# lets talk about 2010



## nauticazn25 (Aug 27, 2006)

i know its early, but i want to get peoples take on the free agency market after the 2009 - 2010 season

i am an optimist, who thinks that we have a decent shot at landing lebron...we have a good young core to build around who are pretty much under rookie contracts....i guess inorder to get lebron a good contract we probably have to unload a contract like kaman's

im looking at the free agents next year, and there are a TON of them.... who else thinks we can get lebron? or mcgrady? or even joe johnson?


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## BobbyDigital32 (Mar 16, 2003)

How far under the cap are we going to be next year? Who on the Clippers is going to be in the last year of their contract this comming season? Even if we have the money to spend, I really don't think we are going to land anyone like Queen James or D Wade. Someone like TMAC who is past his prime seems plausible. I don't really think Joe Johnson is going anywhere. What other decent wing players are going to be free agents next year? I don't see us going after a big man or point guard.


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## nauticazn25 (Aug 27, 2006)

how about this....

marcus camby and baron davis 

for 

tracey mccgrady

then we go for sessions as our starting pg


pg: sessions/telfair
sg: gordon/ricky davis
sf: mcgrady/thornton
pf: griffin/smith
c: kaman/jordan

u think that houston will go for that?

if we could pull this trade we would save $6 million dollars (the difference between baron davis and sessions contract)for next season, while mccgrady's contract expires

that would give us plenty of money to offer lebron max money


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## Dissonance (Jul 21, 2004)

Mcgrady's done. He was broken down last few yr's and now having microfracture surgery. He's only useful as an expiring and giving Houston capspace.


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## Showtime87 (Jun 27, 2005)

UGH. No thanks. There are plenty of other options for Dunleavy to explore as it pertains to clearing cap space for next off season. OC summed it up pretty simply, but succinctly - McGrady is done. If you're going to part with Camby AND Davis, you'd better be receiving a player of fairly high caliber who is going to be in your starting lineup and produce on a nightly basis. 

The landscape is changing very quickly in the world of NBA free-agency and there will be a ton of mid-level guys available come June of '10 that can be had at fairly reasonable rates. I wouldn't be surprised to see the pricetags on such players come down as much as 20-30% of the current market rate due to our continuing economic downturn and the league's impending cap reduction. At this point, I'm just not looking at, or thinking about specific players because I want to give that a break until at least mid season. Then, when we'll have a much better idea about which moves worked, which didn't and which are yet to be determined, we can begin to consider what should happen next. One season at a time.


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## nauticazn25 (Aug 27, 2006)

i could care less if mcgrady plays.... lets face it...the clippers current line up will be lucky if we make the 7th or 8th seed ...all i care about is 2010 and mcgrady's contract opens up ALOT of salary cap for next year....if this deal were to be done, we would have only 33 million in the books for next year...assuming the salary cap lowers to 51 million that would give us 18 million to pursue , and we'd still have players like EJ, Griffin, Kaman, Sessions, Thornton under long contracts....

18 million and that starting 5 looks pretty damn good ....and plus we will have minnesota's first rounder in a couple years

2010 free agents..and possible free agents...

joe jonhson
ray allen
manu ginobli
lebron james
dwayne wade
dirk nowitzki
amare stoudemire
josh howard
chris bosh
michael redd


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

Actually, if Hoopshype.com is to be believed, then the Clips are likely to be carrying about 40 million in salaries going into next season if they stay as is, and dumping Baron's contract puts you in the mid-20's(approximately). However, Wade's not going anywhere and I don't expect that Lebron would come to the Clippers(assuming he leaves at all, which I doubt), so banking on him is likely a severely flawed strategy. Dirk isn't opting out and Howard's contract won't be canceled, so they aren't players to count on either, same goes for Redd. You're realistically looking at Bosh, Amare, Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, and Manu out of that list. The problem with that is all of those players play the same position as your two building blocks for the future(Gordon and Griffin), so they aren't the best fits for the Clips. 

The name I'd actually pursue is Josh Childress, as the team needs a good defensive SF who can pass and score if needed. The Hawks won't be able to pay Marvin Williams and Joe Johnson next year AND match an offer to Childress next summer. This signing would also allow the team to bump Tornton into a sixth man role where he can carry the scoring load for the second unit, where his poor shot selection won't be as much of an issue because he won't be taking shots away from better shooters.

EDIT: Marvin Williams himself is an interesting name too, since he'll likely sign a Q offer this summer and be unrestricted next summer. He's a big SF/PF that's beginning to fulfill some of the potential that got him drafted 2nd overall. Next summer I'd look to sign either Childress or Willams and build around the current core of young players.


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## Luke (Dec 7, 2008)

^ Williams isn't going anywhere. Childress on the other hand, is definatly up there for the highest bidder.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

Williams will leave Atlanta if someone offers him more money, the question with him is how high is Atlanta willing to go with him. Are they willing to go Ben Gordon high? Full Max? I expect that they'd offer him something averaging eight figures, but I don't think it's a lock that Atlanta offers him a max contract when they'll likely have to do the same with Joe Johnson at the same time. 

Regardless of that, the first person to come to the table with something around 7-8 a year for Childress can have him outright. That's what I could do if I were Dunleavy. He's a Prince-type SF that can really contribute to a winning team.


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## nauticazn25 (Aug 27, 2006)

if we can't lebron then amare is a good player to sign.... we can play him at center and trade kaman for a good small forward


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

I doubt that Amare and Griffin would be a good match at forward-center. Amare doesn't play much defense besides for the occasional block, and he isn't very keen on banging in an enforcer-type role. He's also a sub-par rebounder for his skill set. Griffin and Gordon look to be two future 20ppg scorers, and Davis, Kaman, and Thornton are both double digit scorers also. Offense isn't the most pressing concern for this roster, it's defense and playmaking. Amare's certainly a very good player, but the money could be put to better use on this roster.


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## Weasel (Oct 18, 2003)

I want to be an optimist and hope for the best. Maybe the Clips can finally have a miracle and land someone like LeBron but being a Clipper fan I have come to the realization that won't happen. Though there are tons of free-agents that can be possibilities. With all that cap though the chances of landing someone good are at least out there. Not sure who that should be right now it depends on the play of Baron and Thornton, I think these two need to step up big time.


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## Bogg (May 4, 2009)

The thing is without one more cap-clearing move they won't have the space to offer a max contract, "just" something starting around 11 million a year. The thing is, the team just has Davis and Kaman on real big deals, Telfair making less than three, and Griffin, Gordon, Thornton, Jordan, and Taylor on their rookie deals. If you want to make a run at one of the huge free agents you have to dump either Davis or Kaman for someone making significantly less, but I don't know that the big-name guys (aside from Lebron and Wade, but they don't count) would fit into the current squad.


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