Thibodeau To Interview With Kings

From Boston.com:

The Kings were granted permission by Celtics president Danny Ainge today to speak to assistant coach Tom Thibodeau about their head coach opening. The second-year assistant is also slated to interview with Philadelphia about its coach opening. It’s uncertain when Thibodeau will interview for either job. Considering that Thibodeau is a free agent, the Kings asked for permission out of respect to Ainge and the Celtics.

Thibodeau has built a reputation as one of the best defensive coaches in the league. In 18 seasons as an NBA assistant coach, his teams have ranked among the top 10 in team defense 15 times. The Celtics were tops in the league this season in field goal percentage defense and third in points allowed per game.

I think it would be safe to assume that the Celtics will be without Thibodeau’s services next season. Like I said before, it will be interesting to see how our defense looks compared to the past two seasons. Granted, the Big Three is getting another year older, but Rajon Rondo is still a premiere defender on the wing and Kendrick Perkins is turning himself into one of the best big man defenders in the entire league. I have no doubt that the starting five will continue to be stingy on the defensive end, but the bench needs to step their defense up when they grace the court.

Clippers Can’t Ruin This, Will Take Blake

Less than 24 hours after winning the NBA Draft Lottery, the “secret” of the #1 pick this year is already out: Blake Griffin will be a Los Angeles Clipper. Congrats to Blake for turning himself into the top pick of his draft class, but the much taller task is turning the Clippers into a formidable NBA franchise.

I haven’t been too high on Blake Griffin’s potential to become an elite player in the league, but he may be the top pick that the Clippers need. He’s a freak athlete and doesn’t dominate the ball, so he isn’t very selfish at all on the offensive end. He’ll immediately come in and be a monster on the glass. I remember we all said that last year about Beasley, but Beasley’s motor isn’t nearly as high as Griffin’s.

The Clippers will be adding a great power forward prospect to their roster, thus creating a logjam of big men. Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman man the center position, so they aren’t exactly holding the Clippers back from getting Blake on the court. The problem, naturally, is Zach Randolph. Randolph is a scoring-only power forward. He doesn’t play defense, doesn’t rebound typically well and doesn’t play team basketball.

The toughest task for the Clippers now is to find a taker for Zach Randolph and his $33 million contract over the next two seasons. The Chicago Bulls could use a scoring big man while the Clippers have been interested in Kirk Hinrich for a while now. Would Chicago be willing to take on a character concern like Zach Randolph?

Assuming the roster stays as currently constructed, the Clippers would, in my opinion, have Baron Davis starting at point guard, Eric Gordon at the two, Al Thornton at small forward, Blake Griffin at power forward and Marcus Camby manning the middle. I would bring Zach Randolph off the bench as a scoring option for Blake Griffin when the team begins struggling to score. How will Zach Randolph take to that? Who cares! Blake is the future of the franchise and should be given as many minutes as he can physically handle to attempt to turn the franchise around immediately.