How long will Del Negro last?
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Vinny Del Negro | Clippers
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Since his first head coaching job with the Bulls and so far during his tenure with the Clippers, Vinny Del Negro hasn't exactly garnered the most sterling reputation.

And with an influx of talent centered around Chris Paul this season, Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated describes his situation as such: "Suddenly, and willingly, he is on the best kind of hot seat, having been given the sort of talent that makes his job both easier and harder in the final guaranteed season of his contract."

ESPN's John Hollinger and Chad Ford touched on Del Negro on Wednesday, and neither see him as a long-term fit.

Which could mean the Clippers may be looking for a new coach this summer -- if not sooner.

-- Ryan Corazza

ESPN's John Hollinger
Del Negro may not be the guy for Clippers
"Which leads us back to the ringleader, Vinny Del Negro. The fact that the Chicago Bulls improved dramatically immediately after replacing him can be seen as both good news and bad news for Clippers fans, given that he's in the last year of his contract. But if somebody is going to make this jumble into something more than the sum of its McNugget-esque parts, Vinny doesn't seem to be the guy. When Paul isn't on the court to run pick-and-roll on every trip, the offense is a disorganized mess; even when CP3 plays, it's baffling why Griffin is doing so much pick-and-pop and so little rolling to the rim. Offense aside, every night produces its own strategic head-scratcher. On Tuesday, for instance, the Clippers went a two-minute stretch of the second quarter with a quintet of Courtney Fortson, Travis Leslie, Trey Thompkins, Gomes and Evans. Yes, it's a back-to-back-to-back and guys were missing, but having at least one player on the court capable of making a basket seems relatively important. This looked like a failure to have a plan coming in. Finally, there's the defense -- the area where the Bulls improved so dramatically post-Vinny, and the area where the Clippers don't seem to be making much progress. L.A. is below average in each of Dean Oliver's 'four factors,' with a No. 27 rank in opponent free throw rate underscoring their mistake-prone-ness."

ESPN's Chad Ford
Clippers need to get rid of Del Negro
"If the Clippers don't fire Vinny Del Negro soon ... I think that says all you need to know about whether the Clippers are serious about becoming a real contender."

Apparently, in a conversation with Olshey regarding his interest in joining the Clips, CP3 mentioned Butler as someone he would like to play with. So Olshey got him. If thats true, good job Neil. It worked out well

Eric Pincus @EricPincus 27m

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I have verified that the Clippers did attain a trade exception - I believe for $3.8 mil

What to do?

Meet the newest Clipper star!

What we've all been saying. Billups means the Hornets have even less leverage. With Odom in Dallas, who else is gonna offer a similar package, considering Paul won't agree to stay anywhere. Im hoping this means Gordon will not be traded. Im still OK with a package of Kaman/Aminu/Bledsoe/Minny pick... but it may take even less than that

Billups hoping he doesnt get claimed. Wants to go to the Heat.
According to Woj
Chauncey Billups warns teams against claiming him off amnesty wire, wants freedom: "This is about me now."

According to Pincus
So Clippers want to invite Billups into their situation? Even if he adamantly wants to go elsewhere? Interesting dilemma

Billups: "People take my kindness and professionalism for weakness. They think I’ll be OK with (getting claimed). I won’t be OK with this."

I say we leave it alone. Doesnt sound good for chemistry. Although before i heard this i was thinking he would be a great signing

"New Orleans, though, likes the other offers coming in even less than those proposals. Sources say that the Clippers have only pitched a package featuring Chris Kaman's expiring contract and guards Mo Williams and Eric Bledsoe, meaning that center DeAndre Jordan and Minnesota's 2012 unprotected first-round pick are off the table along with Gordon."

I love it than EJ is staying... and glad DJ is likely to stay, but come on Clips... if you offer nothing, you wont get the best PG in the league. I'm hoping this is a negotiating strategy. Throw in the Minny pick and you got yourself a deal and a championship contender

"That mutual understanding is one reason why the Clippers have aggressively looked to re-sign restricted free agent center DeAndre Jordan, who is eager to remain with the Clippers, a source close to Jordan said. With the Clippers committed to building around power forward Blake Griffin, acquiring Howard simply isn't realistic, a league source said. Even if they could land Howard without including shooting guard Eric Gordon in the deal, they would then almost certainly have to incur the luxury tax to re-sign Gordon, who will be eligible for an extension of his rookie contract next summer. Paying a luxury tax for going too far over the salary cap would be a first for Clippers owner Donald Sterling. Howard does not see himself as a championship-caliber fit right now next to Griffin, sources familiar with both Howard's objectives said. Neither Howard nor Griffin can step away from the basket and score, which makes it a difficult proposition to invest so heavily in them as a combination. Both also struggle at the free-throw line. Howard is a career 59.8 percent free-throw shooter and Griffin shot 64.2 percent as a rookie last season. The expectation is that Griffin will eventually develop a mid-range jumper, but Howard's timeline for pursuing a championship is more immediate, sources said."

DeAndre Jordan | Clippers
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According to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports, "the Toronto Raptors, New Orleans Hornets, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors and Minnesota Timberwolves are teams with salary-cap space considering multiyear offers for DeAndre Jordan."

Jordan is a restricted free agent of the Clippers, so the team has the opportunity to match any offer sheet Jordan may sign with one of these teams.

The Clippers may indeed be inclined to match as Jordan is part of their young, promising nucleus along with Blake Griffin and Eric Gordon.

Further, if they get into the serious mix for Dwight Howard via trade, the center could be sent to Orlando in return.

Shane Battier | Grizzlies
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It's been reported the Heat could look to target Shane Battier or Grant Hill for help on the wing, and now comes this from Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

Wojnarowski reported via league sources that "Miami Heat president Pat Riley has his franchise in strong position to sell Shane Battier on signing" with the Heat.

Added Wojnarowski: "Battier has been a primary target in free agency for the Heat, and sources say the pitch of Riley, coach Erik Spoelstra and key Heat players could ultimately confirm Battier's strong feelings about chasing a championship in Miami."

The Heat could have more need for Battier should they amnesty Mike Miller and not bring back James Jones in free agency.

Chris Paul | Hornets
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When talking about potential landing spots for Chris Paul via trade, the Knicks, Lakers and Clippers have surfaced as suitors.

But Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated also lists the Warriors as a potential landing spot.

From Amick: "Sources told SI.com that Stephen Curry and rookie guard Klay Thompson were both targeted by the Hornets as the desired pieces in recent discussions regarding Paul, though those talks are believed to have gone dormant for now. Since taking over the Warriors in 2010, owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber are determined to change the losing culture and second-rate perception of their franchise, and it should come as no surprise that they want to woo of star of Paul's ilk."

Curry would provide a decent replacement for Paul at the point if these talks were ever to pick back up again. And, for now, such an offer would likely be better than anything the asset-less Knicks would be able to provide via trade.

Dwight Howard, Hedo Turkoglu, and Courtney Lee to the Clippers; Eric Bledsoe, DeAndre Jordan, Terrence Williams, Brian Cook, Minnesota's unprotected 2012 first-round pick and a future Clippers' first-round pick (2014 or later) to Orlando; Chris Kaman, the Clippers' 2012 second-round pick and a future Clippers' first-round pick (2016 or later) to Houston.

This is the only potential offer that trumps what New Jersey has on the table, and it also gets Howard to a preferred destination in L.A. The Clippers can offer the Magic similar cap relief to the New Jersey deal, a likely high lottery pick from Minnesota, an athletic young point guard in Bledsoe and a promising big man in Jordan, in addition to a 2012 pick of their own.

The Magic will push hard to get Eric Gordon out of this trade, but I believe L.A.'s offer wins even without Gordon. Jordan isn't quite as good as Lopez, but the draft picks and prospects the Clips can add to this deal are better. Also, Jordan would have to agree to a sign-and-trade to Orlando for this deal to work; there are worse places to end up.

I threw in another wrinkle to this deal and sent Kaman and a first-round pick to Houston for Courtney Lee, but this deal also works if Kaman goes straight to Orlando. Kaman and Lee both have expiring deals, but Houston needs a center a lot more than a wing, while the Clippers would be in the opposite situation following a Howard trade.

Chris Paul, Emeka Okafor and Trevor Ariza to the Clippers for Eric Bledsoe, DeAndre Jordan, Chris Kaman and Minnesota's unprotected 2012 first-round pick.

This is the best deal on the board for the Hornets, allowing New Orleans to dump all their contracts, get a likely high lottery pick and add a young building block center and a developing point guard. As with the Howard deal above, New Orleans will lobby for Gordon and the Clips will resist. Also, as with the one above, Jordan would have to agree to a sign-and-trade.

But the real problem for the Hornets is that this deal is only second in the Clippers' hierarchy, and while in their fantasy world they would get Paul and Howard, back on this planet they almost certainly only have the goods to do one or the other. That means the Clips will only pursue this deal for Paul if Howard is off the table.

Sam Amick of Sports Illustrated added this, casting further doubt the Knicks can realistically pull off a trade for Paul: "Sources who recently talked to New York and New Orleans were left with two strong impressions: Knicks have almost no confidence they'll get CP3 via trade and the Hornets sound resigned to the fact that they will have to trade him somewhere."

From ESPN Insider
"Six teams have expressed early interest in UFA Caron Butler: Nets, Clippers, Bulls, Heat, Spurs and Knicks, per sources. Though two of those teams have room (Nets, Clips), both are chasing bigger prizes.

If the Clippers end up trading for Chris Paul and give up Eric Gordon in return -- nowhere near happening at this point, but there's chatter he could potentially be included in any trade for Paul -- Butler could help fill Gordon's hole a bit. (Though coming off injury and being a veteran, he could also be a strong backup at the 2 and 3 if Gordon remains).

With Andre Iguodala on the trade block this week, there's another team that has reportedly thrown its hat in the ring: Orlando.

From Steve Kyler of HOOPSWORLD: "Iguodala has been linked to the Orlando Magic in a deal built around Hedo Turkoglu and Jameer Nelson, although sources near the 76ers say that's the least attractive offer they have received."

The Magic are looking to bring in pieces around Dwight Howard in an effort to get him to stick around. But if the Sixers are looking for an athletic big in return for Iguodala as ESPN's Marc Stein has tweeted, the Magic may need to offer up either Brandon Bass or Howard -- neither of which seems all too likely.

Still thinking Iggy could be perfect for the Clips... hoping this doesnt happen

Blake- Stoudemire

In some ways, Griffin already is Stoudemire's equal and even better in some areas. But Stoudemire is far superior to almost any other bucket-getting big in the world at making perimeter shots.

Griffin is not close to being even average as a shooter beyond 16 feet. How tough would it be to defend Griffin if he were able to make more than 42 percent of his jumpers? (He makes 33 percent now.) Stoudemire has a smooth and consistent shot, and Griffin would do well to emulate those mechanics as closely as he can.

Stoudemire also is one of the best bucket-getters inside. Although Griffin is good in this area, his ceiling is much higher still. He would be wise to watch how Amare uses more fakes, uses better form on his fades, uses more creative "throws" over bigger defenders, and gets lower so he can nimbly dart through traffic and end up at the rim, especially following high screen and rolls.

Aminu- Deng

Watching Aminu is often like watching a talented AAU player in an important tournament. He clearly cares, but not as much as some of the other guys on the court do. The same can be said about his overall work ethic -- it might be solid but it's not where it could be.

Deng was a consummate pro from Day 1 in the NBA. Deadly serious about his craft, he has found a variety of ways to impact the game every season. He's been his team's best scorer in some years, he's been his team's best defender in others, and he's allowed his game to change based on what the coach needed. For example, this season he'll make more 3s than he did in any of his previous six seasons, despite being able to make that shot for the past two years.

Aminu has a higher ceiling than Deng, thanks to terrific rebounding talent and a better deep perimeter shot at a younger age. To reach that ceiling, though, he'll have to up his effort in and out of season, while playing each NBA game as if it will be his last. Bulls teammates have always singled out Deng for his commitment to the team. What will Clippers players say about Aminu in a few years? "Be like Luol" would be a good mission for him.

Bledsoe- Rondo

Rondo might not be a shooter, but he's a maestro on offense, orchestrating his team's offense with his strong personality and high basketball IQ. Almost half of his possessions end in an assist, and that's phenomenal. He's the best shot-creator for teammates in the game today. He's also second in the NBA in steals per game, utilizing his length and quickness to put the hurt on opposing guards.

Bledsoe has a lot of physical similarities to Rondo. While he's built more powerfully than Rondo, he is exceptionally quick and about as fast as any player in the league. He also has a better mind for the game than experts first thought, improving drastically since we saw him in summer league.

Like Rondo, Bledsoe was not a lottery pick but has the talent to be a huge impact guy on both ends of the floor. Looking back, Rondo (drafted No. 21 in 2006) should have been a top-five pick. In a few years, we might be able to say similar things about Bledsoe (drafted 18th) ... if he follows in Rondo's footsteps.

Pincus has some insights, says the Clips are not interested in Chandler.