I. Season Re-Cap 

2001-02 Record: 39-43 (.476) Despite the lack of experience on this Clips team, they just missed making the play-offs. Had they been in the east, the may just have made it to the finals. They certainly couldn't have fared much worse than the Nets did. The Clippers are young and they have an abundance of talent. But what's to keep them from bolting at free agent time like every other baller who has ever made it through clipper-land. Current Roster

Player             Date signed # of years total salary  misc  FA 
Obinna Ekezie .... 10/1/01     1            minimum           '02 
Tremaine Fowlkes ..2/23/02     1            minimum           '02 
Jeff McInnis ......2/26/00     3            minimum           '02 
Michael Olowokandi 1/29/99     4           $15,031,312   rc   '02 
Doug Overton ......3/4/02      1            minimum           '02 
Earl Boykins ......9/29/00     3            minimum           '03 
Elton Brand .......7/26/99     4           $15,783,136   rc   '03 
Corey Maggette ....7/12/99     4            $6,131,524   rc   '03 
Lamar Odom ........8/12/99     4           $11,444,345   rc   '03 
Eric Piatkowski ... 8/6/99     4           $10.2 million      '03 
Sean Rooks ........7/16/96     7           $13.44 million     '03 
Harold Jamison ....10/1/01     3            $1,950,000        '04 
Darius Miles ...... 8/8/00     4           $13,295,221   rc   '04 
Keyon Dooling ..... 8/8/00     4            $7,219,404   rc   '04 
Quentin Richardson  8/8/00     4            $5,098,295   rc   '04 

Boykins, Brand, Maggette, Miles, Odom, Piatkowski, Rooks, Jamison, Dooling, Richardson 

FREE AGENTS 

McGinnis, Overton, Fowlkes (restricted), Oliwakandi (restricted) 

II. Positional Anlysis 

Point Guard 

Jeff McGinnis, Keyon Dooling, Doug Overton, Earl Boykins, (Marco Jaric) 

McGinnis has made the sacrifice of playing for three years with the Clippers for the NBA minimum. He has been the one leader on this team who has held them together and kept them on ask. He's not gonna torch another team for 40, but he's strong on the ball, has size the NBA loves in PG's makes good decisions, and manages the flow of the game well. He is expecting to get paid this off-season. I'll be surprised to see them pony up for him. They've got Keyon Dooling, who has ridden the pine the past two seasons waiting for his chance. They also have Marco Jaric(30th pick in the 2000 draft), who has been playing in the EuroLeague for the past couple of seasons. Both of these players would be on rookie contracts next season. Together they would come cheaper than re-signing McGinnis. Boykins and Overton are both journeymen with limited games who provided spot duty behind McGinnis. 

Shooting Guard 

Eric Piatkowski, Quentin Richardson 

Piatkowski has actually went on record and said that he wants to be a Clipper for life. This has to be a first. The guy's a solid shooter. Ideally, he would be best coming off the bench in a swing guard role to provide outside shooting. He is the only veteran on the team to see substantial playing time. Richardson really came on last season. He showed range and all the athleticism that made him a big-time prospect coming out of DePaul. He even got some votes for the sixth man award. It wouldn't surprise me if he supplanted Piatkowski in the starting line-up. 

Small Forward 

Cory Maggette, Darius Miles, Tremaine Fowlkes, Lamar Odom 

Maggette is a tremendous athlete who could have used another season or two at Duke before coming out early two years ago. With that said, just on pure athletic ability he has been a valuable cog in the rotation, starting much of last year. Here's hoping he continues to develop into the take over the game kind of guard that the Clippers desperately need. Miles is just oozing with potential. He can play two or three positions on the court and knows what to do with the ball around the basket. He often gets compared to Kevin Garnett. If he adds some range to his shot and bulks up more, he might even lead his team to win a play-off series before "Da Kid." Fowlkes was an mid-season pick up on a 10-day contract and gave quality back-up minutes. Odom probably deserves to be mentioned before this point, but when he can't stay off the reefer and hurts his team by not being on the floor, there isn't much about his game to analyze this season. 

Power Forward 

Elton Brand, Obinaa Ekeezie, Harold Jamison 

Brand continues to show why he was worthy of the No. 1 pick two years ago. Averaging a double-double and making his first all-star appearance. He is the rock that the Clippers work there offense through. He can also move over and play the 5 when they go small. Ekeezie and Jamison seldom saw time off the bench. 

Center 

Michael Oliwakandi, Sean Rooks 

Oliwakandi finally put together a season that may take the title" wasted no. 1 pick" away from his name. He is a restricted free agent and it remains to be see whether the Clippers will do what is necessary to keep him. Rooks adds maturity to this team and can back-up both the 4 and 5, but was hit with the injury bug this season. They certainly could use his experience out there on the court. 

Coaching/Management 

Elgin Baylor, has done a good job of bringing young talent into the organization in the last few years. He has also shown a very shrewd ability to make draft day deals. However, The Donald (Sterling) has been frugal and refused to open up his pocketbook and keep players, which forced Elgin to make his annual trek in late May to the NBA headquarters for his usual seat at the draft lottery. The Donald needs to make a statement to the rest of the young talent on his team by opening up the wallet for either McGinnis or Oliwakandi this off-season. Alvin Gentry is a marginal coach at best. But like Phil Jackson, smart enough to put good players on the floor and let them do their thing. They could do better, but Donald would have to pay for it. I am sure he's content with the value he gets from Gentry. 

III. Draft History 

• 2001 - Tyson Chandler, Dominguez HS Sr. (2)
• 2000 - Darius Miles, Lincoln HS Sr.(3); Quentin Richardson, Depaul (18); Marco Jaric, (30)
• 1999 - Lamar Odom, Rhode Island (4); Rico Hill, Illinois State (31)
• 1998 - Michael Olowokandi, Pacific (1); Brian Skinner, Baylor (22)
• 1997 - Maurice Taylor, Michigan (14);

IV. Team Needs

Back-up Center, Back-up Power Forward, shot-blocker, scorer

V. My Selection

Curtis Borchardt, C, Stanford

I do have concerns that he could be a stiff. But when you have two lottery picks you can feel better about using one of them for needs and making the safe pick instead of maybe reaching for one with more potential. As I've outlined earlier, the Clips could use someone to back-up the 4 and 5 and provide a presence in the lane. Borchardt has the one thing that can be taught, size.

VI. Other Players Considered

Marcus Haislip, PF, Tennessee

Good body. Monster on the glass and provides defensive presence. Unfortunately, his offensive game is too reminiscent of Ben Wallace's.

Melvin Ely, PF, Fresno St.

Good athlete, jumps, has the size for the four in the NBA. Nice offensive game. Can put the ball in the basket. However has a tendency to play soft.

Jared Jeffries, F, Indiana

He is sooooo skinny. His thin frame severly hurts his draft stock. He's not quick enough to play the 3 in the NBA, although I'm sure some team will try to play him there, and he will get blown over by most power forwards. He will be a back-up player at best in this league. Maybe he will be fortunate enough to compete for the sixth man award later on in his career.

VI. Who Team Will Probably Take

Again, the Clippers should trade these picks. The last thing they need more of is young talent that won't produce for 2-3 years. But if they are there, any of the players I considered with the previous selection would probably be taken hear in the following order: Tskitishvili, Borchardt, Woods, Stoudemire. I am fairly confident that one of these players would still be available at this slot if the Clippers hold onto this pick.

VII. Other Off-Season Moves Team Should Make

I don't see Overton returning. Fowlkes will return if they can get him for the minimum. I'm a big McGinnis fan and think they should re-sign him and extend Oliwakandi this off-season. However, neither of them is worth the maximum. Odom should be dealt while they can still get value for him. His baggage could potentially be cancerous. This is a down free-agent years and unless some options are exercised there are not really many players, if any, he will receive the maximum.