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Ted Green: Clippers can’t afford to mess up this time

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In a story hitting the rumor wires, according to sources, the Clippers are now entertaining offers for the only thing they’ve done right the last two years, getting the winning pingpong ball and, thus, the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.

Entertaining almost anything except a change in ownership is almost always a very bad thing for them and probably a very good thing for Blake Griffin, who, if he’s lucky, will escape Don T’s Inferno.

This presumably means the Clips are talking to people, NBA people, and that in turn means The Donald is listening to what these other teams have to say.

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Because Donald Sterling doesn’t know if the ball is pumped or stuffed, that also means ALL the proposals are going to sound great. So the Donald will order one of his front-office suit puppets to take the last offer that comes in, because the Donald always listens to the last person he or his ultimately powerless representatives speak to.

Everyone knows the Clippers can screw up a two-car funeral, but there is one way they won’t/can’t mess this up.

If the league wants Oklahoma homeboy Griffin to stay put and play for Oklahoma City, the Clippers have to get Kevin Durant and nothing less than Kevin Durant in return for that number one No. 1. Next to LeBron James, Durant is the next great scorer in the league, and he would score a lot of points for the Clippers, albeit many of them meaningless.

Dunleavy? If they take less than Durant for the prize pick in the draft, I am Dun-leaving, going on a personal sabbatical from watching Clipper games. This sabbatical will last approximately forever.

Of course, if I had any brains or taste, I would have done that 25 years ago.

-- Ted Green

Green is a former sportswriter for the L.A. Times. He once served as Clippers’ color radio and TV commentator, during which time Sterling asked him on at least five separate occasions who his next coach should be. Green said he liked the current coach and, besides, he was too busy eating free press-room food and was politely evasive. He is currently senior sports producer for KTLA Prime News.

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