<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The Clippers, who seemed to have been on the right track toward ending a long playoff drought next season, were knocked off course Friday when the most prominent of their free agents decided he'd rather make his playoff push with Michael Redd, No. 1 draft pick Andrew Bogut and the Milwaukee Bucks. Bobby Simmons, who made $825,000 last season while tripling his career scoring average and earning an NBA award as the league's most improved player, accepted a five-year, $47-million offer from the Bucks, his agent said. No deals can be signed until July 22, but Simmons, 25, will average $9.4 million a year in salary over the next five years, agent Mark Bartelstein said. The bidding apparently was too rich for the Clippers, who declined to comment in keeping with their policy of not speaking about the free-agency process. They are expected to intensify their efforts to sign Cuttino Mobley, the most coveted of the unrestricted free-agent shooting guards still available after Larry Hughes reportedly agreed Friday to sign with the Cleveland Cavaliers. In their grand plan, the Clippers would have retained Simmons and added a veteran shooting guard this summer, a best-case scenario that probably would have returned Simmons to the role he was expected to fill last season: sixth man. No way were the Clippers going to pay $47 million for a sixth man. Elton Brand will make $13.1 million next season, and Corey Maggette will make $7 million. And so Simmons, who averaged 16.4 points and 5.9 rebounds in his breakout season after inheriting a place in the lineup that was not earmarked for him until injuries sidelined Kerry Kittles, bolted for the Bucks. And the bucks. "Obviously, it was a terrific offer financially," Bartelstein said before listing other factors that weighed in the decision. "Being close to home; he's from Chicago. Obviously, they have a chance to be a really good team with Bogut. "But it was a tough decision. I mean, the Clippers have been unbelievable to Bobby. They gave him an opportunity in this league."</div> Source This cannot really surprise Clipper fans. At least they have CMaggs and Korolev to fill in for Simmons. However, the Clippers have lost their two best perimeter shooters so far, Kittles & Simmons.
Passing up on Granger, Green and Wright is looking even worse now unless Korolev is going to do something this season. Mobley is the only guy left out there, but with him the team will be undersized at the 2 and 3 with 6'4 Mobley, and 6'5 [or 6'6] Maggette
As a Laker fan I'm not going to complain about the Clippers screwing up in the off-season already. Without any shooters, the same need they've had for the last 2 seasons, they should end up in last place next year. Even if they re-sign Marko Jaric, it's not enough to spread the floor. Cuttino Mobley is probably salivating at this point, he should be the next to cash in on a huge contract. I think Denver has the inside track on him, but the highest bidder will get his services. I doubt it's going to be the Clippers.
Simmons is an awesome player....but for almost $10 mil a year, that's ridiculous ... I hate to see him go but the Clipps made the right financial decision here... but as og15 said, too bad the Clipps didn't plan for this better in the draft...
