2009-10 LA Clippers Predictions

Written October 22, 2009 by Jack Jones

The LA Clippers have been in the basement of the league for more than their fair share of time, but there is hope for this team as they have a bunch of young talent. The latest addition was with the No. 1 pick in last summer’s NBA draft, where they opted for Blake Griffin out of Oklahoma. I suppose that was the good news during a year in which they put up a 19-63 record while being outscored by almost double digits every game. The NBA odds makers aren’t seeing a big jump right away though, as the Clippers are 80-to-1 to win the Western Conference and 150-to-1 to win the NBA Finals. If you have any plans to bet the NBA this season, make sure you take advantage of the $500 in FREE money being offered to our readers by BetUS!

Backcourt

The starting point guard is Baron Davis and he’s a great playmaker who put up 14.9 ppg and 7.7 assists per game a year ago. He doesn’t shoot a real high percentage, but he does make things happen. Eric Gordon will be the shooting guard and this guy is an emerging star. As a rookie he put up 16.1 ppg and you have to figure the rest of his line will only improve this year as well. Sebastian Telfair will back up Davis and even though he has never lived up to his hype, he’s not a bad option off of the bench. Rasual Butler will play behind Gordon and give the team their best outside threat after shooting almost 40% from behind the arc last year in New Orleans.

Frontcourt

Al Thornton was the team’s first round draft pick back in 2007 and he put up 16.8 ppg a year ago while grabbing 5.2 rebounds. He does need to fall more in line with his teammates, and quit hosting so many 3’s (he shot 79 while hitting 25%). Blake Griffin looked great this summer and works his tail off. I think he’ll be ready to make an immediate impact and with the supporting cast around him, he won’t be asked to do too much too soon. Marcus Camby is a solid center who took down 11.1 rebounds and scored 10.3 points per game, all the way cleaning up the paint with his ability to block shots. Craig Smith is the main bench option in the frontcourt since Chris Kaman can’t seem to stay healthy.

Summary

The Clippers are ready to break out with a talented young core and veterans like Camby to Davis to help speed along the process. The problem is that they don’t really have enough outside shooting and their defense has to buckle down. With our NBA predictions we are putting them at third in the Pacific. If you want to win more bets this season, think about signing up for the NBA picks offered by some of our best handicappers.

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