Old friends, new lovers, and the disabled! (2032-2033 Pre-season Presser)

[MexicanMamba]

[ Los Angeles Clippers General Manager Roberto Abitua sits alone at the table, microphone in front of him, looking out from the elevated stage towards the crowd of reporters and beat writers.  A smirk and a head nod signal to everyone in attendance that he is ready to begin. ]

 

Pretty boring off-season around here, not even sure why all of you showed up today, honestly. [ Cue the lame joke drum rimshot sound effect ] I appreciate everyone of you showing up though, as we do obviously have a lot to talk about.  This off-season was a unique experience for me personally.  I have only been here a handful of years now, in this league or even in this sport, so every situation is a learning experience for me.  I have taken great pride in the fact that every season since I came on board our win total has gone up.  Granted, there was nowhere to go but up when I walked through these doors for the first time but still.  I feel that pride for myself certainly, but more importantly is that I believe I have proven that Mr. Moreira’s trust in me was not misplaced.  I also am extremely proud and happy for Kevin, who has transitioned seamlessly into his head coaching career, evidence by the continued upwards trajectory for the team, but also for guys like Michael Garvin and Colby Lopez individually, who have been with us on this journey from the first day and continue to grow by leaps and bounds. 

Now, with the pillow fluffing out of the way, let us talk about our disappointments as well.  There is no doubt about it, the way last season ended for us was a gut punch.  I give a ton of credit to the Milwaukee Bucks for showing tremendous grit and determination.  But, to go up 3-0 and then to lose 4 straight games which we did not do all throughout the regular season?  We failed ourselves and our fans.  You could have heard a pin drop in our locker room after game 7.  Tears were shed, I can promise you that.  What that kind of loss did for me was make me realize that it was time to really shake things up.  We, or I, had to do everything in my power to give us the best shot to get over the hump and really push to be a bonafide championship contender. 

Enter: Boban Marjanovic. 

MVP. All-Star. All-Defense. All-Pro. Champion.  He is everything that we aspire to be as an organization.  He is the type of player and man that we hope that Mikey G. and Colby can be.  He is in the prime of his career and we are absolutely confident that he is the engine for our championship train.  Of course any deal such as this does not come without a cost and we will miss Jaren Jackson Jr. and appreciate everything that he gave to us in his time here.  That being said, we are just incredibly excited to get to work with Boban and we feel he will love our culture just as much as we are loving having him. 

Boban of course is not the only person that will be new to this season’s roster.  Though a few of our exciting additions are not new to our organization.  We are absolutely ecstatic to welcome back Joffery Baratheon and Hans Gillum.  Joffery is the perfect Point Guard to run our new-look offense.  Unselfish, great vision and a crazy motor.  Gillum is the perfect floor spacer and I expect him to get many open looks from those corner 3 positions this season.  Believe me when I tell you that we never wanted to lose either one of these guys last off-season.  We offered them both long-term contracts to stay with us but they simply got offers elsewhere which they felt were better opportunities at that time and we respected those decisions.  Bringing them back into our community is a joy and if I can help it, neither of them will be leaving again any time soon.  There was also a late opportunity to add a player with more championship pedigree which we pounced on by trading for Andrew Wiggins. It's never a bad idea to have crafty veterans with grit on your roster.

A new, exciting season of Clippers basketball is here.  I am excited and exhausted and reinvigorated all at the same time after the whirlwind of an off-season we just had. 

But I am still here to answer any of your questions.  Fire away!

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[TheSyndicate]

Word around the campfire is Boban sucks now. Any comment?

[MexicanMamba]

Word around the campfire is Boban sucks now. Any comment?

This is what happens when you go from hanging out with Mickey Mouse to keeping up with the Kardashians. When the hookers and blow subside, we'll get him back.

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[Keepit100]

Alex Sayuck - Laser Eye Basketball Magazine

Indulge us for a moment and let us peek behind the curtain - when exactly did you come up with your plan to go all-in and trade for Boban and Joffrey?

[MexicanMamba]

Alex Sayuck - Laser Eye Basketball Magazine

Indulge us for a moment and let us peek behind the curtain - when exactly did you come up with your plan to go all-in and trade for Boban and Joffrey?

I knew we had to try to be bold after losing to the Bucks. What that would entail however was not fully planned out immediately. We made phone calls and listened to the chatter going around the league about who may shake loose. Honestly, the plan first began to form before the draft when we worked to move salary to carve out as much cap space as possible so that we could add another big piece or 2 to the trio of Garvin, Lopez and Jackson. That was the plan I had. Then I received a phone call from the Nets and they were more or less looking to save money, so it was a smooth transaction to grab Joffery. It wasnt long after that move came around that we contacted Orlando after hearing that Boban was available. So, while it doesnt make us seem incredibly smart or like this was some well-crafted plan, the truth is it all happened organically. Both deals coming to us separately, but making us equally as excited.

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[garbageman]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: Boban sustained an injury in the playoffs last year and had to sit out the finals. Is he completely healthy going into this season, or are there any leftover effects that would cause you to play it cautiously with him to start the season?

[MexicanMamba]

Sham Smith, Bulls.com: Boban sustained an injury in the playoffs last year and had to sit out the finals. Is he completely healthy going into this season, or are there any leftover effects that would cause you to play it cautiously with him to start the season?

We'll lean towards caution in the pre-season and make sure there are no lingering effects. We do not expect it to be a problem, but what is the pre-season good for if not to be used as a testing ground? We'll ramp him up as needed and I'd say you can expect to see a lot of him come tip-off vs. New Jersey.

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[JNR]

GWR: Colby Lopez came off a career best year in scoring, rebounds, and shooting percentages. Garvin broke out as a primary scorer. How do these guys feel about the addition of two players who may take away their touches?

[NOLa.]

The team looks great, but if there was one position you could upgrade where would it be? Do you have any plans to make a trade by the deadline since the trade for Boban is a sign of going all in?

[MexicanMamba]

GWR: Colby Lopez came off a career best year in scoring, rebounds, and shooting percentages. Garvin broke out as a primary scorer. How do these guys feel about the addition of two players who may take away their touches?

We actually kept Colby and Garvin very much in the loop as these situations played out. Kevin has a great game plan in mind that will still focus heavily on those two players. Baratheon is a distributor at the core, so the beautiful thing about bringing him back is that he can facilitate the offense to give everyone even better opportunities to put the ball in the basket. Last season we had Jackson sharing touches already and they worked well together. The plus side of having Boban now is that he offers floor spacing that Jackson couldnt which can give Garvin and Colby more room to work. All three can attack the middle of the defense AND shoot from range. While their personal relationships are in their infancy, I can promise you that the need to win for all these men is greater than ego.

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[MexicanMamba]

The team looks great, but if there was one position you could upgrade where would it be? Do you have any plans to make a trade by the deadline since the trade for Boban is a sign of going all in?

I'll give you a bonus and tell you two areas that we will keep our options open on. In general we will always look at what's on the open market. If I'm completely honest, I love talking to my fellow GMs and working on deals. Gets my blood pumping. So, any and everyone, dont be afraid to pick up the phone! As for where we might look to upgrade, I would really love to add a defensive minded big man and a ball handling combo guard who we can trust to relieve some of Joffery's ball handling duties when the bench comes in and it's a big plus if they also can defend a little bit.

All that being said, I'll explore any and all options that come up.

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[greepleairport]

Mr. Mamba, I just went in on you pretty hard to the media at large. Can we still be friends?

[MexicanMamba]

Mr. Mamba, I just went in on you pretty hard to the media at large. Can we still be friends?

Ask me again after January 4th 2033

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