Celtics very Realistically could have potential top pick with Clippers pick

[McHales Pits]

Celtic Draft Luck (CDL) dictates that as part of the penalty imposed by the NBA, the Los Angeles Clippers will forfeit their first round draft picks through 2015.

Is this legitimate? Seems like that would be punishing us - not them.

[colincb]

Sterling is out effectively, though he may fight it.  However, nothing will happen regarding the talent and coaching and thus the likelihood of any significant improvement in our pick is very low.

[saltlover]

Celtic Draft Luck (CDL) dictates that as part of the penalty imposed by the NBA, the Los Angeles Clippers will forfeit their first round draft picks through 2015.

Is this legitimate? Seems like that would be punishing us - not them.

This is clearly tongue-in-cheek.  In other words, the terrible luck the Celtics have with the draft will cost us the pick, instead of the Clippers.

[Smokeeye123]

Well this idea was fun for a few hours. Sterlings gone, everyone will stay

[Kane3387]

We will see.

If this is taken to court then maybe things could change.

[saltlover]

Sterling is out effectively, though he may fight it.  However, nothing will happen regarding the talent and coaching and thus the likelihood of any significant improvement in our pick is very low.

That's true to an extent, but there's no way this team is going to be under new ownership before July free agency.  And if he's banned, but the NBA isn't successful in forcing him to sell, then what?  Does his wife force a fire sale of players?  Do players still want to play for his wife, who seems to be not much better of a human being?  If Doc quits, can they hire a quality coach and GM for that team, given the uncertainty/dreck on top?

The West is very competitive.  Even dropping to a 45-50 win team puts them near/in the lottery.      If Paul or Blake force their ways out, that team craters.

[blink]

I think the same way.  I don't know how quickly, or what will happen with Sterling letting go of ownership.  If they don't get the ownership votes like they think they will, if Sterling fights it with litigation, lots of things could slow down the process.  If that happens does Doc stay, do CP3 and Blake? 

Silver sounded very sure of himself though.  If they vote him out and instantly find new ownership, it might be a blip in the rear view mirror soon.  Hard to know...

[saltlover]

I think the same way.  I don't know how quickly, or what will happen with Sterling letting go of ownership.  If they don't get the ownership votes like they think they will, if Sterling fights it with litigation, lots of things could slow down the process.  If that happens does Doc stay, do CP3 and Blake? 

Silver sounded very sure of himself though.  If they vote him out and instantly find new ownership, it might be a blip in the rear view mirror soon.  Hard to know...

Even if it's quick, It's still going to last beyond the free agency period.  They may compel him to sell, but I bet they'd have a tougher time in forcing him to sell quickly.  Certainly competing offers will be presented, there will be periods of due diligence -- it takes a while to sell a billion dollar company.   These things normally don't happen overnight.  If the owners voted today to compel Sterling to sell, and the courts immediately denied him any injunctions he sought, it would still shock me if the sale were completed, much less approved by the league, by July 1st.  If Sterling is banned from the team, does a trustee get to approve all deals?  Will the trustee allow contracts signed for more than a season?  How about trades?  They will likely be completely handcuffed all off-season at a minimum.  Combine that with potentially losing a coach, and disgruntled players who don't want to stay -- the more I think about it, the more I'll be shocked if the Clippers make the playoffs next year.  I don't think they'll be Sixers bad (although it could happen, if CP3 and Blake tell Doc they want out, and Doc obliges before leaving himself), but again, 48 wins missed the playoffs in the West this year.  That's a bar they could easily not reach.

[blink]

I would say if the owners vote to force him to sell, then Doc, CP3, Blake all stick around.  Since Sterling is basically banned from anything to do with direct contact to the team, and a sale impending I guess that would probably go a long ways to making people want to stick it out.
We'll see...

[saltlover]

I would say if the owners vote to force him to sell, then Doc, CP3, Blake all stick around.  Since Sterling is basically banned from anything to do with direct contact to the team, and a sale impending I guess that would probably go a long ways to making people want to stick it out.
We'll see...

We will see.  It's certainly possible.  But often times new owners bring in new management.  Would Doc get to stay?  I'd bet if it were a group with Magic Johnson involved he would, but otherwise, he might not, either by his choice or theirs.  Paul only re-signed with LA because Doc came.  While he isn't going to just quit, he could be pretty vocal about wanting out.  And if Doc goes, and CP3 wants out, why should anyone else want to stay?

All in all, it seems unlikely that this situation will have zero negative effects on this team's competitiveness next year.  Long-term, they should be fine.  But it's going to be a tough team to run for the next 3-4 months, which are critical in setting up their 2014-2015 season.  And as I've said before, in the West the margin for error is very small.

[colincb]

I think the same way.  I don't know how quickly, or what will happen with Sterling letting go of ownership.  If they don't get the ownership votes like they think they will, if Sterling fights it with litigation, lots of things could slow down the process.  If that happens does Doc stay, do CP3 and Blake? 

Silver sounded very sure of himself though.  If they vote him out and instantly find new ownership, it might be a blip in the rear view mirror soon.  Hard to know...

Even if it's quick, It's still going to last beyond the free agency period.  They may compel him to sell, but I bet they'd have a tougher time in forcing him to sell quickly.  Certainly competing offers will be presented, there will be periods of due diligence -- it takes a while to sell a billion dollar company.   These things normally don't happen overnight.  If the owners voted today to compel Sterling to sell, and the courts immediately denied him any injunctions he sought, it would still shock me if the sale were completed, much less approved by the league, by July 1st.  If Sterling is banned from the team, does a trustee get to approve all deals?  Will the trustee allow contracts signed for more than a season?  How about trades?  They will likely be completely handcuffed all off-season at a minimum.  Combine that with potentially losing a coach, and disgruntled players who don't want to stay -- the more I think about it, the more I'll be shocked if the Clippers make the playoffs next year.  I don't think they'll be Sixers bad (although it could happen, if CP3 and Blake tell Doc they want out, and Doc obliges before leaving himself), but again, 48 wins missed the playoffs in the West this year.  That's a bar they could easily not reach.

It wouldn't take long to sell at all.  It's not a complicated transaction nor a complex business. A week would be more than enough for due diligence.

The NBA appears to believe they can remove Sterling and sell the team if he refuses to go and I'd put my money on their reading of their own bylaws.

[oldtype]

If they sell fast enough it might actually make them better, not having an imbecile as owner shoving his nose into personnel decisions.

[colincb]

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/10852199/challenge-donald-sterling

"Q: Sterling is notoriously litigious. Can he go to court to stop Silver from punishing him?

A: Not effectively. When Silver issues his punishment to Sterling, the decision is final. The constitution provides in Paragraph 24(m) that a commissioner's decision shall be "final, binding, and conclusive" and shall be as final as an award of arbitration. It is almost impossible to find a judge in the United States judicial system who would set aside an award of arbitration. Sterling can file a lawsuit, but he would face a humiliating defeat early in the process. There is no antitrust theory or principle that would help him against Silver and the NBA. He could claim an antitrust violation, for example, if he were trying to move his team to a different market. But under the terms of the NBA constitution, he has no chance to succeed in litigation over punishment."

[jaketwice]

Celtic Draft Luck (CDL) dictates that as part of the penalty imposed by the NBA, the Los Angeles Clippers will forfeit their first round draft picks through 2015.

Is this legitimate? Seems like that would be punishing us - not them.

No - it's just a reference to all the bad things that happen when the C's rely on the draft to win. Although that's a little unfair, given how many great players we have drafted - we got historically screwed over in 1997 NBA draft, and then of course we lost Len Bias in a shocking way.

[saltlover]

I think the same way.  I don't know how quickly, or what will happen with Sterling letting go of ownership.  If they don't get the ownership votes like they think they will, if Sterling fights it with litigation, lots of things could slow down the process.  If that happens does Doc stay, do CP3 and Blake? 

Silver sounded very sure of himself though.  If they vote him out and instantly find new ownership, it might be a blip in the rear view mirror soon.  Hard to know...

Even if it's quick, It's still going to last beyond the free agency period.  They may compel him to sell, but I bet they'd have a tougher time in forcing him to sell quickly.  Certainly competing offers will be presented, there will be periods of due diligence -- it takes a while to sell a billion dollar company.   These things normally don't happen overnight.  If the owners voted today to compel Sterling to sell, and the courts immediately denied him any injunctions he sought, it would still shock me if the sale were completed, much less approved by the league, by July 1st.  If Sterling is banned from the team, does a trustee get to approve all deals?  Will the trustee allow contracts signed for more than a season?  How about trades?  They will likely be completely handcuffed all off-season at a minimum.  Combine that with potentially losing a coach, and disgruntled players who don't want to stay -- the more I think about it, the more I'll be shocked if the Clippers make the playoffs next year.  I don't think they'll be Sixers bad (although it could happen, if CP3 and Blake tell Doc they want out, and Doc obliges before leaving himself), but again, 48 wins missed the playoffs in the West this year.  That's a bar they could easily not reach.

It wouldn't take long to sell at all.  It's not a complicated transaction nor a complex business. A week would be more than enough for due diligence.

The NBA appears to believe they can remove Sterling and sell the team if he refuses to go and I'd put my money on their reading of their own bylaws.

If there's one bidder and Sterling is a willing seller, maybe.  But neither are likely to be the case here.   Due diligence, in this case, also goes with the NBA, looking into the prospective buyers.  It's simply not a quick process.

I'm not remotely disagreeing in the ability of the NBA to remove Sterling.  I think it's a done deal.  I'm simply disagreeing that it will be done quickly enough to have new ownership in place by July 1st.  There are simply too many variables, between certain lawsuits, his wife's ownership interests, the politics of the NBA, sponsors running quickly in the other direction (which would affect the value of the team), a competitive bidding process, and Sterling's certain intransigence, for a deal to be reached quickly, unless there is a billionaire involved who just doesn't care about money and will bid all those problems away.  I admittedly don't have too much personal experience with billionaires, but from what I know of them, that is not the typical description.