PLAYER NEWS: --G Ricky Davis, despite the departures of G Alex Acker and G Fred Jones from the Clippers and the team's apparent lack of interest in G Mardy Collins, will be hard-pressed to find minutes in next season's lineup behind G/F Rasual Butler, G Sebastian Telfair, G Eric Gordon and G Baron Davis. Ricky Davis will be looking for a big season, due to this being a contract year for him, and he's hardly been accused of being a team player or unselfish in the past. How the team decides to use Ricky Davis, and his attitude towards his relegation, could determine how well the team bench functions. --G/F Rasual Butler will have to do more than rain threes in order to have a positive overall impact for the Clippers next season. In 2008-09, the bench was a clear weakness for the team, and if Butler reverts back to shooting every time he touches the ball, like he did at times during stays with the Miami Heat and the New Orleans Hornets, expect his new teammates to quickly turn against him.
While he isn't expected to grab every loose board or always make the extra pass, unexpected contributions will allow him and the rest of the bench to stay on the floor longer and, more importantly, help the team win more games.
--C DeAndre Jordan's focus needs to be on something besides a little extra compensation for his signature on Topps trading cards, as it was recently. If he wants to prove he deserves as many or more minutes than newly-anointed franchise savior Blake Griffin, he should work on fine-tuning his shooting form, so he can be more than a one-dimensional post player who cannot make a free throw roughly half of the time he steps to the line.
MEDICAL WATCH: None.
DRAFT PICK:
Blake Griffin, F, 6-10, Oklahoma (first round) -- The top pick in the draft, Griffin was considered the clear-cut best overall player available, and with an NBA-ready game and build, he's expected to play major minutes as a rookie and become the face of the franchise.
