L.A. BOOM!

By now you've heard the great news - Baron Davis verbally agreed to a 5 year deal with the Clippers worth an estimated $65 million. This coming less than 24 hours after he shocked Warriors fans when he opted out of a contract that would have brought him a little more than $17 million next year.

Sorry, Warrior fans. But honestly, this probably worked out for the best. The Dubs still need to extend guys like Monta, and Baron's contract made it extremely difficult for management to make any roster improvements. If the Warriors ended up extending Baron's contract, they'd only find themselves deeper in the hole. Now with Baron out of the Bay Area, they've got some breathing room, and they still keep a young core of Monta Ellis - Marco Bellinelli - Al Harrington, not to mention second-year forward Brandan Wright and rookie Anthony Randolph. Who knows? It might seem like a longshot, but maybe they'll find themselves in position to make a play for someone like LeBron James or Dwyane Wade when they hit free agency.

Now that the Warriors fans have been consoled - or just hate my guts - how about those Clips?!? The reason I love this move is because it was the ONLY rational move the Clippers could make. It's not often the Clippers make rational moves. Look, I know, fans shouldn't be overjoyed when their team does little more than make a "rational" decision. Let me see if I can explain this...

When your franchise has competent management - the A's who have GM Billy Beane, for example - any time a "rational" decision is made, that's just another Tuesday. But when you're a Clipper fan? "Rational" decisions are like Christmas if Christmas only came on leap years. Remember when everyone got so excited about that autistic kid who hit a few 3's in a high school game? Do you think everyone would have been excited if he wasn't autistic, but rather a 6'5 physical specimen? Of course not. But signing Baron Davis makes the Clippers look like that autistic kid, only if he was also blind, an amputee, and narcoleptic. In fact, I think Disney is picking up the phone right now to buy the movie rights to this contract.

Will Baron lead the Clippers to a championship? Probably not. But they should get into the Playoffs, as long as everyone stays relatively healthy - as Clipper fan, I'll accept Playoffs...baby steps. As much as the Clippers have become the butt of every joke in the NBA, this is a talented roster. I mean, they made the Playoffs just a couple years ago with Sam Cassell running the point. I don't care who you are or what planet you're from, but Baron Davis >>>>>>>>>>>>> Sam Cassell. Assuming Elton Brand re-ups following the Boom signing, this is what the starting lineup should look like:

PG - Baron Davis (2007/2008: 21.8 ppg, 7.6 apg, 4.7 rebounds)
SG - Cuttino Mobley (2007/2008: 12.8 ppg, 2.6 apg, 3.5 rebounds)
OR SG: Eric Gordon (2007/2008: 20.9 ppg, 2.4 apg, 3.3 rebounds)
SF - Al Thornton (2007/2008: 12.7 ppg, 1.2 apg, 4.5 rebounds)
PF - Elton Brand (2006/2007: 20.5 ppg, 2.9 apg, 9.4 rebounds)
C - Chris Kaman (2007/2008: 15.7 ppg, 1.9 apg, 12.7 rebounds

There's not much to NOT like there.