Los Angeles Clippers: One of the most active franchise in this year’s draft – NBA Update
The Los Angeles Clippers have been full of bustle in the off season. Reports surfaced earlier that they are looking at options to bring in quality wingman, with Andre Iguodala’s name mentioned the most. Now it has emerged that the Clippers are making efforts
to shore up their base.
Los Angeles Clippers have started to work on tying down their exciting youngsters in earnest. The Clippers have extended a qualifying offer to young centre DeAndre Jordan. DeAndre is seen as a player of great potential thanks to his amazing athletic ability.
The player is still unrefined on offense, but will surely become better at it with time. The offer will now make Jordan a restricted free agent, although it is very likely the Clippers will keep him as they see the player as their long term centre.
In any case the Clippers still have Chris Kaman at centre and he is a more than capable player. Kaman is a good player especially at offense and can be a starting centre in many NBA teams. He was also the one linked in the Andre Iguodala rumours.
The Los Angeles Clippers also took up their team option on three exciting young players. The most prominent among these is of course, the Rookie of the Year, Blake Griffin. Blake had a barnstorming first season in the NBA after tragically missing out on
last year through injury. So good was Blake Griffin that he made it into the All Star game in his rookie year. Blake’s athletic ability and his strong offensive play, particularly the high flying dunks, have made him a strong crowd favourite and a house hold
name in the United States.
Therefore, extending the contract of Blake, who is still on his rookie deal, was perhaps the easiest decision anyone will make this off season.
The two other players to have their contracts extended are Eric Bledsoe and Al-Farouq Aminu. Aminu stands 6-foot-9 and plays at the forward position. Aminu did not make anywhere near the same impact as Blake Griffin, but he is still young and showed enough
in his rookie year to convince the Los Angeles Clippers management of his potential.
Eric Bledsoe is also a rookie. The 6-foot-1 player plays point guard and featured in 81 games last season, starting 25. Bledsoe’s displays have been eye catching and many observers believe that he is set to become a top point guard in the league.
The moves by the Los Angeles Clippers management however did not come as a shock and were widely expected. The Clippers have a talented crop of young players and it only seems reasonable that they would want o keep them together in order to build a successful
team for the future.
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