# What the Hell We Do Now?



## Mecca (Jul 3, 2005)

I say MAX the hell out of Joe Johnson.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

Who is left?

JJ
Mobley
Jaric
Damon Jones
Radman
A. Daniels
.....


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

yes, i say offer the max to JJ, even knowning that the suns will resign. Its not like its going to keep the clippers from making moves, theres no one left worth signing. So offer johnson the max, in the meanwhile you still have enough to match jaric if someone signs him, and then just try to work a trade to complete the clipper puzzle.


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## Showtime87 (Jun 27, 2005)

Not much else out there right now. I'm thoroughly disgusted with this situation, they let Simmons walk after knowing that all the top-tier free agents are already gone. There had better be some sort of "master plan" in the works, otherwise it looks like Sterling just stuck it to us once again. Thanks *******, for yet another FU to all the loyal Clippers fans. :curse:


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

I really hope that we can convince jaric that he should play SG. If you think about it, if he could stay healthy, he would be a lot better option at SG on the clipper team. He would allow maggette to move back to SF, hed be the ball handling wing man that maggette has lost. Hes an upgrade on defense to simmons, and with livingston, can create ball handling and fast break nightmares for other teams. If we resign jaric (please no one pull a derek fisher on him and offer him a stupid contract), i predict maggette scores 25 a night (of course if jaric can actually stay healthy for once)


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## phipsiboy (Apr 3, 2005)

if you guys offer the max to jj and the suns match, at the very least you are maxing them out for the next few years, so you'll have a better shot at someone down the road; at least you'll be tying them up if you don't get your big splash this year.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

yeah, plus youre putting the suns in the luxury tax. Its a cruel thing to do, but thats part of the competition. Competing business do anything to cost the other company money. In this case, it would be completely legal, and youd be affecting the suns bottom line by millions. Youve got to think that the business savvy sterling has that on the back of his mind now that he has nothing to lose (except if the suns DONT match), by offernig max to JJ.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

Ok max him out we resign, and making us pay a tax doesn't mean the Clips are getting better. And our cap is 45-49 mill, it would then go to 65-70 mill with JJ and Amare extensions. I don't think our new owners care about that as long as we're winning. I get that impression by how serious we've shown we are by how we've spent money and how they said we'd match him adamantly. If not then, they bluffed and we're screwed w/o JJ.


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## Miamiballer2k5 (Jun 29, 2005)

You guys are forgeting that Joe Johnson is close to agreeing with the Hawks to sign an offer sheet.


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## yamaneko (Jan 1, 2003)

no, no one is forgetting that. johnson will sign with anyone offering max money, and if he had to pick between the two, of course hed pick the clippers. According to news reports the new owners do NOT want to be in the luxury tax.


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

yamaneko said:


> According to news reports the new owners do NOT want to be in the luxury tax.


I haven't seen or read anything about that. I have seen us publically say we do NOT want to lose JJ and would do anything to keep him. I guess we'll see how highly we think of him despite us having to pay a tax. I don't think our organzation thinks we can contend for a title w/o JJ. And w/o resigning him can't really do much to fill out rest of our bench. We'd have to. Or as I said, we're screwed.


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## TucsonClip (Sep 2, 2002)

Simple... Offer JJ and see what happens... Offer Jaric a reasonable deal, or match any decent offer ... DO NOT offer Mobley 6 mil starting, wait for him to come back to reality.

Next we wait for the Chris Wilcox trade to bring us a SF/SG. Its pretty obvious that is what the Clippers will be trying to accomplish before the deadline.


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## TucsonClip (Sep 2, 2002)

phipsiboy said:


> if you guys offer the max to jj and the suns match, at the very least you are maxing them out for the next few years, so you'll have a better shot at someone down the road; at least you'll be tying them up if you don't get your big splash this year.


The Suns will match any offer for JJ and they are going to clear 9 mil or so after the season. Next season they bring back Amare (max). Depending on how they fare next season Marion is shipped out to clear the cap and bring in a pick and a nice young player.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

TucsonClip said:


> Next we wait for the Chris Wilcox trade to bring us a SF/SG. Its pretty obvious that is what the Clippers will be trying to accomplish before the deadline.



What kind of ideas do you have in mind?


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## TucsonClip (Sep 2, 2002)

Weasel said:


> What kind of ideas do you have in mind?


I know it might be an odd trade... But Atlanta has plenty of forwards and only Collier at center. Wilcox would be a perceft fit in the ATL. Childress seems the most likely to go, he has a nice all around game, but isnt great at anything. He would be a nice role player depending on how he develops.


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## qross1fan (Dec 28, 2004)

sign one of the following:
Mobley, Finley after he gets waived, Johnson(who we won't get but sign him to max offer sheet to put Suns in cap hell for years to come), Jaric(Jaric Livingston back court WOW) Donta Smith . . yeah laugh I said Donta Smith from Atlanta. Boris Diaw, Lee Nailon, Jason Kapono, Kareem Rush, Dermarr Johnson, Jon Barry, Luke Walton, Damon Jones, Spree (yea I need to feed my family Spree to at least 1 year) Kyle Korver, Willie Green, Matt Barnes, Maurice Evans, Devin Brown. Donyell Marshall, Damien Wilkins


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## Starbury03 (Aug 12, 2003)

I say Korver and Rush should be good targets. But the main focus will probably be on Mobley and he wont sign. Maybe a trade for Bonzi Wells.


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## qross1fan (Dec 28, 2004)

i'd be happy with Korver, Rush, Nailon and/or Barry(can play both guard positions) mainly


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## qross1fan (Dec 28, 2004)

someone i forgot, Vlad Rad in case Sofo can't come or Wilcox is gone


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## PAIDNFULL23 (Jul 9, 2005)

I say just throw the Max at JJ and and try to re-sign Jaric now and if that works outs we will be better than last year, but the possiblitiy of that happening for the Clips is like 0.00000000000000000000001%


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

The season is not a waste, the Clippers can still sign some quality free-agents.

How about Donyell Marshall and Damon Stoudamire?


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## Free Arsenal (Nov 8, 2004)

Max JJ and keep our fingers crossed, who cares if Phoenix matches, we will do what we can to make this team better.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2104688 



> Joe Johnson's camp was informed Saturday that the Phoenix Suns intend to match Atlanta's expected five-year, $70 million offer to the restricted free agent, according to NBA front-office sources



Looks like Joe Johnson is out of the picture. Seems that the Hawks will sign him at a max deal only to be matched by the Suns.


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## thekid (Apr 3, 2003)

Too late.


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## Petey (Aug 23, 2002)

I think the Clippers are perfect 

I told Weasel, I'll root very hard for them after this upcoming season.

-Petey


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## compsciguy78 (Dec 16, 2002)

Everyone acts like its a suprise that Simmons is gone. The Clippers always let good players go, this is the speciality of the organization.


They should just go with what they have.


Jaric at SG, good idea
Livingston PG
Maggs SF
Brand PF
Kaman C


That's one helluva lineup if you ask me. They had a good team last year they just couldn't get over the hump and win those games they needed to. They shouldn't try to make many changes. They have the personnel, maybe the coach sux.


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## Free Arsenal (Nov 8, 2004)

The Coach is pretty good, it's just that Maggs, and the rest of them make a lot of crunch time errors. I'm thinking about changing my tune about Mobley, he seems like he would be able to do well in a crunch situation.


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## TucsonClip (Sep 2, 2002)

Word is we are interested in Walker now... Please do not sign Walker... Ugh.

Ill take Mobley and put him at SG and match for Jaric. Jaric is the 6th man and can spot start for Livingston and Mobley. We do need some shooting and Mobley woul dbe the better fit over Walker.

If we sign Mobley and match Jaric, we have a nice 7 man rotation, of course after that it is pretty weak...


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## DatSupadoopaballer (Aug 26, 2003)

If Jaric wants to go to the lakers package him with Wilcox and trade em for butler and atkins or jus jaric for butler or wilcox for butler.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

TucsonClip said:


> Word is we are interested in Walker now... Please do not sign Walker... Ugh.
> 
> Ill take Mobley and put him at SG and match for Jaric. Jaric is the 6th man and can spot start for Livingston and Mobley. We do need some shooting and Mobley woul dbe the better fit over Walker.
> 
> If we sign Mobley and match Jaric, we have a nice 7 man rotation, of course after that it is pretty weak...



Walker?
Interesting idea, he puts up nice numbers but I am not sure I want to see the shimmy...


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/ny-spknix104338391jul10,0,5776504.story?coll=ny-knicks-print 



> "We've got to see what happens with Danny," Bartelstein said. "He wants to play the young guys, and they're not going to play if he signs Antoine ... Danny has a decision to make. A number of teams are interested in Antoine - the Knicks, Houston, Seattle, Sacramento, Indiana, the Clippers. He's the most talented free agent on the market."


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## C-Mag fan (Jun 23, 2005)

Even though it looks like Joe Johnson is locked up one way or the other, I say we take a shot. If Phoenix is serious about matching, fine. But he really is the only guy that would save the off-season for us now. Ever since the draft, we have been running into walls (no Allen, losing Bobby, ect.) and its time to throw our cards on the table and see what we can do.

If we can't get Johnson, try for Mobley but not at max $...he is not worth it. I am starting to think that Radman is not a bad option at all..and what about a try for Bobby Jackson?


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## Mecca (Jul 3, 2005)

Hawks already making him a offer of a MAX contract before us.


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## Starbury03 (Aug 12, 2003)

I am starting to like the Mobley idea more and more. He can shoot and soce in crunch times and that is what the Clippers need. If he came and played D he could be a great pick-up determing how hard he works.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

Starbury03 said:


> I am starting to like the Mobley idea more and more. He can shoot and soce in crunch times and that is what the Clippers need. If he came and played D he could be a great pick-up determing how hard he works.



Same here, if the Clippers can pick up Mobley don't be surprised that the Clippers do well with a healthy team surrounding them.


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## Darth Bryant (Feb 1, 2005)

Depends on the price for me. If he is a moderate price, than I say what the hell? We dont have much choice this offseason. But if he wants more money than are top two, than because of his age I'd say it's a waste of moeny. Not that 30 years old means your a hasbeen, but were talking about a very young core group of players, who are still inproving. I'd like to see whoever we replace simmons with young enough to still grow with them.


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## TucsonClip (Sep 2, 2002)

CDRacingZX6R said:


> Depends on the price for me. If he is a moderate price, than I say what the hell? We dont have much choice this offseason. But if he wants more money than are top two, than because of his age I'd say it's a waste of moeny. Not that 30 years old means your a hasbeen, but were talking about a very young core group of players, who are still inproving. I'd like to see whoever we replace simmons with young enough to still grow with them.


I agree, I would love to have him at the right price. 

However, as much as I would love to have a young guy take Bobby's place we need some veteran leadership. I know Cut isnt the most friendly guy, but he has been in the playoffs and also provdes us with outside shooting, something we need very bad.

I would love to see us sign Mobley to a 3 year deal, however chances of that happening and still signing him at a good price are out of the question.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

Since we are talking about price what do you think the Clippers should give Mobley?


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## TucsonClip (Sep 2, 2002)

Well I think it is pretty obvious that he will want around 6 mil starting, as well as 4 years or so. He is gonna want to get paid.

Ideal contract: 3 years 17.4 mil starting at around 5.3 mil @ 10% (5.3, 5.8, 6.3)

Realistic: 5 years 33.5 mil (6, 6.35, 6.7, 7.05, 7.4) or 4 years 26.1 mil (6, 6.35, 6.7, 7.05)

He opted out of a 6 mil contract, so he is going to want something starting around 6 mil. Like I said im sure he is gonna want 4 or 5 years, because that is his best chance to cash in.

*Note* Realistic is what the Clippers would have to pay him. Im sure we arent the leaders right now, when a team like Denver can offer him a starting job on a playoff team and a nice pay day.


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## Showtime87 (Jun 27, 2005)

yamaneko said:


> I really hope that we can convince jaric that he should play SG. If you think about it, if he could stay healthy, he would be a lot better option at SG on the clipper team. He would allow maggette to move back to SF, hed be the ball handling wing man that maggette has lost. Hes an upgrade on defense to simmons, and with livingston, can create ball handling and fast break nightmares for other teams. If we resign jaric (please no one pull a derek fisher on him and offer him a stupid contract), i predict maggette scores 25 a night (of course if jaric can actually stay healthy for once)


I agree with you that Marko would be more valuable at times at either the 2 or 3 spot. He could play them both competently which is a valuable commodity in the league, but I think the Clipps are going to see what the market looks like before putting a long-term extension on the table. Despite his injury problems, Marko has also attached the "inconsistent" tag to his name with numerous Jeckyl & Hyde performances since becoming a starter. At times he was the ultimate catalyst. I love his desire on the defensive end and his ability to slash and score when the team needs him to. I'm just not sold that he's worth a 35-45 million dollar deal which is what I would assume his basement requirements will be for potential suitors. Livingston has officially become the franchise PG, that's without question. Now it's basically up to Marko as to how much he's willing to work with the team, possibly compromising on a lesser deal in number of years in exchange for an extra million or two on a two to three year contract. 

I would prefer to see Mobley inserted into this lineup, but if that becomes an impossibility Marko would be a viable fall-back option. If they fail to land either one, things are going to get truly ugly. The only remaining free agents are by majority either over-paid players on the downside of their career or unproven longshots. There are a few viable options, but outside of back-up roles, not many that could come in here and contribute anything substantial. The Clippers are going to have to look at their own backyard and re-sign at least half of their restricted players as well as asserting themselves in pursuing Mobley. Seriously pursuing him. Unfortunately, Joe Johnson is no more than a very pleasant dream for Clipper fans. Phoenix will match to their furthest possible capabilities. The truly sad thing about it is that he may have been willing to listen to clubs like Atlanta or the Clippers if they just had a better track record. Cheers Donald! :cheers:


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