The Los Angeles Clippers have finally gotten their new head coach. Who? Surprise! Vinny Del Negro. They announced tonight that Del Negro would be their next leader, but terms of the deal are still being worked on. Del Negro beat out Dallas Mavericks assistant, Dwayne Casey, for the job.
Last year, the Clippers had yet another horrible season under owner Donald Sterling, going 29-53. Since the Clippers moved to Los Angeles from San Diego in the early 80's, they have managed to tally two winning seasons (1991-92, 2005-06). Mike Dunleavy, who had coached the Clippers since 2003, was fired by the team last season after 49 games. He had a combined record of 215-326 in a little over 6 1/2 seasons with Los Angeles.
Del Negro was hired by the Chicago Bulls in 2008, but posted an identical record of 41-41 both years. He did lead them to the postseason both years, but were ousted in the first round consecutively.
The ex-Bulls coach was considered to be in hot water after Del Negro and executive vice president, John Paxson, got into a confrontation in early March. Reports say that Paxson shoved Del Negro twice in the chest and had to be restrained after a postgame scuffle last year. The dispute apparently was started after Paxson argued about minutes for starter, Joakim Noah. Assistant Coach, Bernie Bickerstaff, had to step between the two and eventually pulled Paxson away. Sources said that Del Negro didn't fight back with the executive vice president because he was scared that his contract would be voided without pay or hurt his future coaching jobs in the NBA. In early May, Paxson apologized to Del Negro, saying he "was not all proud." However, Bulls GM Gar Forman said that the firing of Del Negro had nothing to do with the confrontation. He said that the Bulls needed a different coach "in order to take the team to another level."The Clippers are going through a big change right now in both the front office and on the court. Mike Dunleavy also acted as the team's GM, so when he was fired, they had to find a replacement at that position, too. Ned Olshey will begin his first season as the GM with Del Negro at the helm as head coach. They also had one of the best drafts this year, taking Wake Forest's Al-Farouq Aminu and trading a future first round pick for the draft rights to Kentucky's Eric Bledsoe. Barring some unfortunate incident, last year's #1 overall pick, Blake Griffin, will play his first season with Los Angeles. They also have their lone selection for last year's All-Star Game, Chris Kaman, coming back. Baron Davis will also be returning as the team's starter at point guard. They are a very young team, with Kaman and Davis being the only player's on the roster over 21 years old. They are certaintly headed the right direction on the court, but the hiring of Del Negro could hurt them coaching-wise.
Del Negro was one of the few good coaches on the market that actually expressed interest in joining the Clippers. With tonight's decision, the Clippers are now the last of the 30 teams to have a head coach. It will definitely be a hard time for L.A.'s second team this season, but they have no where to go, but up.
