The Golden State Warriors have matched the Los Angeles Clippers three-year, $9 million offer sheet for guard Kelenna Azubuike, multiple media sources are reporting. This news comes not long after reports that Golden State did not plan to match, and instead signed Maurice Evans.
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Signing Azubuike, 24, a well-liked player in the Bay Area, makes the Warriors younger as well as keeping him from the Clippers. Kelenna will cost more to keep than the three-year, $6.4 million deal that Evans was reported to have received.
Early last season, Azubuike started against the Clippers, and had 33 points and eight rebounds with no turnovers in the loss. Six days later, his 27 points and 11 rebounds were not enough to beat Dallas.
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about 1 month ago
Hallelujah,
great move. good now, great updside. team player, can score. articulate and coachable.
one of Mullin's best moves. i couldn't be happier.
about 1 month ago
Amen to that!
about 1 month ago
yeah, I'm pretty excited. I was bummed yesterday when the report said we "signed" Mo Evans, and was excited to hear he spurned our offer looking for more.
At that time, I knew they would just match Buike if he will cost the same as an NBA journeyman backup.
If you read some Clipper posts at their Blog, they are plain devastated by this.
They thought they had the final puzzle peice.
Ah, it feels good to make them squirm after the under the table negotiations with "our" player.
about 1 month ago
Yeah, Clippers fans are pretty dissapointed right now. Now Azubuike is going to rot on the bench on a team full of SF ballog tweeners struggling to reach .500. It's really a shame for Azubuike but those are the breaks.
The Clippers have the superior team. Deal with it.
about 1 month ago
Good to hear, though not the blockbuster that other Warrior movement has been. With a large re-vamp this off-season, it's good to keep the one productive free agent from the previous squad other than BD. With him and Maggette, the Dubs are compensating for skinny 6'10" guys with buffed 6'5" guys.
As far as comparing W's and Clips, I just can't see any way to compare the teams until they play. The W's lost their best player, the Clips lost their best 2 players. They're comparable on paper, but that really doesn't mean much, since all teams in the west have studs.
about 1 month ago
As an Azubuike fan I am disappointed. He would have been the starting sg for the clippers... all he had to do was outplay mobley, which would have been no problem. I still think Baron picked him to be his backcourt mate. Oh well, Maggette will likely miss 20 games or so trying to play at the warriors pace and buike can take his spot for those games anyway.
about 1 month ago
Joe...Joe...You are refering to the Clippppppperss.....not the LAKERS! Clippers and Superior does not go in the same sentence, EVER!!! You may say that on paper (because of Baron) they are a bit better but real talk though, the Clippers are a lot older (advantage on experience) but that will be their down fall as well. Let's just say, in a year or two from now, you'll be wishingyou can put on a Monta Ellis and an Anthony Randolph jersey instead of your broken down point guard's (Baron Davis) or a much older under achieving defensive players' (Mobley and Camby) jerseys.
Besides...It's a good time to be a Warrior fan right now and it will even be better in the years to come.
The Clippers will always be the Clippers...as for the Warriors, well, they have their identity and they have the best and craziest fans in the NBA to date.
So, SUCKS to be a Clipper fan right now and it will just get worse in the years to come.
JOE...JOE...Baron will eat Monta's dust! By the way, how's the Clippers' German Sasquatch Traitor of a center doing? Damn! You guys really SUCK!!!
about 1 month ago
G...G...
Your biggest argument against the Clippers is they are the Clippers. I've read plenty of well-thought out arguments against LAC; yours is not one of them. In fact, I'm not really sure how any GSW fan gets off on acting saddity. Both teams have been to the playoffs ONCE in the last decade or so (they both got to the second round). They both have cheap owners that have recently shown a willingness to spend. They both get little respect around the League.
The addition of Baron Davis makes the Clippers A LOT better. Last time I checked, many GSW fans felt despair at his departure (including a certain starting PF for the Warriors). Two years from now, the Clippers will have $30M in cap space and many potential superstar free-agents (and money brings superstars; Baron Davis proves this). No doubt Monta Ellis is super-talented, but he is not on Davis' level.
Frankly, it's a good time to be both LAC and GSW fans. They both had a lot of off-season activity in trying to improve their team respectively. But you wouldn't know that since your a Warrior-stan first and NBA fan second.
By the way, Chris Kaman was not invited to play for team U.S.A. You can't have it both ways: either he wasn't good enough to be asked (which he is proving wrong as we speak) or Colangelo screwed up by not finding him a spot.
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