Will Los Angeles Clippers Become the Next Hot Free-Agent Destination?

In the past, once Donald Sterling was actually willing to spend some money on the team, there was always a stigma attached to joining the Los Angeles Clippers as a free agent. When you have one of the elite organizations in all of sports in the same building, it can be difficult to stand out.

Even though the Clippers have fixed a lot over the last few years in terms of appearances, there was always a faulty infrastructure, mainly because it was Sterling who had built it.

Now, those days are long gone.

With Steve Ballmer replacing Donald Sterling as owner, Doc Rivers locked up on a long-term deal, Chris Paul and Blake Griffin both on lengthy contracts and the concerns of the Clippers' on-court success being a flash in the pan safely put to rest, the team can assume its spot as one of the league's premier free-agent destinations, once cap space permits. 

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It probably should have always been this way. The Clippers play in Los Angeles, after all, one of the most popular places for players to have offseason homes and train during the summer and one of the biggest media markets in the world. There are advantages in Los Angeles that other cities simply can't offer, no matter how good their teams are. 

Sterling always dragged the Clippers down in a lot of ways, even when he wasn't making national headlines for asinine, racist comments. 

Here's Arash Markazi at ESPN.com:

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There rarely was anything positive about the Clippers when Sterling was the owner. Even when the team succeeded on the court, Sterling was the lingering black cloud that hung above it, always capable of raining on any kind of success, as he did during last season's playoff run.

It is likely Los Angeles always will be a Lakers town, but Sterling never really gave the city a chance to embrace the Clippers as one of its own. That changed Monday. Perhaps the fortunes of the team will change next.

"It was 30 years ago this summer that the Clippers moved to Los Angeles from San Diego," said Ralph Lawler, the Clippers' longtime announcer. "I think now this city can now open its arms to our basketball team. They can embrace this team without any reservations at all. We're here to stay, we're here to play and we're here to win championships."

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With Ballmer as owner, the Clippers get the fresh start they've always needed.

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There just doesn't seem to be much of a reason to leave anymore, and there aren't a whole lot of reasons not to come.

Here's Steve Perrin at ClipsNation.com:

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Steve Ballmer is here, and he's passionate, and his passion comes across as sincere and sustainable -- this isn't an act. Donald Sterling was the worst owner in North American pro sports. Steve Ballmer may or may not end up being the best owner -- but he is the richest.

That much is indisputable, and it may be just as indisputable that he is the most enthusiastic. It remains to be seen how that enthusiasm translates in the product on the floor, but for now enthusiasm is a pretty nice thing for the fans.

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Sterling was a very rich man, too, but he was very guarded with his money and loved to meddle in basketball decisions he was highly unqualified to make.

We don't know what kind of owner Ballmer will be, but it's safe to say the bar set by Sterling is pretty low. 

Here's what Ballmer told fans at his introduction, via The Associated Press (via ESPN.com):

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"We're looking forward," Ballmer proclaimed, having removed his blue Clippers hat. "Everything is about looking forward." ...

"We're going to be bold. Bold means taking chances," he said. "We're going to be optimistic. We're going to be hard-core. Nothing gets in our way, boom! The hard-core Clippers, that's us."

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Last year, before and after the mess with Sterling, we started to see the impact Rivers had on the team. During the season, when noteworthy veterans such as Danny Granger and Glen Davis became available, the Clippers were their choice over other franchises that were surely interested.

Those aren't marquee signings, obviously, but the Clippers should remain a place where veterans will love to come on the cheap. Rivers is a coach with championship experience and the respect of players all around the league, and Chris Paul is the game's best point guard and distributor. With no dark cloud looming over the franchise any longer, why wouldn't you want to go there?

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It's highly unlikely that we'll see the Clippers become a leading contender in acquiring free-agent players in the next few years, but that's not because they can't. It's because they have a pretty loaded roster with two legitimate max players in Blake Griffin and Paul, and another rising star in DeAndre Jordan who should get a big payday as well.

As we've seen, though, it's great to be at the top of the list for superstars who might want out of their current situation and demand a trade. You want guys clamoring to join your team, and you want to be mentioned just like the Los Angeles Lakers are whenever anyone is going to become a free agent, even if it's an unrealistic or implausible fit.

Given the direction and the positive momentum the Clippers now have as a franchise, it's hard to see them being anything but a premier destination from here on out.