I was thinking to myself the other day while looking at NBA draft history, and i kept noticing a similar thing, why do the LA Clippers have so many top-10 picks, and they still suck? So i'm compiling a list of data from the last 7 draft years. SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER ME... 1998 - 1st round 1. LA Clippers Michael Olowokandi Pacific 1999 - 1st round 4. LA Clippers Lamar Odom 6-10 220 SF Rhode Island Fr. 2000 - 1st round 3. LA Clippers Darius Miles Lincoln HS Sr. SF 6-9 200 2001 - 1st round 2. LA Clippers Tyson Chandler 7-0 220 SF/PF Dominguez HSSr. 2002 - 1st round 8. LA Clippers Chris Wilcox 6-10 218 PF Maryland So. 2003 - 1st round 6. LA Clippers Chris Kaman 7-0 255 C Central Michigan Jr. 2004 - 1st round 4. LA Clippers Shaun Livingston 6-7 186 PG IL HSSr. Look at all these top-10 picks! The sad part about all this is that most of them were traded away (Micheal Olowakandi, Lamar Odom, Darius Miles,and Tyson Chandler) Its so weird that they always end up being a below .500 team with all this talent. I know some will argue that some of the greatest players were not top-10 picks, and that you have to make trades. blah blah blah. but i mean common, every year the Clipper's name is in the ping-pong balls.
Well how about their draft picks sucked? The only thing I didn't understand was how can Elton Brand, Corey Maggete, Quetin Richardson, Andre Miller, and Lamar Odomnot make the playoffs.
The Clippers are constantly getting hit with injuries to their best players. Even though they have talent, their talent rarely gets a chance to play together. Plus, until Mike Dunleavy Sr., the Clippers constantly hired and fired new coaches. It's tough for young players to gel when they are forced to learn a new system every season.
I actually have high hopes for the clippers next year, around 45 wins. If Shaun Livingston improves at a steady rate he would really make a good point guard and a possible all-star in 3-5 years.
Clippers have had injuries in some of those years. Lamar Odom was injured and had a drug problem. Even admitted he owed the city of LA an apology when he came to the Lakers. Olowokandi sucks. Always did. Always will. Q Rich wanted to leave, as Donald Sterling always screws things up. The Clippers fail to win because Donald Sterling is making too much profit of what he is doing. The Clips had a young good team this year. It takes a young team more than a season of playing together to win. When a Clipper team shows promise, the players are traded or not resigned and end up winning championships on other teams. This year the clips have lots of cap space. If Sterling makes the right moves, playoffs for sure. If Sterling does what he always does, another horrible year. Lets hope its a good year since I have season tickets now. =)
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The only thing I didn't understand was how can Elton Brand, Corey Maggete, Quetin Richardson, Andre Miller, and Lamar Odomnot make the playoffs.</div> Check out how many games those guys played that season, and you'll realize why The Clippers have had a lot of bad luck with injuries, and Sterling has said he's only re-sign players that deserve it, and well, he's done just that. He re-signed Brand and Maggette, put out offers for Arenas and Kobe, and he let Maurice Taylor, Olowokandi, Odom [didn't do good in LA], and Andre Miller [LA wasn't good for him, was in the Miles trade] go.
