Chasing McGrady

From my column over at ESPNLosAngeles.com:

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

An aging, injury-plagued, former All-Star is looking for a new home. He’s tailed off considerably over the past few years, and because of some character issues and the unwillingness to accept a new role, he’s worn out his welcome with coaching staffs around the league. Instead of hanging up his sneakers or latching on with a team that can compete for a title, he’s looking to play in a place where he can still be considered “the man.”

Last year, that was Allen Iverson.

This year, it’s Tracy McGrady.

Some guys can handle taking the backseat as they get on in years, and some guys can’t. It’s not easy for a professional athlete to recognize his body is deteriorating and he simply doesn’t have it anymore. McGrady was an amazing player, one of the best in the league in his prime, but his back has betrayed him and he’s got a ton of miles on the odometer.

But let’s pretend for a moment he could be “the man.” Let’s pretend McGrady hasn’t shot less than 42 percent from the field in his past three seasons. Let’s pretend he wasn’t having an increasingly harder time getting himself buckets.

What if he could march into the Los Angeles Clippers’ training facility this week for his scheduled workout and absolutely wow the Clippers through the entire process.

Then what?

First-round pick Al-Farouq Aminu would slide down the depth chart, scrapping to pick up playing time wherever he could. Blake Griffin would get fewer touches. Eric Gordon, already proven to be one of the most efficient wing scorers in the league, would get fewer possessions to work with. Baron Davis and McGrady, if the past few years serve as an indicator, would account for nearly half the Clippers’ offensive possessions while they were on the court, even though they were two of the least efficient scorers in the league last season.

Why would you make those sacrifices? For the distant hope that McGrady could miraculously stay healthy even though he’s missed significant time in the past three seasons? For the hope that it would somehow propel the Clippers to the 50-win range and land them a playoff spot in an impossible Western Conference?

It’s understandable the front office wants to look like it’s exploring every avenue to improve the team. But adding McGrady, as great as he once was, simply doesn’t accomplish that anymore. All it does is directly contradict the rationale behind the moves made earlier in the offseason.

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To read the conclusion of the column, please click here.

Craig Smith back with the Clippers

Craig Smith has inked a one year deal to return to the Los Angeles Clippers, with the value of the contract yet to be revealed.

The return of Craig Smith means a few things for the rest of the Clippers’ roster. At this point it now seems highly unlikely that Sofoklis Schortsanitis, aka Big Sofo, will be joining the team this year. Although the environment in Vegas is far from ideal for big guys, Sofo wasn’t overwhelming with his performances in that setting. Craig Smith has proven he’s a quality NBA player over the course of his career, evidenced by a PER rating last year that was better than both Eric Gordon and Chris Kaman.

Technically the Clippers could have Sofo and Craig Smith on the roster, but they seem to duplicate each other’s talents quite a bit. Both are big, low post scorers who are limited on the defensive end and on the glass. Signing Sofo will likely take a little more money than the Clippers are willing to part with, especially when you consider they have Smith who has proven he can do all the same things.

After last season ended, I wrote an appreciation piece on Smith and what he brought to the team.  One of the most impressive things about Smith was that he was a consistent contributor, even as the Clippers were going through chaos with their coaching staff and personnel. At the end of the day, Rhino got buckets, whether it was in a starting role or ten minutes off the bench, or whether it was in Kim Hughes’ offense or Mike Dunleavy’s. That ability to adapt and stay consistent no doubt appealed to Neil Olshey, who witnessed the carnage firsthand, and also to Vinny Del Negro, who must be craving accomplished low-post scorers after his time in Chicago.

Smith is a true professional, a hard worker who ups the intensity level in practice and is a proven scorer in the league. Those type of guys don’t grow on trees. Although he’s pretty limited in that he can’t play small forward or center, he’ll provide some nice insurance to Blake Griffin and be a reliable scoring option off the bench for the Clippers. It always seemed Rhino wanted to come back to continue playing in Los Angeles, and now he knows the feeling is mutual.

Return of The Rhino?

From Lisa Dillman’s Twitter account: “Breaking Clipper news: Just received an email from Craig Smith’s agent. He says Clippers have resigned Smith for one year.”

Check back on this thread for updates and analysis as terms of the deal become finalized.

The End of Summer League

Could it have ended any other way?

The Clippers went 1-4 and had their issues as a team in Vegas, but there were some nice individual performances throughout the five games. Al-Farouq Aminu got progressively better as the week went on, capping off the trip with a 21-point performance. Willie Warren looked solid if nothing else, rarely forcing the action and shooting a high percentage. DeAndre Jordan had a nice performance in his final game, getting the better of Blazers big man Jeff Pendergraph in the post. Big Sofo didn’t do much in the box score, but he answered the two biggest questions surrounding his arrival by showing he was in shape and that he could rebound the basketball.

Here’s Kevin Arnovitz’s take on Eric Bledsoe after tonight’s game, via TrueHoop:

“After turning the ball over 28 times in his first four games, Clippers’ point guard Eric Bledsoe put together a heady, controlled performance against the D-League Select team. He changed speeds and read the defense beautifully off high balls screens from Rod Benson — bursting into the paint only when invited, and making smart passes or drawing contact when the defense converged. He scored 13 points (6-for-10 from the field), grabbed five rebounds, dished out five assists against three turnovers.”

Again, summer league isn’t about wins and losses. It’s about player development. Most of the young Clippers made some nice strides in that department, even if they weren’t setting the world on fire as a team.

Summer League Recap: Game Three

Summer league isn’t about winning games. It’s all about player progression, deciphering strengths and weaknesses, and evaluating what you currently have and what you may get in the future. With that said, it still must have been nice for the young Clippers to hold on to a win tonight, especially after Vinny Del Negro reamed them earlier in the day at practice for a lack of effort in their first two games.

You could tell the energy was much better right from the get-go when the Clips jumped out to a quick 10-0 lead to start the game. Portland answered with a 9-0 run of their own, something that seems unusual but probably won’t be going forward. Young players typically ride waves of confidence and momentum much more so than veterans, and considering the Clippers youth, big peaks and valleys are probably going to present themselves quite a bit.

Al-Farouq Aminu isn’t a good shooter or scorer at this point in his career, but he showed a few glimpses of how he can contribute outside of a halfcourt offense. What was most impressive about Aminu tonight was his abiltiy to leak out and constantly beat his man up the floor in transition. If there are any concerns about Aminu being able to hack it should the pace pickup, there shouldn’t be. He’ll pick up a few charges because he’s a little predictable in his moves at the rim, but Aminu has a really good sense of staying wide, filling the lane, and then attacking right at the rim.

Dean Demopoulos experimented a bit by starting Marqus Blakely at the small forward and Aminu at the power forward, and the pairing worked well together. Blakely is an incredible athlete, and his energy and quickness on the defensive end helped speed up the defensive rotations all night. On offense Blakely knocked down one top of the key three and finished the evening as the leading scorer with 14 points. Blakely has a training camp invite already secured and has the tantalizing athleticism that will warrant him a solid look prior to the season.

Eric Bledsoe’s stats weren’t flashy (9 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds) but it was his most solid game yet. The Blazers threw a variety of traps and full-court pressure at the young guard, but he handled himself pretty well. Bledsoe wasn’t scoring much, but he only committed three turnovers, a far cry from his first two games in Vegas. He’s already shown his explosiveness off the bounce, but we hadn’t seen if he could run an offense and take care of the ball until he did it tonight.

Every summer we arrive at this question, but it’s a little more realistic now then it was in the past.

Should the Clippers be a running team?

It’s too early to know for sure, but Aminu and Bledsoe certainly looked like they belonged when they were on the move tonight. Aminu often pushed the ball up the floor with his dribble and attacked the basket, making one very good change of direction and finish with his left-hand and another hanging baseline layup after the foul. Bledsoe is nearly impossible to stay in front of with a head of steam behind him, and even though he almost always looks to score, he had a beautiful baseline dump off in an up-tempo situation to DeAndre Jordan for a big dunk. Intricate half-court sets may be foreign to these guys right now, but up-and-down basketball? That comes easy.

With Aminu, Bledsoe, and Griffin, the Clippers have three guys who appear to have offensive games that work best at a high speed. If Baron Davis and Vinny Del Negro both really want to run, they’ll have no shortage of pieces to utilize in that sort of setting.

Early thoughts on Aminu and Bledsoe

From Kevin Arnovtiz’s post for ESPN’s Daily Dime:

“Summer league can be a tough place to evaluate prospects, and that’s particularly true for the Clippers, who assembled their coaching staff on the fly hours before their first practice. But Bledsoe and Aminu have had a rough go of it in the Clippers’ two blowout losses — although each has shown flashes of strength.

The sinewy Bledsoe burned up the floor in his debut Monday, skidding into the paint at will and draining floaters over the Wizards’ big defenders en route to 17 points on 6-for-15 shooting from the field. On Wednesday, in his second outing, Bledsoe was considerably more cautious, more intent on running the offense and getting shots for others.

There was one consistency to the two performances.

“Turnovers,” Bledsoe said. “Since the first day I stepped foot on the court [in Las Vegas], it’s been bad. It’s something I have to get better at.”

Bledsoe has racked up 17 turnovers in two games. The problem? He tends to go into a possession with a preprogrammed velocity, be it Monday’s sprint or Wednesday’s more controlled gait. If Bledsoe can modulate that speed moment to moment, reacting to the defense and the movement of his teammates, he should enjoy some success — but right now, it’s an exercise in frustration for the young point guard.

“It’s hard when I’m not making any shots and I’m trying to get my teammates involved,” Bledsoe said. “It’s tough, but I’ll work on it.”

Aminu’s assignment is even more daunting. After playing power forward for most of his two seasons at Wake Forest, Aminu must conform to playing small forward for the Clippers, an adjustment that will situate him much farther away from the basket in the half court than he’s accustomed to being.

“It’s just different,” Aminu said. “It’s going to take some learning to know where I can go and where I can’t go. That’s probably the hardest part.” ”

To read the rest of the piece, click here.