The Clippers own the #8 and #54 picks in tomorrow night’s NBA Draft. The Clippers really should target a small forward or a power forward in the first round of the draft. They will likely still go hard after LeBron James even if they take a small forward. But if the Clippers don’t draft a small forward with the #8 pick look for them to offer the Sun and the Moon to LeBron James starting July 1st. Regardless of who the Clippers get in the first round it will likely be a quality player who will get his fair share of minutes in 2010-11.

21-year old center DeAndre Jordan has been a solid backup for the Clippers his first two years in the league. Jordan played in 70 games (12 starts) for the Clippers last year and he averaged 16.2 minutes, 4.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. He has now played in 123 games (25 starts) in which he is averaging 15.5 minutes, 4.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 0.3 assists and 1.0 blocked shot. Jordan could be a starter down the road for the Clippers when Kaman starts to get old.

The Clippers have 7 unrestricted free agents and 2 restricted free agents coming into this summer. First things first, the Clippers look to be players in the free agent market before deciding whether or not to bring back any of their owns guys. It makes perfect sense to do it that way because they have Larry Bird rights to their own free agents which would allow them to go over the cap to re-sign any of them. To me Drew Gooden seems like the only Clippers’ free agent that’s sure to leave because I don’t think he would accept a bench role behind Blake Griffin. Rasual Butler, Steve Blake, Travis Outlaw and Craig Smith are the main four free agents that the Clippers might want to bring back but they could each get a decent offer on the free agent market. Brian Skinner and Steve Novak will likely be allowed to leave L.A. Backup guards Mardy Collins and Bobby Brown are restricted free agents and I don’t think the Clippers will be bringing them back either.

28-year old center Chris Kaman turned into a tough guy in 2009-10 for the Clippers and they hope he keeps up the good work. The 7′0″, 265 pound Kaman played in 76 games (all starts) for the Clippers last season and he averaged 34.3 minutes, 18.5 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 blocked shots per game. The Clippers are likely going to keep Kaman around for a while and hope that he builds off of last season. Kaman has played in 461 games (409 starts) in his seven years with the Clippers and he has averaged 30.0 minutes, 11.7 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game.

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.