Not The Answer

Have pity upon thy lowly L.A. Clipper fans, for their team just doesn’t get it. As if it wasn’t bad enough to have to share an arena with the much more popular Lakers, they are now the WORLD CHAMPION LAKERS. And the Clippers are still the Clippers. But rejoice Clip Nation – all is not lost. Things are actually looking up – you got the first pick in the draft. Better yet, you didn’t draft a Michael Olowokandi clone this time, you got the real deal in Blake Griffin. With young, talented wing players in Eric Gordon and Al Thornton things are looking up. You were even able to get rid of Zach Randolph, who is a known carcinogen to young talent. The future’s so bright you gotta wear shades.

That is, until this conversation took place in the Clippers war room (an old broom closet that the Lakers weren’t using) this week:

Lowly Clipper Lackey – So Boss, what’s our next move to strengthen our roster and steer our ship towards the bright future just over the horizon?

The Boss (GM Mike Dunleavy) – Well, I think what we really need now is an undersized, ball-dominant, poor shooting, defensive liability shooting guard who is on the wrong side of 30 and still thinks he’s a superstar so he has to be a starter.

Lackey – Brilliant idea Skipper! He’ll fit in well with our ball-dominant, poor-shooting, injury prone 30-year-old point guard!

Note to L.A. Clipper management – DO NOT SIGN ALLEN IVERSON!!! When I say do not, I mean don’t kinda sign Allen Iverson, or sorta sign Allen Iverson, I mean DO NOT SIGN ALLEN IVERSON!!! Why is it that some people, whenever they have a bit of success and seem to be headed in the right direction find a way to sabotage things. Clippers, AI would sabotage things for you. Iverson doesn’t want to come off of the bench, so you’re going to send Eric Gordon – who had a very good rookie season – to the bench? You’re going to give the minutes Gordon needs to develop to a 34-year-old 6’0″ shooting guard who is going to miss 12 shots a night? You’re going to introduce Blake Griffin to the NBA by putting him out there with a backcourt that is going to hoist up 40 shots a night? Doesn’t Dunleavy know that the contest for the most inept GM is over now that Kevin McHale and Zeke are no longer in the League?

I used to be an Iverson fan. I even risked my life to drive through a horrendous snowstorm to watch him play while he was in college. He is all heart. Fearless. A relentless scorer and competitor. He was perfect for the underdog attitude in Philly. A real life, modern day Rocky. But didn’t you see what happened when he left Denver and went to Detroit? Didn’t you see the Nuggets become a legit title contender and Detroit implode? Didn’t you see him causing grief about coming off the bench? Don’t you want to give Gordon and Thornton and Griffin the responsibility, shots and minutes needed to develop? Haven’t your fans suffered enough?

You will not become a better team with Allen Iverson and Baron Davis sharing a backcourt. This is only a slight improvement on the nightmare backcourt that was Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis. Don’t sign Iverson. Try to trade Davis. If you’re going to lose (and trust me, your going to lose with David and Iverson), lose because of youth and inexperience. Not because of bullheadedness and age.

No Clippers, The Answer isn’t the correct answer to this question.