B Diddy Runs the City

Baron Davis is coming home.

The L.A. native just agreed to a five year, $65 million deal to play with the Clippers. This comes amid speculation that Elton Brand will take a slight pay cut and re-up with the Clips as well in an attempt to pull a "Mini Celtics" and take the franchise from zeroes to heroes overnight.

Will it work? That remains to be seen, but I'm not going to be among the many doubters who will point to things like a thin bench, limited leftover cap space, and a lack of winning pedigree among the star players. That's because people were saying the same exact things about Boston last year, and, as we saw in Beantown, the hunger for a title can transform a whole lot of things.

I expect L.A. to make a run at a few Posey/P.J. types such as Ruben Patterson (had a brief sting for the Clippers last year) and Alonzo Mourning. Heck, maybe they will even go after Posey and P.J. The bottom line is that the new vogue in the NBA is not to glom on to an established contender ala Michael Finley to the Spurs or Malone/Payton to the Lakers, but rather to get a bunch of vets together and go rejuvenate a dreadful franchise. So I'd be shocked - shocked - if people don't follow Baron and Brand to the Staples Center.

Throw in the fact that they have Chris Kaman at center, Al Thornton at small forward, and the Mobley/Gordon duo at shooting guard and you could argue that they have the pieces to finish in the top four in the West and then make a run at a title.

I know it seems crazy that the idea of adding one oft-injured, shot-mongering point guard would be enough to warrant title aspirations, but I'm telling you, this is the new way to go about buying up these O'Brien trophies.