with 4 of those games decided by less than 5 points, and the Warriors didn't have Bogut.

Mike

[Fafnir]

Unless you're taking an overseas player who you want to sign above rookie scale, a high second round picks isn't better than a first round pick. It's less risky because you can cut bait, but that's it.

[wdleehi]

They're still the best team in the division, for my money, which means that they'll be squarely in the playoffs.

Golden State > LA Clippers

Clippers have the best two players and are still the better team.

They took them to 7 games in the playoffs last season, with 4 of those games decided by less than 5 points, and the Warriors didn't have Bogut.

Mike

Which is a very common occurrence with teams that have Bogut.

Paul and Blake are still the best two players on those two teams with Blake still improving his game.  Curry is the only player that is close to or on the same level as those two players on the Warriors. 

[aingeforthree]

That pick will be anywhere from 24 to 30. It'll still be a great asset to have but I wouldn't get hopes up of any type of lottery chances.

Agreed.

I have the pick being before San Antonio, Cleveland, Oklahoma City, Houston, Portland, & Golden State.  So somewhere around 24.  Could be a bit better depending on Chicago, Toronto, and Memphis.

[D.o.s.]

They're still the best team in the division, for my money, which means that they'll be squarely in the playoffs.

Golden State > LA Clippers

Clippers have the best two players and are still the better team.

They took them to 7 games in the playoffs last season, with 4 of those games decided by less than 5 points, and the Warriors didn't have Bogut.

Mike

Which is a very common occurrence with teams that have Bogut.

Paul and Blake are still the best two players on those two teams with Blake still improving his game.  Curry is the only player that is close to or on the same level as those two players on the Warriors.

Not to mention the weirdness that goes along with the Golden State front office. The Warriors are more fun to watch, and they have better passing in their starting five overall (probably the best average passing ability in a starting lineup in the league, actually), but the Clippers are still a better team.

Also, Golden State has one star. Don't kid yourselves -- Klay Thompson is good, but not great.

[Nerf DPOY]

Given the parity 1-10 in the West, I can't see getting worked up over who will have the better record between GS, LAC, or even Houston and Memphis for that matter. I can see things getting volatile and that's before taking injuries into consideration. Last years WC playoffs were great because of that, and promise to be just as uncertain this year.

[MBunge]

They're still the best team in the division, for my money, which means that they'll be squarely in the playoffs.

Golden State > LA Clippers

Clippers have the best two players and are still the better team.

They took them to 7 games in the playoffs last season, with 4 of those games decided by less than 5 points, and the Warriors didn't have Bogut.

Mike

Which is a very common occurrence with teams that have Bogut.

Paul and Blake are still the best two players on those two teams with Blake still improving his game.  Curry is the only player that is close to or on the same level as those two players on the Warriors.

And again, they took them to 7 games with 4 games decided by 5 points or less without their starting center.  Or have we gotten to the point where what actually happens on the court is completely irrelevant to basketball discussions?

Mike

[D.o.s.]

So what you're saying is that we should be measuring them against some hypothetical situation where their starting center, who has missed half (as in 50%) of his potential NBA games over the last three years, is magically healthy, rather than the fact that, you know, they've been a worse team (insofar as record against the rest of the league is concerned) that's gone .500 against LA (http://bkref.com/tiny/CQyOw) over that same time period and, of course, we're not supposed to factor in injuries on the Clippers half of the equation?


Gee, you're right, I guess we should be paying attention to what actually happens on the basketball court.

[aingeforthree]

Given the parity 1-10 in the West, I can't see getting worked up over who will have the better record between GS, LAC, or even Houston and Memphis for that matter. I can see things getting volatile and that's before taking injuries into consideration. Last years WC playoffs were great because of that, and promise to be just as uncertain this year.

Agreed.  Regardless of where the pick lands, we got the pick by giving up a coach.  That's extreme value no matter where the pick lands. In return, we hired a pretty darn good young coach that has the 'it' factor like the last coach did.

That's a great move no matter where the pick ends up.

[nostar]

Dos raging as usual

I'm in the camp saying the Clips will be among the top-3 teams in the West if healthy. And since I totally believe in the injury curse I don't root for players to get hurt, on any team.

If, god forbid, they do experience one of their stars being hurt it's a very real possibility they fall out of the playoffs. I think that Blake is probably more integral to them winning regular season games than Paul but either would be a significant blow.

The Clippers aren't that deep, despite the Hawes signing. Their second unit is:

Farmar
Crawford
Bullock
Davis
Hawes

Not a bad bench but certainly not one of the stronger ones in the western conference. Actually our bench is probably better than theirs at this point. The clips are weak at PG, SF and PF. They will end up making a trade midseason for a SF (Cory Brewer?) I expect, but, as you can see, their thinnest positions are the ones their stars occupy.

So yeah I'm watching but I expect the pick to be in the 25-30 range. Honestly I'm not sure I'd trade it. There are players mocked post-25 that I'd like to take a flier on. Frank "The Tank" Kaminsky, Dakari Johnson, Andrew Harrison, AJ Hammons...Egemen Guven if he's in the draft. This next draft is interesting because a lot of people think past the top-5(4) picks it's weak. I'm not so sure.

[D.o.s.]

Dos raging as usual

 

[footey]

Now that Balmers is retired from MS, he has become obsessed with the Clips. I see him in the Mark Cuban mold, doing everything he can to build a championship team. Let's put it this way: money will never be an object for this team, the way it was when Sterling owned it.  That is bad news for their first round pick this year. Barring an injury to Chris Paul, I expect the pick to be bottom 4 or 5 of the first round.

[Who]

The Clippers aren't that deep, despite the Hawes signing. Their second unit is:

Farmar
Crawford
Bullock
Davis
Hawes

Not a bad bench but certainly not one of the stronger ones in the western conference. Actually our bench is probably better than theirs at this point. The clips are weak at PG, SF and PF. They will end up making a trade midseason for a SF (Cory Brewer?) I expect, but, as you can see, their thinnest positions are the ones their stars occupy.

I think the Clippers have a strong bench. One of the better benches in the league.

I am much higher on Jordan Farmarthan you are (I rate him as top 10 backup PG) and I like Glen Davis too (rate him as middle of the pack backup PF). Those two in addition to Spencer Hawes (top 10 backup C) and Jamal Crawford (elite backup SG/PG) gives the Clippers a strong 9 man rotation. They also have some useful end of bench guys like Chris Douglas-Roberts, Hedo Turkoglu and Ekpe Udoh.

The lack of a stopper on the wing off the bench is a drawback. Reggie Bullock is the guy in that role for now. He is still unproven. I'd like to see him pan out. Hopefully he can step up but I'd be more comfortable with someone more proven in that role.