Starting point guard Baron Davis will be out until at least Thanksgiving due to a knee injury. Davis has played in 4 games (3 starts) for the Clippers so far this year and he is averaging 27.3 minutes, 9.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game. Luckily, the Clippers drafted Eric Bledsoe last June. Bledsoe has played in 10 games (7 starts) for the Clippers so far this year and he is averaging 29.7 minutes, 9.4 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.0 steal per game. The Clippers need Bledsoe to keep up the good work while Davis is out of action.

The Clippers are going to be without starting center Chris Kaman for at least the next three weeks due to a sprained ankle. Kaman has played in 8 games (all starts) for the Clippers so far this year and he is averaging 29.9 minutes, 11.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. DeAndre Jordan will likely replace Kaman in the starting lineup at center for the Clippers. He has played in 8 games (0 starts) for the Clippers so far this year and he is averaging 15.4 minutes, 5.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 0.4 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. Jordan is a good rebounder and defender but someone is going to have to replace Kaman’s points.

The Clippers have released 32-year old center Jake Voskuhl. Voskuhl has played in 450 games (93 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 14.3 minutes, 4.0 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. This shouldn’t hurt the Clippers too much as they have a lot of depth at both center and power forward for the 2010-11 season.

The Clippers have re-signed 31-year old small forward Rasual Butler. The contract details aren’t available at this time. Butler played in 82 games (64 starts) in his first season with the Clippers and he averaged 33.0 minutes, 11.9 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Butler has now played in 557 games (247 starts) in his 8 years in the NBA and he has averaged 24.6 minutes, 8.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Butler is also a pretty good shooter from long range as he has hit 36.3% of his shots from behind the three point line in his career. Look for Butler to start at small forward for the Clippers in 2010-11.

The Clippers have re-signed 26-year old forward Craig Smith to a 1-year deal. Smith played in 75 games (2 starts) for the Clippers last season and he averaged 16.4 minutes, 7.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He has now played in 308 games (49 starts) in his four years in the NBA and he has averaged 18.8 minutes, 8.7 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Smith is a solid player so this was a good signing for the Clippers.

The Clippers have signed 26-year old shooting guard Randy Foye to a 2-year, $8.5 million dollar deal. Foye played in 70 games (38 starts) for the Wizards last season and he averaged 23.8 minutes, 10.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. He has now played in 261 games (142 starts) in his four years in the NBA and he has averaged 28.0 minutes, 12.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. This was a very solid signing for the Clippers as Foye will bring instant offense off the bench.

The Clippers have signed 29-year old small forward Brian Cook to a 2-year, $2.5 million dollar deal. Cook played in 15 games (0 starts) for the Rockets last season and he averaged 2.9 minutes, 1.4 points, 0.6 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game. Cook has now played in 349 games (74 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 14.1 minutes, 5.8 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He has also shot 39.1% from three point range in his career. His role will probably be limited to a long range gunner off the bench.

The Clippers didn’t waste any time after hearing that LeBron James wasn’t going to sign with them. They have signed 27-year old small forward Ryan Gomes to a 4-year, $12 million dollar deal. Gomes played in 76 games (64 starts) for the T-Wolves last season and he averaged 29.1 minutes, 10.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Gomes has now played in 374 games (307 starts) in his 5 years in the NBA and he has averaged 29.2 minutes, 11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Gomes will battle rookie first round pick Al Farouq Aminu for the starting job at small forward in 2010-11.

The Clippers have hired 43-year old Vinny Del Negro to be their new head coach. Del Negro got fired in Chicago after last season despite going 41-41 during the regular season and 1-4 in the playoffs against the Cavaliers. Del Negro has a career record (two years) of 82-82 (.500%) during the regular season and he is 4-8 (33.3%) in the post season. This was a good hire for the Clippers who have playoff aspirations for the 2010-11 season.

The Clippers have a ton of cap space and only one hole in the starting lineup. With that in mind I look for the Clippers to go all out to try to sign LeBron James, Rudy Gay or Paul Pierce in that order. Mike Miller and John Salmons would likely be the fallback options for the Clippers at small forward. The Clippers also need to fill out the bench. Don’t be surprised to see the Clippers make a nice offer to Shaquille O’Neal in an effort to bring a name player to the Clippers. He would be nothing more than a backup to Chris Kaman but he would help the Clippers sell some tickets. Josh Howard would be a player worth possibly taking a risk on if his knee checks out healthy. The Clippers will improve the team this summer…..bank on it.