The Clippers went for the sure thing this offseason. They want to compete now, so instead of developing young talent or going for upside, they brought in veterans to round out their roster. They wound up with a pretty deep team with a lot of experience. Who are currently all hurt in minor ways.
From the Times:Odom, Grant Hill and Chauncey Billups didn’t practice Thursday.
Odom took a break because of his knees, but Del Negro said, “He’ll be fine.
“Grant is nursing some things, Lamar is nursing some things and Chauncey is picking his spots,” Del Negro said. “We’re a much different team when you add those three guys to our roster. So hopefully we can get them as healthy as possible and as quickly as possible to get some practice time.”
via Clippers backup center Ryan Hollins has his teammates’ backs - latimes.com.
Now none of this are serious. And Billups’ injury was pre-existing. But this is the problem with the approach. If you have depth that has injury concerns, is it really depth? Billups has been busting his backside to get back on the court, though. With Hill, he’s had injury issues everywhere except Phoenix with their technowizards. And Odom’s problems are a whole other deal.
The Clippers should be fine, but it’s not really what you want to hear this early in the season.
