Answers Part I

“OK, here’s one… Do you know the contract details for rookies DeAndre Jordan and Mike Taylor? I’ve seen a few different reports. They’ve usually been reported as 2 year deals, but ShamSports.com (usually pretty reliable) shows a non-guaranteed third year (which would be great, especially for 2010 cap space).

The Clippers liked both Taylor and Jordan enough to give them three-year contracts, however only the first year is guaranteed. Jordan is making $550,000 this season, Taylor $500,000. The league minimum for rookies is $442,114 so both guys are making more than that.

Their second and third years become guaranteed if they’re on the roster after a certain date. I wasn’t able to pin down exactly which dates, but I believe it’s July 31 after the first year and July 1 after the second year. In year two, both would make the second-year minimum of $736,420. In year three, the minimum would be $854,389.

The team’s philosophy on both guys was to reward them with more than the minimum salary in their rookie year in exchange for a longer contract (three-years).

Chris Kaman has looked completely out of it during the preseason and during the Olympics. Horrible strings of turnovers, can’t make a short shot. Hopefully last night’s game was a sign that he’s waking up. My question is: Is he OK? Is he injured or tired? Has he been using the biofeedback machine all summer?

From what I understand, Chris’ feet and ankles are generally OK, but he’s having some lingering pain and soreness in them, so he’s got to keep an eye on it. It’s hard to put a label on what’s ailing him. It’s basically a combination of plantar fasciitis and just “soreness” that happens after a player comes back from a serious ankle injury. One day after practice, coach Dunleavy was telling us all about the high-tech ways the team has for treating plantar fasciitis, so it seems like they’re doing everything they can to keep a handle on it.

Generally speaking though, this is not uncommon for 7-footers like Kaman, who have to be especially vigilant about their feet and ankles.

As for his slow start, Kaman was quoted in this newspaper and the Times the other night as saying he didn’t bring the level of intensity that he needed to and “that’s on me.” After that, he went out and had two pretty good preseason games, so it looks like that issue has been self-corrected.