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.

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.