I think it's extremely important to sign a max player this off-season. With the new cap set to explode and drive contracts up exponentially it would allow us to sign a guy to a contract that could be considered a bargain once other players are maxed out at larger deals. Having a max guy also brings solidity to the team and combined with our current players (Smart, Bradley, Thomas, Sullinger, Olynyk, etc.), our picks (both in 2015 and 2016), our coach, our GM, our ownership that's willing to spend, and our tradition would make us a pretty attractive destination for the summer of 16 free agent frenzy.
Boom.
And for that reason I agree with others that have tabbed Deandre Jordan as #1 on our wish list. I don't think Doc can keep him. He's due for a substantial raise and the Clippers have too many other holes to address. Jordans strengths have already been detailed but even at 14-15M, after the cap goes up, this move takes up less space and it's just the kind of splashy free agent pickup that will put teams on notice that we are back on the rise again. He can protect KO and/or Sully at the 4. Add him to our uptempo attack and we have a playoff team just waiting to add the franchise cornerstone player we need to take us to the next level.
DeAndre is going to get $20 mil.* The Clippers can theoretically afford that if they renounce some players, but they'll have $60 mil on 3 guys. They'd have to have all minimum salary vets and people on rookie contracts. It might work if they win the championship this year and the vets think they can get some glory signing with them, but if they get knocked out in the second round....
/*I think a team can offer him that, but there is probably a rule I'm forgetting regarding max salary offers
It will likely be $19M in season one for a max deal, with raises each year just shy of $1 million, so you'll see that 4 years, $80 million number thrown around in reporting. I think even without the impending cap spike, Jordan is probably worth it. With the spike, it's a no-brainer to me.
Also, it should be noted that because the Clippers have his Bird rights, the cap is not an obstacle to re-signing him -- only the budget set by the owner, and to a lesser extent the hard cap if they want to make use of the large MLE. I think they would be wise to re-sign him, as this time without Blake has shown how important he can be to the team. But he is expensive, and signing him will preclude the opportunity to participate in the summer of 2016, which might be something that is also worth doing.