I know we all look at Baron as our saviour and he was. He gave us a championship feeling in a place where titles are few and far between. I love Baron and he is gonna be great for the Clippers, for 2 years.

That is where this whole thing gets real. We can't be mad at Baron, he made a whole lot of cash from a team that doesn't usually spend money. This is why the Clippers are the Clips. They are paying Baron $13 million a year, we would be insane to do that. We got 1 full year out of Baron the 3 years Baron was here. He ran out of gas at the end of the season, so he might as well have been hurt mid-season and came back healthy like he did last year. But I get off track, the truth is Baron will be 36 when his contract is up and he will have been through 3 teams by then. His bad knees and contract will wander the NBA in the last 3 years of his contract, much like caine in Kung-fu. He is a great player, but not top tier. He is a great finisher but he's not Kobe or even Arenas. He is gonna do well in LA if his knees hold up and that is a big if. His health is a question more now than 2 years ago and his heart is even more so.

It is obvious that Baron was playing last season as if it were a contract year. He knew where he wanted to go and what his plans were, don't let this
"I wanted to play in GS but they were disrespecting me with their offers" talk fool you. He had his sights set on Hollywood, he loves the limelight and wanted another $65 mil to spend on movies and movie star friends.We would've used him up and left him for dead next year if he stayed anyways. So tell Baron, we loved him, and respect that he had to get his $'s. However know, that he did us a favor in locking up some big bucks from a division rival on a player with bad knees , a hard head and a questionable shot selection. The Clippers will compete, but they aren't gonna be in the Conference finals let alone the finals next year and their chances get worse every year they bare down on those old tired knees.

So what does this mean for us? We got a team I thought had a great chance with an addition in the right position. I had been a proponent of trading Boom-Dizzle (I won't miss that stupid knick name) for a Power forward like Rasheed Wallace or going after a Brand. We Obviously aren't getting Brand and we could shoot for a vet like Sheed or overpay for Josh Smith. Those guys would make us competitive next season and Smith would help in the future, but we also got a big Free Agent market next season with a whole lot of people trying to clear space and save cash for 2010 with Bosh and Wade and of cousre the Lebron sweepstakes. That puts us in a place where we'll have cash and alot of guys to spend it on. So look up warrior fan, there is no way you can justify spending $13 mil a year on Baron and imprisoning our future for a year or 2 of a chance at the 7 or 8 seed, come on. Mullie is building us for the future, when only Chris Paul , Oden and Durant will be in our way and Baron will still be under contract to the Clips (though by that point they'll have traded that contract to the knicks who will be buying him out and re-building for the 12th straight year) and we will have some young stars ready to blossom and fighting for more than a #7 spot in the playoffs.