Last season Al Thornton looked like a player on the rise. He played in 71 games (67 starts) for the Clippers last season and he averaged 37.4 minutes, 16.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game. The Clippers brought in Rasual Butler over the summer in a trade with the Hornets and he has cut into Thornton’s playing time. Thornton has played in 50 games (30 starts) this season for the Clippers and he is averaging 27.7 minutes, 10.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. Unless Butler gets traded next week look for Thornton to continue to see less minutes then he got last year.

The Clippers are happy with the play of backup forward Craig Smith this season. He has played in 48 games (0 starts) for the Clippers this season and he is averaging 15.9 minutes, 7.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Smith is shooting a very robust 58.2% from the floor this season. If the Clippers trade Marcus Camby or he gets hurt then Smith would likely move into the starting lineup at power forward. Until them he will just be a solid sub for the Clippers.

The Clippers have decided to replace Mike Dunleavy as the head coach but he will still keep his job as GM. The Clippers were 21-28 under Dunleavy this season. That had them in third place in the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, 16.5 games behind the Lakers. The Clippers are also 7 games behind the Thunder and Trailblazers for the 8th spot in the Conference. Dunleavy coached the Clippers for 7 years compiling a 215-326 record (39.7%) during the regular season. He had his best year with the Clippers in 2005-06 when he led them into the second round of the playoffs finishing with a 7-5 record. It was the only year the Clippers made the playoffs with Dunleavy as the head coach. The Clippers have named top assistant Kim Hughes the new head coach. He has no experience as a NBA head coach.

SG/SF Ricky Davis just isn’t helping the Clippers too much this season. He has played in 32 games (2 starts) for the Clippers this season and he is averaging 14.3 minutes, 4.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. It almost seems that Davis is going through the motions as he is a more talented player than he is showing. Remember, this is a guy who once shot at his own basket to get his 10th rebound to secure a triple-double that the league disallowed. He is not a team player.

The Los Angeles Clippers are a disapointing 20-27 so far this season, but you can’t put any of the blame on C Chris Kaman.  Kaman has been putting up All-Star numbers and you could make a strong argument that Kaman got snubbed and should be in this year’s All-Star game.  He is averaging 20.2 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.3 blocks while shooting 50% from the field and playing 36.4 minutes per game.  Unfortunately Kaman sprained his ankle recently and has missed that past two games (both losses).  He will likely be out tomorrow night against a very hot Chicago Bulls team, so it looks like the Clippers are on their way to their fifth straight loss.  The Clippers do have a very talented line-up, so I wouldn’t count them out yet.  They need Kaman back in the line-up as soon as possible though, because without him they have no chance of turning their season around.  He is only listed as “questionable” though, so I expect to see Kaman back within a game or two.