Amick
11. Griffin is expected to miss at least a month and potentially as much as two months. And no — as it pertains to Rivers’ future — the viral vote of wellknown super fan Clipper Darrell doesn’t count.
Will they trade Jordan as a way of retooling the roster while also ensuring they don’t lose him for nothing this summer in free agency, when he can opt out of his deal?
It’s entirely possible, especially if contenders such as the Cleveland Cavaliers deem Jordan a missing piece to their title hopes (the Cavs, don’t forget, have the 2018 Brooklyn first-round pick from the Kyrie Irving-Isaiah Thomas trade). The Clippers are listening to calls about Jordan but not making any of their own. Their price will be high. The prospect of re-signing him this summer (when leaguewide salary cap space is limited) remains possible in their eyes. The activity could heat up come Dec. 15, the first date on which players who signed new deals last summer can be included in trades.
To Jordan’s credit, he’s receiving rave reviews internally for being upbeat and doing all he can as a locker room leader.
“We’ve got to stick with it and find a way to keep this ship afloat while these guys get healthy,” Jordan told USA TODAY. “I’ll let (the front office) handle what they handle. That’s out of my control, so I’ll focus on what I can control. Like I said, I’m happy being here, and you know, we’ll see what happens. If they come to me and they want to talk about (a possible trade), we can talk about it, you know? I don’t believe nothing in this league until it happens.”
Will they find a new home for productive players such as Lou Williams, perhaps as a way of restocking draft picks?
This is very possible, especially since they lost their 2019 first-rounder by way of the Lance Stephenson trade with Memphis in 2016 (it now belongs to Boston). They have their 2018 first-round pick.
Will they install a massive “Sellers” sign in front of their Playa Vista practice facility leading up to the Feb. 8 trade deadline, maybe even putting franchise centerpiece Blake Griffin on the market after they gave him a five-year, $173 million deal in July and called him a Clipper for life?
No, they’re not that desperate. They still intend to build around the 28-yearold, five-time All-Star.
Yet as Saturday’s blowout loss to lowly Dallas and a Sunday loss to Minnesota showed, the prospect of making the playoffs with this roster is about as likely as Ballmer smiling anytime soon. A team he paid a then-league record $2 billion for in May 2014, and has lost 14 of its last 18 games heading into Wednesday’s Minnesota game, is just not what it used to be. So now comes the part where the Clippers’ new front office dynamic will be so interesting to watch.
Ballmer spent last summer making drastic changes to the way roster decisions are made while sparing no expense. The 61-year-old, No. 15 on Forbes’ latest list of wealthiest Americans, lured Jerry West from Golden Stateas a consultant in mid-July, paying him between $4 million and $5 million annually to be a trusted and unfiltered voice on personnel matters.
He put Lawrence Frank in charge of the front office in early August, taking away the title he gave Rivers while leaving him as coach. He added three respected executives in general manager Michael Winger (formerly of Oklahoma City) while Trent Redden (from the Cavaliers) and Mark Hughes (from the Knicks) came on as assistant general managers. Former general manager Dave Wohl also remains as a special adviser to Frank.
When it comes to having as many reputable eyes on roster matters as possible, the Clippers might have no peers in the NBA. But after three seasons in which the only voice more powerful than Rivers’ was that of Ballmer, the Clippers have an All-Star front office facing many tough decisions.
“I went through this (kind of a downward turn) in Boston (after the 2008 championship), and so unfortunately I know how this is,” Rivers told USA TODAY. “You’ve just got to hang in there. People get down on the team. They get down on you. They get down on everybody. That’s what happens, and you can’t waver. You’ve just got to keep doing your job, and the players have to just keep playing.
“Overall, Gallo and Milo will be back soon — pretty soon, in the next three or four games, hopefully. But for the next three or four games, it’s going to be a (expletive).”
Rivers, vocal about his desire to keep the Clippers’ core together last summer before the Paul trade, wouldn’t say what he’s advocating for this time.
“Oh, I’m not going to say because I don’t want to say,” he said. “But I know the direction we need to go, and I think everyone does.”