2011 NBA Free Agency: 6 Players Who Could Take L.A. Clippers to Respectability

Despite the NBA lockout, there’s a growing chance that another Los Angeles basketball team could make a big splash next season. If you somehow guessed the Los Angeles Clippers, you would be correct.

I live in Los Angeles, and I know that this is the Lakers' city. With their fabled history and championship success, it's hardly likely that the fan favorites could be uprooted anytime soon because the ties are simply too tight.

Comparing the Clippers to the Lakers should hardly be sport anymore; it lacks the competitiveness of a true rivalry. In real-life practice, the Clippers would have more luck if they continued to exist as a singular entity that happens to share a city with the royalty that is the Los Angeles Lakers.

I’ve been fortunate enough to see the Clippers play multiple times in the past 10 years. Ten years ago, there was a faint buzz that could be heard around the arena. As the years progressed, the arena seemed to get quieter and quieter until the 2009 NBA draft when they selected Blake Griffin. As the team improved, so did the buzz in the arena.

Let’s take a look at six players that could help Blake Griffin and the Los Angeles Clippers immediately back to respectability. 

6. Peja Stojakovic

Let’s take a look at the math for a quick moment: What’s bigger, two or three? Waiting. The answer? Three. In the NBA, the three-point shot is worth more than the shots within the arc.

Last season, the Clippers finished with a 33.8 percent record from behind the arc, which was good for 25^th in the league. During the regular season, the team with the best three-point percentage (which was 39.7 percent), the Spurs, also happened to have finished with the best overall record.

If the Clippers look to make the playoffs when our NBA season begins, they’ll likely come in as a lower seed hoping to win on gritty and close ballgames. In the playoffs, the Dallas Mavericks (39.4 percent) sported the second-highest three-point percentage in the postseason. Lakers fans can recall the significance of what it means for a lower-seeded team to knock down a crucial three-point shot in a playoff game.

Lakers fans may also recall Peja Stojakovic, and for more than just his infamous days of his beautiful shots with the Sacramento Kings (before they looked to move to Anaheim). Stojakovic is an unrestricted free agent for the 2012 season. Peja shot 41.9 percent from the three-point line last season, and sports a career percentage of over 40 percent.

His addition would certainly be a strong asset to any team looking to return to respectability. 

5. Ricky Rubio

Let’s recall my little theory about the buzz within the NBA arena. Before Blake Griffin, there was little buzz. After Griffin came significantly more buzz. Clippers fans have a reason to talk with Griffin dunking some of the most monstrous highlights the world will ever see, and the casual NBA fan has a reason to tune in to watch the games.

While Griffin is one of the youngest and most entertaining players in the game, there’s another young stud that once generated a similarly large amount of (international) hype following the Summer Olympics. He is a fireplug of a point guard from Spain, and his name is Ricky Rubio.

Many feared drafting Rubio because of his lack of signability, and when the Minnesota Timberwolves also drafted fellow point guard Johnny Flynn in the 2009 draft, the No. 5 overall pick elected to stay in Spain. Although rumors have been swirling about his lack of ability to keep up at an NBA pace following a poor showing in Barcelona in the past two years, this could be accredited to his foot injury.

If I were running things for the Clippers, I would try to tempt the Timberwolves by offering them their 2012 first-round pick (of which the Clippers own from a 2005 Sam Cassell trade) back for Ricky Rubio.

The idea of Ricky Rubio running pick-and-rolls with Blake Griffin in front of a sold-out Staples Center sort of brings to mind the idea of the Clippers owning Los Angeles as Kobe Bryant begins his fall into retirement.

4. Tayshaun Prince

The most glaring hole for the Clippers last season was their pitiful lack of a proven small forward. This frailty resulted in Ryan Gomes playing SF for the team last season, despite the fact that he averaged only 7.2 points per game.

The Clippers have built a solid team over the past few years, and the draft has been kind as they’ve landed young talent in Griffin, Gordon, Jordan, Bledsoe and Aminu. That leaves two things: a glaring hole at small forward, and a lack of proven experience.

One player that fits that mold perfectly? Tayshaun Prince. Prince is an athletic and experienced small forward that has played for winning teams in the past. He comes into the offseason as an unrestricted free agent, and could be looking to turn his career around with a younger team looking to make a splash.

The Clippers are an athletic team, and Prince has the right kind of mentality for their offensive scheme. He can carry the team when Griffin is not on the court, can take pressure of the stars and won’t call much attention when unmerited. On defense, Prince is a force to be reckoned with and drives the court with success. Prince would be an absolute benefit to the Clippers, and is a player that they should be targeting highly.

3. Wilson Chandler

I really like this move for the Clippers. Wilson Chandler is a restricted free agent this offseason, and could be brought in at the right bargain negotiation.

Chandler, who averaged 15.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game last season, plays hard on both sides of the court and brings a versatile edginess needed for a playoff contender.

While Chandler is a natural small forward, the biggest reason to bring him in is he can also provide assistance at shooting guard or power forward when Gordon and Griffin need their rests. The importance of this cannot be understated, because when Griffin and Gordon came out last season the entire team looked significantly more lackluster.

Chandler is athletic, and his 6’8” frame will be of service when they’re playing larger teams. He is only 24 years old, and could continue to develop as the Clippers do.

One of the sneaky perks of signing Chandler is that they’d fill the small forward position slot without having to trade Kaman, Aminu or Gordon. This leaves those players on the roster while also fighting with a competitive depth of the new and improved starting five. 

2. Andre Iguodala

While it would be of benefit to hold onto every player by not doing a trade, the Clippers have a very tempting opportunity to land one of the most elite small forwards in the game.

We’ve already addressed that the Clippers are weak at small forward, but we haven’t addressed what type of play the Clippers would be at if they were able to swing a trade for Iguodala.

Before the lockout began, rumors began to swirl about the Philadelphia 76ers' interest in swapping Chris Kaman, the former All-Star center for the Clippers, for the 76ers small forward.

Iguodala offers a strong defensive assistance to match his 14.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game that he posted last season. If the Clippers could bring in the clutch player without giving up the rights to their T-Wolves pick next season, I think that’s an obvious must-trade seeing as Iguodala has a much higher ceiling than Aminu does.

1. Chris Paul

If you can, for a moment, suspend reality and the Curse of the Sacred Buffalo and your own personal bias against Clippers owner Donald Sterling (don’t worry, I know that everyone has one).

I know that things haven’t exactly gone smoothly for the Clippers in the past—well, ever. It’s seemed like whenever things begin to look up for the franchise, something goes horribly awry. Let’s either assume that Blake Griffin rejuvenates the luck of the squad or that the Clippers' season unfolded like a normal NBA team’s would.

The 2012 free-agent class includes some of the biggest names in the league, including the likes of a certain Chris Paul. Paul’s contract expires at the end of next season, and New Orleans may be looking to score some top value for the star.

Paul, who averaged 15.9 points and 6.8 assists per game last season, is looking for a home where he can win championships for a team that is building for the future. Few teams have as much young promise as the Clippers do, and few teams could offer a package as deep as the Clippers could (Eric Gordon, Mo Williams, Aminu, the rights to Minnesota’s 2012 first-round pick or Kaman’s expiring contract).

Paul would have the interesting opportunity of playing alongside one of the most exciting players in the game in Griffin, and would have the ability to try to own Los Angeles and bring the Clippers to respectability. His play would improve that of DeAndre Jordon, and a team run by Griffin and Paul would be one of the most feared teams in the entire league.

While I’m by no means implying that a Chris Paul trade is exactly likely, it’s a scenario that the young superstar ought to consider. As for the Clippers, they’d own one of the top five players in the NBA as well as all of the glory that Griffin brings with him.

It’s been a tough stretch for Clippers fans, but it seems as if they could be just one big move away from being a legitimate contender.