The Clippers are in a tough situation as the Donald Sterling ownership situation plays out in the courts and if the Sterling's somehow retain control, there is a chance that a trade could go down between Blake Griffin, Chris Paul or DeAndre Jordan, as those three players may not want to stand for having to work for a racist owner after all that has happened between the playoffs and this summer.
Obviously those trades are very unlikely, but ESPN.com writes that there is a chance that one of those players will want out of LA if the situation is not settled. ESPN.com writes that Adam Silver said he could not guarantee that the ownership situation would be settled by the time the season started and there is a chance that Sterling could win in court as well.
Either way, these trades are very unlikely to happen, but if Sterling remains in power, it is within the realm of possibility that those players may not want to play in LA anymore. Silver said to the media that it is not a "certainty" that the ownership situation will be settled by the time the season starts and he mentioned that is now could be up to the court system to see if former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will buy the team for $2 billion bucks.
The Clips are not sitting tight though, as they have signed a number of players, including Jordan Farmar and Spencer Hawes. ESPN reports that Farmar signed a two year contract with the team after playing with the Lakers and he can help replace Darren Collison, who signed with the Kings and was a solid player off the bench for the team last season. Hawes comes in as one of the most underrated free agents on the market and he signed a four-year, $23 million deal and that could be very big for the team this season. Hawes is just 26 and he averaged 13.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game with the Cavaliers and Sixers last year.
The Clippers are looking at making another NBA title run this year after playing well in the playoffs last year, as they have signed Spencer Hawes and Jordan Farmar on the free agent market and those players could be huge for the team going forward. The Clips had some depth issues by the end of the season last year and with Darren Collison signing away they needed to bring back someone like Farmar to play behind Paul.
Last season the Clippers were very impressive under Doc Rivers and he got the team to 57 wins and then into the playoffs, but things took a crazy turn with the Sterling situation. Rivers did his best to keep his team focused, but it was very hard with everything going on and while basketball is not being played now, the situation is playing out in the courts. The team ranked first in the league in scoring last season and they will be looking to do that again, while the defense was ranked 14th in points per game and that could also be improved under Rivers this year.
