Team Preview: Los Angeles Clippers

Key Additions

Baron Davis, Marcus Camby, Eric Gordon, Ricky Davis, Jason Williams, DeAndre Jordan

Key Losses

Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Shaun Livingston

Season Outlook

OK, I could have placed about five more players in each of the loss/add sections, but I’m a slow typist and decided against it. Adding “Key” was much easier. The Clippers have a completely revamped roster, with only four returning players from last year’s 23-59 squad. That wasn’t the plan going into the offseason though, as the Clips expected to keep Elton Brand, and had to steal Marcus Camby from the Nuggets after he bolted to Philadelphia.

Considering Brand and Livingston were injured last year, I expect the Clippers to be a much better team this year. I don’t know much about coach Mike Dunleavy’s offensive philosophies, but this roster matches up well with the “We Believe” Warriors. Gordon and Ellis, Thornton and Ricky vs. S-Jax and Al. They even have a defensive-minded center, in Camby who can shoot the ball. (I think his shooing is a little underrated and his post defense is a little overrated. Can’t argue with the blocks though.) However, I would be a little worried about Davis and Camby getting injured for stretches of the season. I hate making predictions, but because you asked so nicely, I’ll start with 40-42, arbitrarily subtract a few games due to injuries and get 37-45. Good enough for the Hawks to make the playoffs next year, but not good enough out West. Fortunately, Clippers fans have become accustomed to their team missing the playoffs and can always look foward to a Davis brothers trio singing something on the big screen during timeouts.

How the Suns Match Up

I don’t think the Suns match up all that well, and here’s why. Baron Davis is capable of giving Steve Nash problems if he feels like it. Camby and Kaman didn’t sound good together when I first heard about the trade, but they’ll clog the middle defensively, and offensively Camby’s midrange game could complement Kaman’s decent post moves. Gordon, Mobley and Thornton should be able to keep up with Barbosa, Hill, Barnes and Bell. I think the teams split the series, assuming no one is injured at the time.

Can Suns Afford to Bench Nash?

Steve Nash Wheaties box, best used 23FEB07

I read an article East Valley Tribune reporter Scott Bordow wrote last week about how Nash doesn’t know if the Suns will be good enough to sit him for a dozen games next season. “If you can get to the postseason well rested, it’s perfect,” Nash tells Bordow. “But you can’t always afford to do that.” It’s been Steve Kerr’s plan for quite a while now to rest Nash for about a dozen games this season. To this end, he traded up in the draft to get Goran Dragic and recently swung a deal to acquire Sean Singletary, who was taken a few spots ahead of Dragic. And as self-centered as it may sound to suggest that the Suns can’t win without him, Nash has two MVP trophies that back up his claims. Not that I think he is self-centered in any way – he has a pretty extensive track record that suggests otherwise.

I don’t think that Nash is saying the Suns’ new rookie PGs aren’t good enough to hold his jock strap, but realistically the Suns aren’t going to have a large margin of error for making the playoffs. Sure, the Celtics won a championship last year with Rajon Rondo starting, but they had the Big 3 who could create their own shots if the second-year guard was struggling. O’Neal has trouble doing that now, and Stoudemire, Barbosa, Diaw, and Hill are pretty inconsistent. Plus, the Celtics were playing in the Eastern Conference, where the lowly Atlanta Hawks made the playoffs with a losing record. Of course, those same Hawks took the Celts to 7 games i the first round, even with self-proclaimed “World’s Best Player” Paul Pierce playing injury-free. But I digress.

So if the Suns will be hard-pressed to make the playoffs this year in a tough Western Conference, can they really afford to sit Nash for 12 games? Maybe. I suppose it depends on who they rest him against. Against the Bucks, T-Wolves, and Grizzlies, Nash shouldn’t have to play for the Suns to win. He’s not the same player he was a few years past, when the Suns struggled against the scum of the league without him. If the rest of the team can’t post a winning record against such teams without Nash’s help, the Suns’ championship hopes are awfully dim.

I suppose another school of thought asks why Nash needs to be removed from games entirely. Wouldn’t it be enough to just lower the minutes he plays per game? Surely Dragic and Singletary can fill in for a quarter and a half each game. I tend to subscribe to former coach Mike D’Antoni’s way of thinking. Does five minutes a game really matter to a world-class athlete? Will he really be that much more rested for the playoffs if he sits on the bench a few minutes less each game?

I think Kerr’s plan to sit Nash is a good idea, assuming of course the games are strategically chosen. I don’t think it would be wise to sit Nash the final 12 games of the season. And as much as this plan has to do with winning his season, it also has a great deal to do with the Suns’ future. Stoudemire needs to prove he can win without Nash, and either Dragic or Singletary need to show themselves capable of starting in the NBA. The Suns need to start preparing for life without Nash. Take a break, Steve Nash. The team afford to play a few without you this season. The question is, can they really afford not to?