S46 Clippers Bragging Rights Presser

[MexicanMamba]

Give me a minute while I clean up all of these liquor bottles and cigar smoke.

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Alright, we're cool.

So, guys, last season was kind of cool. I made a move early last off-season that I felt incredibly good about. BDJ came over as a bit of a hired assassin, after we got to see first-hand just how dangerous he could be. It ultimately was the culmination of years of moves towards becoming the last team standing. Thankfully it worked like gangbusters. I dont know exactly what that phrase means but its fun to say and use.

The team had a great regular season, though with so many great teams and stories in the league last year we got to swoop in pretty quietly when the playoffs started. The deadline deal for Hollis Wiley was a sneaky good one for us and when the playoffs started, team cohesion and unity was at its peak which led us to (to my genuine surprise) steamrolling pretty much everyone we came across. We lost only one game throughout the playoffs and our powerful road performances made us a tough match-up. Much respect to the Rockets, Pelicans, Mavericks and especially our Finals opponent, the Lakers.

Boban, BDJ, Garvin, Sabo carried this team to heights we only hoped to reach when I decided to step into this league.

But now comes the answer to "what next?". I unloaded every round in the chamber to pull last season off. So, now it became time for a recalibration if not a full-blown rebuild. Due to our tax situation we only had so much in funds to offer our Day One love, Michael Garvin and so it wasn't a big shock to see him move on to Denver. We love and miss you, and wish you nothing but the best of luck the rest of the way.

To continue on with the goodbyes, we decided to send our reigning (3x) MVP back home to Orlando. We are sure he will continue to be great as revamped Orlando looks to put together another championship run. In return we were able to bring in three young men with bright futures to start paving the way for our next possible run to the top. While Sterner may get ample early playing time for us, our other 2 young fellas still have some work to do before being capable of handling a major workload. Based on their first camp with us however I dont think they are lacking in work ethic. Also involved in that deal was original Clipper, Chris Pallies who we welcome back with open arms. Chris is the type of player that you hope young guys can watch and learn from.

Free agency brought back Curtin and Wiley and also added some new faces to help with our transition time.

Growth is the goal for this season, but if we can push for the playoffs and perhaps make people sweat on the way? That's great too. Things are going to be fluid this season as we will be taking offers and having discussions about pretty much everyone. There may not be a deal to be made, but we'll listen.

So, bring on the questions and trade offers boils and ghouls.

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[garbageman]

Congrats on winning your first ring. It's incredibly impressive that you did so in only your 7th season. In terms of ultimate personal goals, what's the next long-term goal you'll be reaching for?

[MexicanMamba]

Congrats on winning your first ring. It's incredibly impressive that you did so in only your 7th season. In terms of ultimate personal goals, what's the next long-term goal you'll be reaching for?

Thanks, El Jefe. Something that I really want to do is draft my own player and personally develop him into a star. I had Garvin when I stepped in and he became a very important piece but he wasn't a draft pick I made. A few of my own picks are lurking as solid players but I traded them all away. So, I really want to build my own eventually. Though asking for an MVP to develop is difficult, let me build a draft pick into an All-Star, All-League caliber player and I think that would be pretty damn cool.

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[Eazy P]

Congrats on winning the title. Do you feel without Boban that your team currently constructed can make a playoff run?

[greepleairport]

Who do you think you are? What gives you the right?



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[MexicanMamba]

Congrats on winning the title. Do you feel without Boban that your team currently constructed can make a playoff run?

Honestly I think that depends on other teams more than what it says about my own. I like Pallies, but he's not replacing Boban. So, with how we are now (and honestly, how I could see it looking by the deadline) if we make a legit playoff push it'll likely be because the teams around us really failed themselves.

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[MexicanMamba]

Who do you think you are? What gives you the right?



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I'll take your family heirloom of a watch as a gift now, please and thank you

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[Keepit100]

Congrats on the title!

As you begin your quest to build another contender how do you see yourself balancing out the need to remain competitive to not gift Sacramento a valuable draft pick in 2036 and/or 2037 while also not wasting time and missing out on rookie talent you might acquire via trade?

And we didnt get to vote on this yet in a league wide poll, but garbageman once suggested champs get some kind of fun kickback the following season like division realignment, conference shakeup, etc. What would you have chosen to do?

[Bowtothebill23]

First of all, congratulations on the championship, and welcome to the club! I don't feel as though enough has been discussed about how dominant your playoff run was. You swept through every series, save for one 4-1 series against the Pelicans. Obviously, the Bulls loss to the Mavericks and an injury to Fox allowed your run to avoid both #1 seeds, but you can only play who's in front of you, and you throttled everyone. Were you honestly ever nervous/worried at any point in the playoffs? Which series gave you the most pause and why?

[MexicanMamba]

Congrats on the title!

As you begin your quest to build another contender how do you see yourself balancing out the need to remain competitive to not gift Sacramento a valuable draft pick in 2036 and/or 2037 while also not wasting time and missing out on rookie talent you might acquire via trade?

And we didnt get to vote on this yet in a league wide poll, but garbageman once suggested champs get some kind of fun kickback the following season like division realignment, conference shakeup, etc. What would you have chosen to do?

Ya know, I've been thinking a lot about your first question in the last couple days. I came into this off-season with intentions of preserving a decent enough roster to push for a playoff spot because of my pick belonging to someone else. As I've begun fielding offers for others on my roster, and moving Boban, I've found my priorities changing. While it would be nice to still make a playoff push, the primary reason for that would just be to spite the owner of that pick ha. So, playoff talent is now secondary to me in trade discussions to getting prime young talent/assets. If I get the right assets, then I've already gotten the kind of player(s) I'd be only hoping to be in position to grab with that pick of Tani's. Bonus being that I got a title out of it too! Though I won't take that approach two seasons in a row ha.

As for the second question, I really hadn't put much thought into this one. I can't remember what types of options we were even looking at concerning those kickbacks. I'll look the discussion back up and quote you again once I consider it

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[MexicanMamba]

First of all, congratulations on the championship, and welcome to the club! I don't feel as though enough has been discussed about how dominant your playoff run was. You swept through every series, save for one 4-1 series against the Pelicans. Obviously, the Bulls loss to the Mavericks and an injury to Fox allowed your run to avoid both #1 seeds, but you can only play who's in front of you, and you throttled everyone. Were you honestly ever nervous/worried at any point in the playoffs? Which series gave you the most pause and why?

Appreciate it!

Allow me to point out that my one playoff loss was also a 3-point game on the road. The team really did perform out of their minds once the playoffs hit. As you said, I avoided a healthy Pacers and the Bulls, both of which I'd have genuinely loved to have put my squad against to see who was truly better.

I have no problems being completely honest about those playoffs. While I knew I could probably throw out most any line-up against the Rockets (I even made Hollis Wiley one of my key players for fun), I had concerns going into each of the next few rounds. I'd say that I was most concerned with the Pelicans. Though they didn't have a Point Guard to match-up with BDJ (A feeling I know all too well), they did have a lot of quality big men to throw at Sabo and Boban, which was one key to the Kings taking me out the previous Finals. They were the higher seed as well,so it was my only series played as the road squad. I also lost the regular season series to both N.O and Dallas, so while I felt my talent was better, the game is the game as the Bulls found out vs. The Mavs too. I did not expect to sweep the Lakers because I felt Jerry West could cause a lot of trouble for Wiley and Garvin, but I knew they didn't have to beef up front to slow my bigs so winning the Finals wasn't a huge surprise.



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[Xist2Inspire]

Random Reporter: Is it a safe bet to assume that Sterner's the future of the Clippers? What about him made you excited to acquire him?

[MexicanMamba]

Random Reporter: Is it a safe bet to assume that Sterner's the future of the Clippers? What about him made you excited to acquire him?

I think its safe to assume that he will be a big piece of the future here. I won't say he's THEE future though. At least not without seeing him play more than a (admittedly encouraging) preseason. Though he's in a much smaller frame, I think Sterner's game reminds me a lot of Michael Garvin's game. He's quick, very adept at scoring inside, can defend the perimeter at a high level. He even has Garvin's struggles from the free throw line, which can be corrected with some work. We're definitely excited to see his progress and watch him hopefully thrive in an offense tailored for him, with a full starter's allocation of minutes.

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[false9]

You're right on the edge over the tax apron. If the opportunity presents itself to solidify another trip to the playoffs, are you comfortable with being a tax repeater?

[MexicanMamba]

You're right on the edge over the tax apron. If the opportunity presents itself to solidify another trip to the playoffs, are you comfortable with being a tax repeater?

I wouldnt go high into the tax, but if a player became available to us that could help us win and was on the younger side who could continue their growth alongside Sterner, I'd certainly explore and welcome it.

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