With Labor Day weekend here, we might as well rate the Clippers’ summer. IT IS AN F!

That might not necessarily be because of their moves, or lack of moves, but the news that Elton Brand will be out for at least several months is not at all what they needed. The news warrants the F. The signing of Brevin Knight should help a lot, but the question remains whether Sam Cassell can hold up for another year.

With so many teams in the West improved, it’s hard to see how the Clippers can seriously compete for a playoff spot with their injuries. Maybe they needed to go the Danny Ainge route and totally revamp their roster. But other than Corey Maggette and Brand himself, they might not have any serious trade bait on their roster.

If Mike Dunleavy leads this team to the playoffs, he should be the league’s Coach of the Year… But then again, a lot can happen. It’s only Labor Day weekend.

The scoop is this: The Clippers are desperately trying to sign a veteran point guard and have two guys in which they’re negotiating. The problem is that those guys are negotiating with other teams, too, so no deals are imminent. Exactly who those players are, the Clippers don’t want to say because they don’t want to have their names in stories adversely affect negotiating.

However, we do know this much: The Clippers are hoping Sam Cassell will be their starter. They figure that Guillermo Diaz, second-round pick Jared Jordan and Will Conroy will battle for the third-string point guard job.

So they’re looking for a No. 2 point guard. Jason Hart filled in admirably and could be the guy, but he is testing the free-agent market. Personally, I like Hart and think he’d fit the team’s needs. No matter what, this is a very important move because there is no guarantee Cassell will hold up as their starter…

Back by popular demand, aka a loyal reader of this blog named Carlos, it’s time to talk Clippers again… An argument has been made that this past season was the most disappointing in franchise history. After further review, that argument doesn’t work. Yes, expectations were higher than ever, and it was a bummer to Clipper nation to miss the playoffs. But going through 20-win seasons is much more painful than being whipped by the reality of being lottery-bound — again.

With that said and out of the way, the Clippers need a point guard. In the draft, they should take a point guard, unless there is an incredible physical wonder at the No. 14 spot that they can’t pass up. Even if the Clippers draft a point guard, they’ll still need another point guard. Sam Cassell and Shaun Livingston’s durability is in question. Jason Hart would be nice to retain, but he’s a free agent. We’ll see what happens, and maybe the draft isn’t deep enough at the PG position. But we shall see…

I don’t know if Elton Brand’s lower scoring, through a whopping four games, is that big of a concern. But it certainly is different than the norm…. I continue to wonder what others think on this subject. Please tell me…

Those characters come to mind because, well, it’s obvious. There are great expectations for these Clippers. I don’t think there has ever been a season in which so much was expected for this franchise. Will they improve upon last season???

I am not a soothsayer and have learned not to try to be one. If there is an over/under on their wins I’d place it at 48, but who knows? The one thing I’m most interested in seeing is how Corey Maggette responds, injury-free, and what his role will be, injury-free. If he is healthy, will it mean the team will be even better than last season? We’ll see.

Just got confirmation that Chris Kaman agreed to his contract extension with a tweaked contract, a little more than five years for $50 million. This should be one of those moves in which both sides are extremely happy. The Clippers had an off day on Saturday, but they’ll be having a news conference on Sunday…