Disabled players exception
CEBU, Philippines - The Los Angeles Clippers has now become LA's showtime squad. Yes this is not a misprint. Even Laker great Magic Johnson recently acknowledged this fact. Blake Griffin and Chris Paul had been doing great since last season that they even upped their antes this time. Together with a bunch of former Lakers having Showtime experience (Lamar Odom, Matt Barnes, Rony Turiaf and Caron Butler), the crew transformed LA's other team to LA's dominant team.
The other LA team, this time the Lakers, have become an imaginary superpower with illusions of a championship. With a 17-21 record to show as of this writing, they are not cruising on Hollywood Boulevard but travelling on the bumpy road to obscurity. Not exactly the stats you want to see on a supposedly elite team. Today's game versus Miami will gauge Kobe and company if they can at least sustain the new-found defensive sets they displayed in their last two victories. This will be a battle between the defending champions and the supposedly championship contender.
The Clippers are first in the Pacific Division with a 30-9 win-loss record and are second in the Western Conference, a half game behind Division leaders Oklahoma City. The Lakers are currently third in the Pacific, 5 games behind 2nd ranked Golden State, and a very taxing 12 ½ games behind the Clips. If the playoffs were to start today, Kobe and company will be spectators standing at 11th place in the Division.
The Lakers are ranked sixth in the NBA in offense but is drowning at 23rd with an almost non-existent defense. This translates to the fact that their wins, miraculously seldom as they come, largely depends on their offensive skills.
Their best option at defense, counting Kobe Bryant, the Artest formerly known as Ron and Dwight Howard, considering his shoulder strain, was Jordan Hill who provides instant rebounding and athleticism the minute he gets on the floor.
He will be out for the rest of the NBA season with a broken hip that needs surgery. The procedure will take at least six months to heal and with Hill sidelined, the Lakers have most of their 2nd and 3rd chance points left out of the arena. This hard reality must be addressed ASAP and someone must come in to be the much needed defensive enforcer.
But the Lakers just cannot do it as they wish. They cannot spend anymore on playing personnel with $100 million committed to players' salaries this season plus another $30 million or so in luxury taxes. Enter the Disabled Players Exception.
With Hill's injury and the recent waiving of rookie Darius Johnson-Odom, the team is qualified and can apply for the exception. Rules state that injured players has to be sidelined until at least June 15 and there is an opening for a spot on the maximum league required 15-man roster. Half of that injured player's annual salary is mandated by the NBA as a contract offer.
The Lakers can make a deal thru this exception for half of Hill's $3.56 million annual salary, meaning they will have an additional spending power of $1.78 million to sign a free agent for up to the end of the season. Or they may also trade for someone with an expiring contract. Trading for a player who will be a free agent at the end of the season will give them $100,000 more on the negotiating table. The Disabled Players Exception will give the team a rare chance to add one more talent to complete their roster at a sale price.
One free agent on the radar is Kenyon Martin and he has reportedly expressed willingness to play for a team even for a 10-day contract just to prove that he's still able to bang bodies. At 6-9, he would be perfect for the Lakers and will immensely complement the only real shot- blocker the team has, the recovered-from-injury Howard.
Martin's numbers with the Clippers last season were not exactly average - somewhere between 6 points and 5 rebounds per game but it is his floor presence that makes the difference. He will become a big bully the moment he enters the court, making lives of the other team's centers and power forwards miserable.
General Manager Mitch Kupchak has considered applying and has reportedly filed for the exception and the team is exploring their options. They are waiting for the league's approval, pending evaluation of all medical records verifying the extent of Hill's injury and the legitimacy of the recovery timeline.
Will the Lakers consider Kenyon Martin and will K-Mart agree to wear the regal purple and gold of LA? Go get him, Mitch. It's about time the Lakers show to the world what real Showtime is. And at least have another bully aside from Metta WP.
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