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 acquired 21-year old point guard Eric Bledsoe from the Thunder for a future first round pick. Bledsoe was the 18th overall pick in the first round out of Kentucky. Bledsoe played in 37 games (35 starts) last season for Kentucky and he averaged 11.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Bledsoe will likely do a lot of learning behind Baron Davis who he probably will replace down the road.

The Clippers have fired head coach Kim Hughes. The Clippers were 8-25 (.242) under Hughes and that is pathetic. The Clippers should have just kept Coach Dunleavy on board until the end of the year. But, hindsight is always 20/20. Hopefully the next coach the Clippers bring in will be a good one.

The Clippers got involved in a huge trade today with the Wizards and Cavs. They Clippers have acquired 28-year old power forward Drew Gooden from the Wizards in the deal. Antwan Jamison goes to Cleveland along with Sebastian Telfair from the Clippers. The Wizards get Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Cleveland’s first round pick in 2010 from the Cavs and they get Al Thornton from the Clippers. Gooden might get a lot of minutes that were going to Marcus Camby before he was traded to the Blazers earlier this week. Gooden has played in 46 games (11 starts) for the Mavericks this season and he was averaging 22.4 minutes, 8.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. Gooden has now played in 556 games (407 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 27.6 minutes, 11.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Gooden’s contract is up at the end of the season so this trade will clear a lot of cap space for the Clippers. Still, I don’t like the deal for them because Al Thornton is a solid young player that they might regret getting rid of. Thornton played in 51 games (30 starts) for the Clippers this season and he averaged 27.5 minutes, 10.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. In three years with the Clippers, Thornton played in 201 games (128 starts) in which he averaged 30.9 minutes, 13.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. The Clippers pretty much had to trade Thornton if they wanted to get rid of Sebastian Telfair’s contract so they did it. Sebastian Telfair played in 39 games (1 start) for the Clippers this season and he averaged 14.9 minutes, 4.3 points, 1.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. The Clippers didn’t need Telfair anymore after acquiring Steve Blake in the Marcus Camby trade.

The Clippers have waived 30-year old shooting guard Ricky Davis to make room on the roster for Travis Outlaw and Steve Blake. Davis played in 36 games (2 starts) for the Clippers this season and he averaged 13.9 minutes, 4.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. The Clippers have been disappointed in Davis’ play the last two years so his release should come as no surprise. Look for him to hook on with another team before the year is over.

The Clippers have traded 35-year old power forward Marcus Camby to the Trailblazers for 29-year old point guard Steve Blake, 25-year old small forward Travis Outlaw and $3 million bucks in cold, hard cash. Camby played in 51 games (all starts) for the Clippers this year and he averaged 31.3 minutes, 7.7 points, 12.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.9 blocked shots per game. Craig Smith and DeAndre Jordan will likely both see a bump in minutes with Camby out of the picture. That means that the Clippers will likely see a small bump in offensive production but Camby will be a huge loss defensively.

Steve Blake finally gives the Clippers a nice backup to Baron Davis. Blake has played in 51 games (28 starts) for the Blazers this season and he has averaged 27.4 minutes, 7.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Blake has now played in 470 games (289 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 25.6 minutes, 7.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. Blake’s best asset on the court is his long range shooting as he has nailed 39% of his shots from three point range in his career. Travis Outlaw has played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Trailblazers this season and he is averaging 21.0 minutes, 9.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He has now played in 377 games (26 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 21.6 minutes, 9.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Outlaw is a good player but he will be behind Al Thornton and Rasual Butler at small forward initially with the Clippers.

The Clippers are 21-31 on the season which has them 8.5 games behind the Trailblazers for the final spot in the Western Conference Playoffs. The Clippers have wanted to trade Camby for a while knowing (hoping) that Blake Griffin is ready to return next season. But, this trade sends the message to the players that management is waving the White Flag on this season.

The Clippers have acquired 25-year old PG/SG Bobby Brown from the Hornets for a conditional 2nd round pick. I really like this move for the Clippers as Brown will back up Baron Davis at the point until Sebastian Telfair is ready to return to action. Brown played in 22 games (0 starts) for the Hornets last season and he was averaging 14.9 minutes, 6.6 points, 0.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Brown has now played in 90 games (2 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 14.0 minutes, 5.6 points, 0.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

The Clippers have re-signed 33-year old PF/C Brian Skinner. Skinner played in 51 games (21 starts) for the Clippers last season and he averaged 16.5 minutes, 4.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Skinner has now played in 589 games (196 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 18.3 minutes, 4.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. This was a good move for the Clippers who will have a very deep bench for the upcoming season.