Clippers win the Draft Lottery!

For the first time since 1998, the Clippers get the first pick in the draft. Even though they had the third highest chance to get it this year, they passed by Sacramento to take the Top Spot. (Sacramento, the team with the worst record – fell to fourth)

Blake Griffin of Oklahoma is thought to be the first pick in the draft. The 6-10 forward had 30 double-doubles last season for the Sooners and averaged over 20 points and 14 rebounds for the season. Ricky Rubio could also be the first pick, since the Clippers have a couple of big power forwards on their roster already.

Hopefully, the Clippers use the pick wisely, since their last #1 was Michael Olowokandi – and they passed on people like Vince Carter and Paul Pierce, among others.

Draft Lottery

Baron Davis will be the Clippers representative at the 2009 NBA Draft Lottery on May 19th.

The draft itself happens on June 25th in New York City with guys like Blake Griffin (the likely first pick), DeMar DeRozan (of USC), Jrue Holiday (of UCLA and Campbell Hall High), Stephan Curry (of Davidson) and Ricky Rubio likely being lottery picks.

The Clippers have a 17.7% chance of getting the first pick in the draft

NBA Nation this weekend

Both Eric Gordon and Cuttino Mobley – who is now a New York Knick – will be at Universal Citywalk this weekend for NBA Nation. The Festivities start at 2pm and go until 10 on Saturday and Sunday and Gordon will be there at 3pm on Saturday and 4 on Sunday while Mobley will show up on Sunday at 3:30

UCLA’s own Kevin Love will also be there on Sunday at 2:30.

Both days are free. May I suggest taking the train to Universal. Parking is a pain in the butt there.

Playoff Clippers

So, the Clippers themselves aren’t in the playoffs this year, but there are a bunch of former Clippers still playing- but for other teams. Benoit Benjamin isn’t one of them. nor is Gary Grant. (That surprised me too)

If you’re jonesin’ to see some former Clippers, you can check out some of these guys play:

Eddie House and Mikki Moore (on the Celtics) – They both have Game 7 on Sunday against Orlando. The Celts are having some issues without KG and his intensity in the series, but Rajon Rondo is unconscious with having close to a triple-double about every game nowadays. If he can duplicate what I had him do in a video game/simulated Game 7, he’s going to have an unprecedented Triple-Triple. (Maybe I stacked the deck a bit when I turned off injuries and fouls and played Rondo against a bad ball-handler who I pulled from another team and put on the Magic. I also replaced Dwight Howard with Truck Robinson from the 1970’s team. Yeah, I thought 122 steals was a lot too.)
Maybe House can diagnose himself more than is his 8 points a game and Boston gets past the Magic.

Jason Hart (Nuggets) – even though Hart only averages about a point or two a game, the Nuggets are rolling and they clinched their first Western Conference Finals berth since 1985 with a win over Dallas last Wednesday. Hart is also from Los Angeles (Inglewood High) and once played for the Asheville Altitude in the NBDL. True Story.

James Singleton (Dallas) – well, now that I realize it, you can’t watch Singleton play in the playoffs anymore. Unless you Tivo’d last Wednesday’s Denver game and planned to watch it this weekend. If that’s the case, then I’m not sure who won and make sure to unread the JASON HART thing above. Or you can watch a John Singleton movie instead. Like Shaft maybe. That’s pretty fun.

Von Wafer and Brent Barry (Rockets) – Wafer played for the Clippers in 2006-07 and Barry played for them in his first years in the league between 1995 and 1998 – then he went to Miami, Chicago, Seattle, San Antonio then Houston. Like most of the players on this list, neither guy play very much for their respective teams – but if the Game 7 on Sunday is a runaway in either direction, I’ll bet money that Barry and Wafer will come in and play a bit. You can catch Barry’s brother on ESPN as an analyst. Also, totally unrelated but still relevant, Halle Berry was pretty cool in Swordfish.

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Lamar Odom and Josh Powell (Lakers) – Odom is by far the most active former-Clipper now in the playoffs. Lamar was the first-round pick in 1999 and has played for the Clippers and Miami as well as for the Lakers. He’s averaging 15 points and over 10.1 rebounds a game for the team and had 16 points and 13 rebounds in Game Three against the Rockets and 14 rebounds in Thursday nights loss. A valuable part of the Laker team, he assists on both ends of the floor – particularly when Bynum was out with an injury. Powell is not as valuable, but did score his playoff high 10 points in the win in Game Five. Granted, it was a 40 point win, but had he not played at all, it would have been a more threatening 30 point victory. Those ten points made a big difference.

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Look for your ex-Clippers on a television near you throughout the playoffs.

Baron Davis Letter to the Fans

From his Yardbarker blog:

Dear Fans,

Having recently had some time to reflect I wanted drop you all a quick note.

There’s an age old Chinese proverb which says:

“Words are just words and without heart they have no meaning.”

Today, I’d like to use this space to speak to you from my heart.

First off, I want to say how much our entire organization appreciates the way our fans stuck with us through what was a very difficult season. We can spend time referring to all the injuries, but as far as you’re all concerned, there can be no easy excuse for the tough year we had. I want you to know that we truly appreciate all of your support and thank you for hangin with us.

Secondly, I want to make sure you know that EVERYONE at the Clippers is committed to doing whatever is necessary to make sure that you don’t have to deal with another year like the one that just ended. I’m dedicating myself to that goal, and I know my teammates will do the same.

There are probably those who will read this and toss it off as just words, but I can only write these words with hope that the feeling and sentiment is conveyed.

Whether you believe us or not, please know that we’re all going to work hard to improve everyday and be a far better team than we showed this past season.

Stick with us, and trust it’ll be worth it.

Sincerely,
Baron Davis