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clipps04
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Post subject: What about the other Davis? A chat with our other big man.
 Posted: Jul 09, 2008 - 09:31 PM PST
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Clipper All-Star
Joined: Nov 16, 2007 Age: 21
Posts: 1384
  
votes: 8
Status: Offline
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The shuffling of big-time free agents has been the story of the month for the Clippers, as Elton Brand and Corey Maggette, the team's two top players, are on their way out and point guard Baron Davis is in. While the impact those players will have on their new teams has been much discussed, something that often gets overlooked is how those transactions affect everyone else with the team.
It hasn't been overlooked by forward Paul Davis, who has been watching the Clippers' maneuverings -- bringing in Baron Davis, while Brand bolted for Philadelphia and Maggette went to Golden State -- with great interest. The whirlwind week was a bizarre capper on a bizarre year for Davis, who finds himself in an awkward position.
He was recently unwanted by the Clippers, but now could find himself very, very necessary. He is a former second-round pick, a free agent recovering from knee surgery, a guy the Clippers spurned last week. At the same time, he has emerged as potentially the Clippers' best option to replace Brand at the starting power forward spot (assuming Al Thornton fills in for Maggette at small forward).
"The last two weeks have been obviously strange," Davis said Wednesday as he was heading into the Clippers' practice facility. "It really gives me a whole new perspective on the business side of the NBA. You see Baron come in, then Elton and Corey go out, and what it all means for my situation, it has really been eye-opening."
Davis didn't expect to be a free agent. He was scheduled to be a restricted free agent, and the Clippers would have kept him simply by making a qualifying offer. Then, Davis and the Clippers could have either worked out a longer contract, or he could have accepted the qualifying offer and been granted a one-year deal. In the days leading up to the deadline for making a qualifying offer -- June 30 -- Davis said the Clippers indicated to him that they'd be making the offer and keeping him.
But they didn't.
"It was a tough week, because, leading up to the 30th, all signs were that they were going to sign me," Davis said. "Then Baron Davis came into the picture. That's the business side of things. They wanted to clear out cap space in case something happened. That's when you realize that, sometimes, you're just a name on a piece of paper, and they might need to cross that name out."
Davis, though, is hoping the Clippers pencil his name back in, especially with Brand gone. It's his goal, he says, to fill Brand's shoes as the team's starting power forward. But first, he must prove to the Clippers he is healthy and get them to give him a contract.
He has been working out with team trainers at the practice facility six days a week so the Clippers can monitor his progress. Davis says he will be 100 percent in a month, and will only need to work himself into game shape.
A starting job would be a very large leap for Davis. He averaged just 7.1 minutes in his first two NBA seasons, playing 53 games. His scoring average: 2.0 points. Putting Davis' name in place of Brand's would not sit well with Clippers fans.
Still, Davis did impress the team's coaches and began earning minutes early last year. He had his best game on December 16, a 10-point, five-rebound effort against the Lakers. Less than a week later, he tore the ACL in his left knee, and his season was over.
For now, Davis qualifies as a fallback option. The Clippers have cap space and already have been connected with prominent restricted free agents Josh Smith and Emeka Okafor, either of whom would be a starter.
But offers to restricted free agents can be matched, and it's likely that the Clippers will be unsuccessful in making an offer big enough to scare off Charlotte from keeping Okafor or Atlanta from keeping Smith. For power forwards, the only other restricted free-agent options are Andris Biedrins and Nenad Krstic, and both are unlikely to wind up with the Clippers.
There isn't much on the unrestricted market, either. Eduardo Najera, maybe. Kwame Brown? Yikes. Kurt Thomas? Doubtful he'd want to be there.
In the end, unless some kind of trade is made, the Clippers may be coming back to Davis to offer, if not a starting role, at least a significant one. It doesn't seem that they have much choice.
Davis does not think the team would not regret it.
"I would like to stay with the Clippers," Davis said. "I think I can handle a much bigger role. In high school and college, I was the guy, a starter, the go-to guy. Obviously, it is different in the NBA, the players are much, much better. But the role is not much different."
If Davis is a fallback for the Clippers, they'd better not take him for granted. As much as he would like to stay in L.A., he has learned something through all of this. "I have to go out and find out all that is available," Davis said. "I can't sit back and wait for (the Clippers) and cross my fingers that they'll sign me. That's what this last week or two has taught me. It's a business from my end, too."
- Sean Deveney |
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david
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Post subject: RE: What about the other Davis? A chat with our other big ma
Posted: Jul 10, 2008 - 12:14 AM PST
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Site Admin
Joined: Apr 13, 2001
Posts: 2530
Location: Austin, TX
votes: 16
Status: Offline
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| Nice article c04- thanks! It's nice to hear that Paul is still loyal to us and working hard. It doesn't seem like he'll play in the summer league, but I hope he makes the team. He has skills, the height, and some toughness. He was starting play well before he got hurt last season too. |
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toohipcliptoslip
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Post subject:
Posted: Jul 10, 2008 - 12:17 AM PST
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Clipper Starter
Joined: Feb 16, 2007
Posts: 867
votes: 8
Status: Offline
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| Amen bro' I've always been a Davis fan and yes he started to look good. |
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