WRG Mock Draft: #1, Los Angeles Clippers

ghoti and myself will be conducting a mock draft, taking turns picking for teams. To be clear, this is not how we predict the draft to go, but rather we will be taking the approach that we are the GM for that team, and if we were in that position, this is who we would draft, as if we are in charge.
Without further ado, I'll start it off with the Los Angeles Clippers and the first overall pick.

With the first overall pick, the Los Angeles Clippers select:



Blake Griffin, PF, Oklahoma

If you have the #1 pick, you take the best player, period. Blake Griffin is far and away the best prospect in this draft. With a stunning combination of power and athleticism, he looks like a perennial all-star for years to come. Easy choice.

The Memphis Grizzlies are on the clock.

Blake Griffin, Welcome to the Black Hole

And with the first pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, the Los Angeles Clippers select...Blake Griffin!

"Clearly, we're taking Blake Griffin," Clippers General Manager and Coach Mike Dunleavy said in a telephone interview from Barcelona, Spain.

"This guy is the No. 1 pick. We're extremely excited. He's the guy."

Could a worse situation have presented itself for Blake? The Clippers have a log jam in the front court, with Zach Randolph, Chris Kaman, and Marcus Camby as three of the Clippers four highest paid players. Zach Randolph, exclusively a PF, like Blake, is the highest paid player on the Clips roster. Obvious wisdom says trade Randolph, but with Randolph being owed over $33 million over the next 2 years, that's not an easy task. Add in Randolph's persistent run-in's with the law, a malcontent attitude, and lack of defensive prowess, and it's almost impossible to find a team that would be willing to take him at that cost.

The second problem for Blake...it's the Clippers. One of the most inept basketball franchises in the NBA. Mike Dunleavy, coach and GM, good at neither. Donald Sterling, notoriously thrifty owner. Second fiddle in their own city. One playoff series win since 1978. Is there a more depressing franchise?

Congratulations Mr. Griffin, you're going to be a Los Angeles Clipper!