For the first time in a long time, things were really looking up for the Los Angeles Clippers. Baron Davis had lost 15 pounds over the offseason after a miserable first season, and seemed re-energized. Eric Gordon had a tremendous rookie season, and had settled into the starting two-guard role. They had strengthened their bench by acquiring Sebastian Telfair, Craig Smith and Rasual Butler, and they had even managed to deal away Zach Randolph for a bag of basketballs (well, it actually was for Quentin Richardson, but given he was traded several times this offseason, it might as well have been for a bag of basketballs), and eliminated a cancer from their locker room.
But all of those moves were secondary to the Clippers winning the NBA’s Draft Lottery in May and getting the chance to select the clear top talent in June’s draft, Blake Griffin. The former Oklahoma power forward scored 22 points and grabbed 14 rebounds a game last season for the Sooners, and seemed like as close to a guarantee as one can find in the draft. Some went so far as to compare him to Karl Malone.
But, after all, this is the Clippers … so, like last offseason when they thought they were going to get both Davis and Elton Brand, only for Brand to ditch them and sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, everyone was waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it did this week, when we learned that Griffin is going to be out for at least six weeks with a fractured kneecap.
Posted by tbontemps1 