FOR THE BETTER part of two decades the Warriors have languished in or near the damp, musty cellar of the Western Conference, where the only warmth came from company of the Los Angeles Clippers .
In five more weeks, that small comfort could be gone. Los Angeles, by winning the right to draft No. 1 overall, is positioned to abandon its flawed friends in the Bay Area. The Clips can open the June 25 draft by adding Oklahoma power forward Blake Griffin, who brings the kind of interior muscle that has given the Warriors fits for years.
Or the Clips can opt for Ricky Rubio, the flashy Spanish point guard who would be the heir apparent to Baron Davis.
The Clippers being the Clippers , anything is possible including a colossal blunder. The last time they owned the No. 1 overall pick, in 1998, they came away with Michael Olowokandi. This is how you consistently keep company with the Warriors in the West.
One week after the Warriors publicly and proudly relinquished any pretense of credibility around the league, the Clippers have an avenue to escape this competitively depressed neighborhood.
Memphis used the past two lotteries to build a promising backcourt of Mike Conley Jr. and O. J. Mayo. The Grizzlies, by the way, pick second.
Oklahoma City used the past two lotteries to create a quality foundation of Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook. The Thunder picks third.
Is it cruel to note Portland, bums three years ago, used the 2006 and 2007 lotteries to draft Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden the nucleus of a 2009 playoff team?
Is it mean to point out that Utah wasn't in this lottery because it used the 2005 version to select Deron Williams? Or that New Orleans is a rising squad mostly because it took Chris Paul in the 2005 lottery?
It's reasonable to conceive these clubs can punish the Warriors for the foreseeable future.
And now here come ... the Clippers !
Griffin is not a savior, not a LeBron James or a Dwight Howard. Nor does he need to be. These two entered the NBA as franchise players and have lived up to the billing. They're also in the Eastern Conference, which means the Warriors see them only twice a season.
Only once since 2002 has the overall No. 1 pick landed in the lap of a Western Conference team. That was in '07, when Portland took Oden. Yet the West has remained the deeper, more rugged conference.
The Warriors and Clips have been exceptions, pushovers, presumed victories on opponents' schedules.
The Warriors climbed out for two years, with consecutive winning seasons, but appear to be reverting to form. They re-signed coach Don Nelson and Stephen Jackson, neither of whom is likely to be here long enough to experience another winning season. They're presumably trying to build around Monta Ellis, Andris Biedrins and Anthony Randolph. Hmm. Management tried to bully Ellis, Biedrins has yet to exhibit full-season consistency, and Nelson gets a kick out of belittling Randolph.
Meanwhile, the Clips have an opening. Griffin arrives with raw skills similar to a young Shawn Kemp, a 6-foot-10, 250-pound manchild. Last June, they drafted a fine shooting guard, Eric Gordon. Al Thornton is a nice piece. If their veteran nucleus Davis, Zach Randolph, Marcus Camby, Chris Kaman is together for 65-70 games this season and the youngsters come along, .500 is conceivable in L.A.
Which, at this point, is more than we can imagine for the Warriors franchise most comfortable with its own self-destructive tendencies.
Contact Monte Poole at mpoole@bayareanewsgroup.com
