2010-2011 Finish: 35-47

What went bad

Lebron James. The Decision. After seven years of playing for the Los Angeles Clippers, the King decided to return home, forcing new GM Dert (formally of the Detroit Pistons) to arrange a deal that would help him suit up for a new team. The Decision clouded all NLL news for a good amount of time and now the dust has settled: the Los Angeles Clippers are just not very good without their star. In the deal, the Clippers sent James, along with Luc Mbah a Moute and Sonny Weems to the Cavs for Carlos Boozer, Monta Ellis and Jonny Flynn. A new Clippers era was about to begin.

With the loss of LBJ, many of the expiring Clippers decided to bail out as well. Brad Miller, Johan Petro, Wesley Matthews, Drew Gooden, Louis Amundson and Chris Duhon all refused to stick around. With so much space to fill, Dert signed Kwame Brown. Dominic McGuire, Matt Bonner, Jason Collins, Hilton Armstrong and his longtime favorite Renaldo Balkman. He also signed Kyle Lowry to an offer sheet but the Hawks matched. He was able to retain restricted FA Matthews after the Mavs signed him.

Dert only made one more trade before settling in with his new ragtag roster. They sent Antawn Jamison, Jared Dudley and Rodrigue Beaubois and in return Travis Outlaw and Tyrus Thomas. Then they started to lose.


What went worse

The Clips were pretty bad without James. In fact, they only managed about 35 wins. The local newspapers called for GM Dert to be proactive in improving his team, but not much happened. The Clips faded away and ended the season early.

Stars

-Monta Ellis- G

One bright spot was Ellis who appeared in 74 games and scored 24.4 points per game. While not LBJ, Ellis took the reins and tried to lead his team. Unfortunately, he was one of the only players on the Clippers who played like he gave a damn.




Looking to the future

The Clippers enter the season with a solid core of Ellis-Boozer-and Matthews. It appears Flynn is slated to start at PG, but the Insider isn't sure he can carry a team. Also, playing Matthews at SF may be a mistake. He would be better suited as a 6th man off the bench. The team has a lot of money tied up in players and will unlikely be a big FA market player. Moving the heavy contracts of Outlaw or Thomas for a handful of good benchies may not be a bad idea.

Moving Thomas may be an even better idea now that the team drafted Tristan Thompson with the 9th pick. He led the Big Twelve in offensive rebounding and blocked shots and he is aggressive. He will make a great backup to Boozer, making Thomas totally expendable. The Clips also pulled in Shelvin Mack in the draft but with Flynn and Eric Bledsoe on the roster, it isn't certain he has the chops to make the team.