The Clippers Lock In Their Pick
Blake Griffin, L.A. Clippers (?)
There was some debate in these pages as to who would end up as the best pro - Blake Griffin or Ricky Rubio. But everyone would agree that the Clippers would be idiots if they went for the Spanish PG instead of pairing Blake Griffin with Baron Davis, Eric Gordon and Co. Instead of adding to the legacy of taking Michael Olowakandi, Yaroslav Korolev, and Chris Wilcox in the lottery, Mike Dunleavy said that they could lock the pick in right now - they’re 100% going with Griffin.
“Clearly, we’re taking Blake Griffin,” Clippers General Manager and Coach Mike Dunleavy said in a telephone interview from Barcelona, Spain.
“This guy is the No. 1 pick. We’re extremely excited. He’s the guy.”
Ironically, Dunleavy was in Spain to scout Ricky Rubio. He came away impressed with the kid, who battled through an injury to finish with 16 points in the Spanish playoffs. But Dunleavy’s mind is made up. There’s no concern about his fully stocked roster of power forwards. Though it will be nearly impossible to move Zach Randolph’s two years and $33 million right now, or Chris Kaman’s inflexible three years, $34 million, maybe LAC will explore getting rid of Marcus Camby’s one-year $7 million left. Otherwise, they’ll just be really deep up front.
If Dunleavy is telling the truth, Griffin will have a rare opportunity in Los Angeles. From day one he’ll have the chance to save the images and the careers of a slew of guys - from Dunleavy to Donald Sterling to Baron Davis.
Source: LA Times
May 20th, 2009 at 9:08 am
doc says:
Go put in that work.
May 20th, 2009 at 9:12 am
goonther says:
@ doc
griffin now has 2 full time jobs worth of work to help out the clips
May 20th, 2009 at 9:15 am
Jay says:
Ha ha…No pressure on the kid, he only has to save the Franchise, Dunleavy, Sterling and Baron Davis!!!
May 20th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Notorious says:
RIP Blake
Clipperland, the land of unreached potential and disaster. Worst owner, worst GM and worst coach in the NBA.
May 20th, 2009 at 9:27 am
Simon says:
I heard Ricky Davis was already making big time plans for Griffin! He was quoted as saying “first we gunna hit the club and git pussy, then we gon git buckets!”
May 20th, 2009 at 9:31 am
Khalvin says:
Poor kid…
DAY 1:
“Okay kid your here to save our careers, the franchise , and make us relevant again. Umm no pressure just go out and have fun”
LOL
May 20th, 2009 at 9:55 am
VH says:
I hope he doesn’t wear #23, i hate players wearing that number. It’s not original
May 20th, 2009 at 10:10 am
QQ says:
@ 7
Why you hatin if they were inspired to pick up a basketball by watching the greatest ever? Thousands of kids became ballers that way.
Mike Dunleavy to Griffin: ‘You know Olowankandi? Don’t be like him. K thnx.’
May 20th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Jei says:
@ VH
I think Marcus Camby wears #23..
May 20th, 2009 at 10:16 am
that's whats up says:
Griffin just looks like he should wear 44
like John Riggins
May 20th, 2009 at 10:26 am
Bruce says:
Wear 40 like Shawn Kemp and multiple.
May 20th, 2009 at 10:33 am
Spliff 2 My Lou says:
Griffin should pull an Eli Manning and force the Clips to either trade the pick or select somebody else.
May 20th, 2009 at 10:37 am
A$$Cube aka Z-Boo says:
The Clippers should call up the Bucks and trade them Z-Bo for RJ. Bad contract for bad contract, at least each team would come up with someone they need –an scoring big for MIL ; a scoring wing for LA.
May 20th, 2009 at 10:44 am
Jei says:
Keep Griffin, get rid of Chris Swamp Thing Kaman.
May 20th, 2009 at 10:47 am
JC says:
Finally figured it out. Griffin looks like the lead “zombie” dude from I Am Legend. Early congrats to him, and here’s hoping Tyreke Evans slips to the Bulls…
May 20th, 2009 at 10:51 am
Kobeef says:
@Dime
Yeah, that’s nice but what I really want is a comment from Z-Bo on this situation.
Dime: So, Zach, how do you feel about sitting-out the last 2 years of your massive contract on the bench behind a star rookie?
Z-bo: I’m happy to finally land in a situation where my team understands me and wants to help me realize my dreams…
May 20th, 2009 at 10:59 am
Lakers Nation says:
Hey Hey . . lay off our JV Team . . without them, the league wouldn’t have a chance at all this young talent . . we need the clips to continually suck so they can stockpile young talent and then trade them for secret under the table deals with Donald Sterling . . did you know the Clippers used to be one of the most profitable teams in the league becaused they sucked every year? Donald tried the winning thing, but it cost too much . . . thus Blake is as good as dead . . . should go to europe
May 20th, 2009 at 11:03 am
Banga says:
baron to blake is going to be the nash to amare connection of a few years ago
May 20th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Imperial-Mel says:
Blake is goin to go M.I.A….no phones, no email, nothin! I would do anything…and i mean anything to not go to the Clips. Its like the NBA’s version of the Raiders
May 20th, 2009 at 11:11 am
dmitry of jersey says:
what a fuckin idiot Dunleavy is. even if most people feel griffin in the number 1 pick, why would you give away your strategy? NBA is a competition.. now the no.2 and 3 teams have an easier time scouting their picks. if i was dunleavy I would have thrown massive amounts of mis-information into the media about taking rubio. or at least stayed silent.
man i’d hate to be a clips fan, if such a thing exists.
May 20th, 2009 at 11:19 am
QQ says:
@ 19:
Who knows if they are actually saying this to make people believe that they will pick Griffin, but instead are looking at other talents, employing the exact misinformation you’re talking about? Ha, STALEMATE!!!
May 20th, 2009 at 11:31 am
dmitry of jersey says:
i don’t think dunleavy is smart enough…
May 20th, 2009 at 11:33 am
Kudabeen says:
In the NBA can teams sign guys early like the NFL draft? I was thinking the earlier they can sign and start working exclusively with Griffin the better served he will be to be a difference maker. I wonder who he will adjust to having to be a teammate with Zach Randolph? Is he going to be butting heads or will he not step up and snatch that starting 4 spot?
Not that Zach is a franchise player, but I see him being to Giffin what Danny Ferry thought Ricky Davis could’ve been to LeBron.
That was a very underrated move by Ferry to get rid of Davis, who was producing. Ferry saw that his disposition and his style of wanting to compete against LeBron was holding up LeBron’s ultimate development into “that guy” for their team without question…
May 20th, 2009 at 11:35 am
nerditry says:
Kaman is going to ride the bench if they can’t trade him and are going to try and get rid of Camby’s expiring deal, as well.
The clips become a team built for speed and can start Davis/Gordon/Thornton/Griffin and probably Z-Bo at C to start the year. Zach did play some center and even though he’s about 6′9″, he’s as fast as most centers and still can be an efficient scorer.
Also allows them to play him in a spot that they have to get him the ball specifically or he has to grab offensive rebounds.
Don’t forget that they still have DeAndre Jordan who is a project and put up 4.5/4.5/1.1 BPG in only 15 minutes per game (53 games).
The key to their getting out of the hole is a new coach and GM. The talent is there, they need an attitude adjustment like the Nuggets did.
May 20th, 2009 at 11:53 am
bballinca says:
Is it just me or did Griffin not seem happy what so ever when he found out the Clips were the #1 pick?
May 20th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
POPPI GEE says:
bballinca I thought the same thing.
LOL @ Simon that is hilarious.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
Big Island says:
The Clippers are a clusterfuck.
May 20th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
johnsacrimoni says:
I would rather keep Kaman than Z-Bo. Kaman’s a legit 7-footer who is only 26 and very good when healthy.
May 20th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
isotope says:
Camby and Thornton to Houston for TMac.
May 20th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
the truth says:
Griffin is not going to the Clips. They’re probably trading him along with Camby to get a scoring 2.
May 21st, 2009 at 4:34 am
Da Good says:
Clips already have a 6ft9, 20-10 guy who isn’t a great defender.
So Clippers are probably trying to make out that there is a consensus number 1 pick: A consensus number 1 pick is much more valuable and therfore much more tradeable…
May 21st, 2009 at 6:18 pm
ClipperFan 101 says:
wow all of you guys are haters, you guys really seriously all need to take a damn chill pill and be happy for the clips, this could be a good change for their franchise and yeah they need to trade some bad contracts but stop hating on them cause they got the #1 pick and all you other haters are mad cause none of your teams got it..you all are ignorant people who can’t do anything but bitch and complain on who won the draft and can’t accept the fact that they got it and the teams you wanted to land it didnt get it so FUCK OFF, damn you all need to relax.