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Granted, the odds were never all that high to begin with, but they nonetheless just dropped a touch.

It kinda flew under most hoops fans’ radars (along with my own) last weekend, what with all the playoff hoopla now underway, but the NBA figured out how to handle the identical Knicks’ and Clips’ 23-59 records when it comes to draft lottery ping pong balls.  As is oft the case, the Clips wound up with the stick’s shorter end.  The Knicks are now slotted as the fifth overall pick with an 8.8% chance of moving up to #1, while the Clippers are one spot behind with a 6.3 clip.   

But should the Clips wind up with their likely 6th pick, there’s no need for fans to organize a meeting spot for a good cry.  Such positioning provides the red, white and blue many a quality rook for the plucking.  Of course, we’re also talking about the Clips, who’ve over the years proven capable of snatching opportunity from the jaws of… I don’t know… opportunity.  Whatever phrasing you choose, it’s difficult to remain confident that “Team Baylor” will make the right call.  For every 2007 Al Thornton (whom I wish Elgin ordered Dunleavy to run the offense through around January, if for no other reason than making the games more entertaining), there’s Melvin Ely andChris Wilcox in 2002, when the Clips already had Elton Brand, could have taken Caron Butler and, if absolutely insistent on another big, could have taken Amare Stoudemire.  The obvious Kandi Man jokes aren’t even necessary to illustrate other mistakes. 

Lest anybody accuse me of trying to pile on the Clips while they’re down, there’s a reason I’m mentioning these draft gaffes.  Because nbadraft.net currently has Staples’ “other team” taking some Italian forward named Danilo Gallinari.  Admittedly, I have no idea who this gent is.  For all I know, the kid can play.  But were I a Clips die hard staring down an offseason with EB and Maggette possibly bailing, Shaun Livingston’s health uncertain (assuming he’s retained), and Sam Cassell winning a ring in Boston (which at least makes me look like cut-rate soothsayer), the last thing I’d wanna see is a flirt with “Koralev: Part Dva.” 

Maybe I’m selling Gallinari short, but with a likely shot at an Eric Gordon, Jerryd Bayless, maybe even O.J. Mayo, you gotta take the pick with at least a puncher’s chance of energizing a fan base now convinced the 2006 semi-final appearance actually took place in 1977.   The front office owes their long suffering loyalists that much.  Maybe these folks over at nbadraft.net don’t know their lottery pick prognostications from a hole in the ground.  But I’m still advising the Clipper Nation to treat this as fact over rumor and start peppering Baylor’s phone and email with protests.  Should Gallinari prove to be a stud for some other team, feel free to shift your complaints my way.  But my gut tells me I’ve got a Clipper fan’s best interests in mind with this tactic.     

AK 

Andrew Kamenetzky hosts Lakers Blog and Blue Notes: A Dodgers Blog for LATimes.com. In addition to his work with the Times, he is a contributing writer for ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com and EXPN.com, and co-authored Fishing on the Edge, the autobiography of B.A.S.S. fishing bad boy Mike Iaconelli. He is also a regular contributor to “The Steve Mason Show” on ESPN Radio (710 AM, 1-4 pm PST).

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