Just wanted to update you guys on whose been playin pickup ball at ucla. The big name players are starting to show up this week. Kevin Garnett, Zach Randolph, Danny Granger just to name a few, and also about half the clipper roster: Tim Thomas, Cat, Paul Davis, Al thornton, Ricky Davis, Deandre Jordan, Mike Taylor, Jason Hart and the one and only Baron Davis. I believe a lot of em r gonna show up again today (Weds) for those who can make it out here. Quick thought on Baron: looks to me as if it was his first time playin in a while and he looked awfully rusty. I mean he was missin layups, airballin jumpers and so on. He still was probably the best player on his team and commanded the most attention due to his playmaking ability, but he also did have a lot of turnovers. As for the games itself, its like an early training camp for the clips with about half the roster here, and the guy that runs it puts the clipper players together on the same team so its cool seeing these new guys gel and getting to play with one another.

Just wanted to give all clipper nation a heads up. If anybody lives near UCLA, a bunch of nba players play there every afternoon Monday to Thursday from about 3:30 to 5pm. Anybody can come watch on the sidelines and you get to stand like 3 feet away from them. These are just some of the players ive seen play there: Cat Mobley, Jason Hart, Shaun Livingston, zach randolph, andre miller, michael olowokandi, paul davis, baron davis, kevin garnett, keith closs(no joke), paul pierce, russell westbrook, jordan farmar, danny granger, emeka okafor, al thornton, al harrington, sam cassell, oj mayo, kevin love and a lot more i cant remember. Also for whatever reason the entire clipper coaching staff( MD sr, kim hughes elgin baylor etc) are there everyday watching the games as well. Maybe they are eyeing their next free agent signing? Anyways if you come to UCLA, go to the Student Activities Center and the gym is on the second floor. The only downside is you can't take pics or film anything, but its just like free summer league bball with real nba players.

The Utah Jazz announced today that the team has acquired veteran point guard Brevin Knight from the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for guard Jason Hart. Originally selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round (16th overall pick) of the 1997 NBA Draft, Knight (5-10, 170, Stanford) has appeared in 655 career regular season games (423 starts) over 11 NBA seasons with Cleveland, Atlanta, Memphis, Phoenix, Washington, Milwaukee, Charlotte and the Clippers, owning career averages of 7.9 points, 6.6 assists, 2.6 rebounds and 1.77 steals per game. He appeared in 74 games (39 starts) this past season with the Clippers, averaging 4.6 points, 4.4 assists and 1.35 steals in 22.6 minutes. Knight ranked second in the NBA in assists-per-turnover (4.62), and third in steals per turnover (2.87).

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/53716/20080723/utah_acquires_brevin_knight/

Can somebody explain to me the point of this trade? Jason Hart disappointed last year, and I thought Brevin Knight would do well behind Baron as a backup.

I would like to see what the citizens here at clipper nation think. Assuming we sign azubuike and fill out the rest of the roster with minimum type players like fazekas and marcus williams/q ross, and other teams fill up as expected (monta resigns with GS), is this clipper team good enough for the playoffs?  I think these teams are guaranteed to be in: Lakers, Hornets, Jazz, Rockets, Spurs, Suns. The last two spots I feel are up for grabs. Personally, I think that we barely beat out portland for the 8th seed. What do you guys think? Will we make the playoffs next year? Yes/No answers are fine, but comments are definitely recommended. I know we are all fans here, but please be realistic in your responses

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/basketball/nba/07/11/randolph.clippers/index.html

Supposedly Clips had the same thought as most u guys and didn't bother to offer much for him. I like the way the Clips are immediately trying to recoup for the loss of Brand. Even though he might not be CS favorite player, he would provide the rebounding and offense that Brand gave us. Even though this didn't work out, props to the Clips for working hard to make moves instead of sittin round.

http://my.journaltimes.com/post/woelfel-world-of-sports/bucks_check_out_their_options_.html

It says the bucks are looking to deal redd to "upgrade" their small forward position. Corey Maggette will definitely be an upgrade from the trash of small forwards they have down there. and we get the shooter we have dreamed about for a long time in redd. I know it will have to be more complicated than redd for maggette, but if the bucks are serious about getting an upgrade at small forward a 22ppg scorer might be their best option

Ey waddup just wanted to let you know you got a great blog and I read it all the time. Never bothered to post on here but I thought you might find this interesting. I go to ucla and every afternoon a bunch of nba players play pickup ball at the gym here. Theres been a bunch of clipper players ballin up here including kaman, guillermo diaz, sam cassell,cat mobley, paul davis, yaroslav korolev, and today i saw for the first time al thornton and jared jordan. Couple clipper coaches also show up constantly including dunleavy and elgin baylor. I read a couple posts back you were wondering about the jared jordan guillermo diaz situation, and with dunleavy bringing jared jordan here today it seems as if he still is in their plans and that he still has a chance to make the team. On a sidenote chris kaman still misses a lot of layups, but he has looked more aggressive tryin to dunk the ball. He had a reverse jam last week over keith closs that had the crowd buzzin like crazy. Al thornton has also looked real nice and paul davis is looking like sam cassell wit that midrange jumper dude does not miss. If anybody wanna come check it out its monday to thursday 3-5 30 at the student activities center basketball gym at ucla. Its free and you get to stand like 2 ft away from nba players its crazy