Building blocks
Danilo Gallinari SF/PF |
Blake Griffin PF |
DeAndre Jordan C |
Draft picks
Jawun Evans PG
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Sindarius Thornwell SG/SF
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Draft board
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The Clippers had another winning season, but were once again bit by injuries during the playoffs (Griffin went down in game 3) and ended up losing in a hard fought 1st round 7 game series to the Utah Jazz. It was an unfortunate end to perhaps one of the best teams that never was. Chris Paul was later dealt to the Rockets for a plethora of players, the most prominent being Patrick Beverly and Sam Dekker. They also acquired Danilo Gallinari in a 3 way trade where they sent out Jamal Crawford and Diamond Stone. In free agency they added European star Milos Teodosic, who will be awesome to watch next to Griffin and Jordan. And lastly, free agent SG J.J. Redick signed with the 76ers after he was informed the Clippers weren't planning on offering him a contract. Paul, Crawford, and Redick were huge pieces for the Clippers for years, they still managed to acquire good talent/depth in the offseason, but it'll be a new style of team in LA next season. The Clippers also managed to add talent through the draft as they purchased the 39th and 48th picks. At 39 they selected PG Jawun Evans, he may end up being one of the better PG's out of this class, which is saying something considering how deep of a PG crop was in this draft. He adds immediate depth and will get more of a chance to play now that Paul is gone. With the 48th pick they added a tough role player in Sindarius Thornwell, he will likely see time with the new Agua Caliente G-League team for the majority of his rookie season, but he has the potential to grow into a valuable role player down the road. Overall it will take time for this new roster to gel, they will still be competitive and I fully expect them to make the playoffs, but it's Griffins team and they'll be counting on him staying healthy, which up to this point, is a fairly big gamble.
Team Needs
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Estimated Cap Space
$44,567,332 UFA Blake Griffin PF, J.J. Redick SG, Raymond Felton PG, Marreese Speights PF, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute SF, Paul Pierce SF (retired), Brandon Bass PF, Alan Anderson SF RFA None |