<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Jul 2 2008, 01:17 PM)
<{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Nope
They love Gordon and Thornton.
Your proposed trade would strip them of any hope of having a bench and give them zero financial flexibility.</div>
Ah, ever at the ready with buckets of icewater, zero contructive suggestions, and dubious analysis.
Of course they love Gordon and Thornton. They're two nice young prospects. But they finally addressed their glaring point guard weakness, have locked (or will lock) up Brand long-term and thus have two 29 year-olds with recent injury problems leading their team.
They can't wait for Thornton and Gordon to mature. They are also losing their best wing player and would presumably like to replace his production (and then some) with another veteran that needs no grooming.
As for depth, that's what free agency is for. Signing Davis made them more attractive to free agents and adding Vince would make them many times over more attractive since it really signals that the team is in it to win NOW. This is exactly what Boston did last year and what other teams have done for decades, get short term vets in their late 20s or early 30s who can provide reliable niche contributions to round out a roster that is top heavy with salary. The Barrys, Poseys, PJ Browns, etc. of the league are exactly the kinds of players that would come to a team like the Clippers (with the proposed core) and work for low wages in exchange for the chance to contribute to a team that has legitimate championship aspirations. The proposed trade only involved ONE of the two youngsters the Clippers like, so it wasn't over-reaching in that regard.
As for financial flexibility, they would happily never play Tim Thomas again, and if anyone was willing to give anything for him in return, he would have been gone long ago. Mobley has been useful but grossly overpaid and is still a significant impediment to cap and roster flexibility, considering that he has two years left on his contract. The combined salaries of Mobley, Thomas, and Maggette FAR outweigh Vince's salary, and, if motivated as he was for the second half of last season, Vince offers total production that they can't hope to get from that trio of players. It's true that Vince would limit their financial options in 2010, but between now and then, their financial flexibility is greater with Vince than with those 3, and "now" is what's driving these recent moves by the Clippers, not 2010.
