The 2009-10 Los Angeles Clippers, dark horses in the Western Conference. The Lamar Odom drama and off season arms race has stolen our attention for the time being. But... the Clippers deserve to be discussed. Yes, they are the Clippers. A team infamous for it's losing traditions. Surprisingly however the Clippers have an excellent core.

The starting line up features Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, Blake Griffin and Marcus Camby or Chris Kaman. On paper the team looks great. The main obstacle that prevented them from playing well last season was injuries. (And the dark hole on offense known as Zach Randolph.)

Kaman missed 51 games, Randolph missed 32, Camby missed 20, and Davis missed 17. If Dunleavy opens up the offense a bit for Davis and everyone stays healthy then this team is bound to do some damage.

Outside of the talented line up... the bench features newcomers Sebastian Telfair and Craig Smith. Those names are not meant to necessarily be "exciting" but both role players made some major strides last season. Bassy averaged, in 28 minutes, about 10 points and a shade under 5 assists. The front line in Clipper land is a bit stacked but Craig Smith is proven to be effective within limited minutes. He is more than capable of contributing with whatever minutes Dunleavy can scrounge up.

The room for most improvement is at the wing. Thornton and Gordon lack major experience and the subs could be fortified. Ricky Davis hardly played last season and Mardy Collins is undersized. The gap can easily be filled by the signing of either... Flip Murray, Wally Szcherbiak, Luther Head, Von Wafer, or Allen Iverson. (Whom has already been targeted.) Once this is taken care of look for the Los Angeles Clippers to compete next season.