Clipper update: Decision time

With the regular season fast approaching -- though not quite fast enough for our taste -- the Clippers are still facing a couple of critical decisions.

OK, semi-critical.

Who starts at small forward? Incumbent Al Thornton or veteran (but Clippers newcomer) Rasual Butler?

And power forward? The ageless Marcus Camby or the kid, rookie Blake Griffin?

The second decision is really no decision at all. Camby is out with a sprained left ankle and has barely started shooting on the court, let alone doing anything more active.

"I'm assuming he [Griffin] is going to start based alone on Marcus being out," Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy said. "And we'll go from there."

The regular season kicks off against the Lakers on Tuesday.

Thornton-or-Butler has not been decided. "I've got four days, five days to figure it out," Dunleavy said.

Thornton started in the Clippers' final preseason game, against the Chris Paul-less Hornets on Friday night. Paul is out with flu-like symptoms, and Dunleavy said one of the Clippers' doctors treated Paul earlier in the day.

And a pregame session wouldn't be quite right without questions about what Dunleavy likes about Griffin's game.

"Everything. There's actually nothing about his game that I don't like," Dunleavy said. "You can't say that about a whole lot of people. People, coming in, thought he wasn't going to be a very good outside shooter. I think he's going to be a better than good shooter.

"There are things at his position he does as well as anybody I've seen . . . handle the ball well and pass the ball well for a power forward."

--Lisa Dillman

Clippers forward Rasual Butler doesn't believe in vacation

With the NBA exhibition season soon coming to an end, Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy offered a day of rest to forward Rasual Butler for the team's exhibition game Tuesday against Maccabi Tel Aviv.

Soon after Butler woke up Tuesday morning, he texted Dunleavy and said he should reconsider.

"It was cool for [Dunleavy] to have the thought, but I still wanted to play," Butler said after his 12-point performance on five-of-eight shooting off the bench in the Clippers' 108-96 victory. "I love to play. I love what I do. I love the game. I didn’t want to just sit over there and not play."

Butler, a seven-year veteran acquired in the off-season along with cash in a trade that sent a conditional second-round 2016 draft pick to the New Orleans Hornets, has started in four of the Clippers' seven exhibition games and is fourth on the team in scoring with 11.9 points per game.

Chicken Man, not Rocket Man, goes down memory lane

The beauty of asking an otherwise ordinary question is a wildly unexpected answer.

A couple of us were chatting with Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy on Tuesday at Clippers HQ and for some unknown reason I asked him if he had a nickname in his playing days. (Maybe it was because of the on-going search to find one for Clipper rookie Blake Griffin)

Said Dunleavy: "Chicken Man."

Say what? That was NOT among my first 100 guesses.

"They had a promotion in Houston," Dunleavy said of his Rockets' days. "They got free fried chicken for 135 points. So the first night of the promotion, I scored the 135th point. The guy almost died, 'I thought you people told me this wouldn't happen very often. If it's going to happen every game, I'm going to be out of business.'

"So it happened five times over a three-year period. And all five times, I was the guy that made the shot. On the second or third one, I went down on a two-on-one fast break, got a behind-the-back pass to Robert Reid and he goes in for a dunk and misses it. 

"We kept getting offensive rebounds. Everybody else had a shot at it and couldn't make it and I made it. After that, when it got close, they started chanting, 'Put in the Chicken Man. Chicken Man. Chicken Man.'"

The legend of pollo stayed with Dunleavy over the years, following him to such places as a golf outing in Palm Springs and the University of Texas, the latter coming when he once took his son Baker there for a visit.

"I'm out on the football field and a guy from 40 yards away - and I'm with Baker and the coach - and he says, 'Oh there's Chicken Man, Chicken Man,'" Dunleavy said.

So let's raise a chicken wing to Hombre Pollo.

-- Lisa Dillman

Photo: Mike Dunleavy. Credit: Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times

Clippers' Blake Griffin expects rookie duties to increase upon his return

It may be small and it may attract undue attention. But Clippers forward Blake Griffin proudly wears a pink Dora the Explorer backpack to carry around teammates' sweat bands and socks as part of his rookie initiation.

"It's mine now," Griffin said of the backpack, which was originally purchased by Clippers forward Brian Skinner for the team's No. 1 draft pick. "Everybody likes it."

Now that Griffin is fully healed from a sore left knee, will participate in contact drills Thursday and is expected to play in the Clippers' home exhibition game Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers, he expects the rookie duties to increase.

"We were talking about buying Krispy Kremes today," Griffin said.

How many boxes will he have to buy? After all, this doesn't bode well for a team who's pledged to improve its conditioning this season.

"Hopefully not much," he said, smiling.

Griffin may be a self-professed gym rat. But underneath his blue collar and hard-nosed attitude is a player with a great sense of humor. After all, he joked to The Times' Lisa Dillman that "I'm kind of a loser" for his obsession with working out and going to bed early.

He's handled his rookie initiation the same way.

"He’s been a good sport about it," Clippers shooting guard Rasual Butler said about Griffin. "He’s a great kid. He’s going to have an awesome year."

That is why Butler says people shouldn't expect many outlandish tasks for him to do.

"He is the No. 1 draft pick," Butler said. "You can’t do too much to him."

--Mark Medina

Photo: Dora the Explorer and Boots the Monkey. Credit: Nickelodeon.

Blake Griffin cleared for Clippers' next practice on Thursday

Clippers forward Blake Griffin is cleared to participate in contact drills during the team's next practice on Thursday after injuring his left knee Sept. 24 -- five days before training camp opened.

"I've only been out a week, but it feels like a month," Griffin said after practice Tuesday at the Clippers' practice facility. "Even watching practice, it's rough."

The injury also forced Griffin to miss the team's first exhibition game --a 108-101 loss to the Golden State Warriors -- but Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy expects that Griffin will suit up for the team's first home exhibition game Friday against the Portland Trail Blazers.

"I would think so," Dunleavy said when asked if Griffin would play Friday. He estimated that Griffin would play between 20 to 24 minutes primarily at power forward. "I don't think he's going to be out of shape. We'll see how he is with timing and how he reacts to playing. I would expect him to play Friday."

Check back at latimes.com/sports for more coverage from Clippers practice.

-- Mark Medina

Clippers' DeAndre Jordan opines on upcoming NBA season

With the Clippers' media day taking place Monday, The Times' Lisa Dillman has already got you covered regarding the upcoming 2009-10 season.

But since The Times was recently at DeAndre Jordan's place in Playa Vista for an upcoming article and video about his video game exploits, we figured we'd also include him in on the preseason chatter.

--Mark Medina

Ramon Sessions reportedly reaches a deal with Minnesota Timberwolves

Restricted free agent Ramon Sessions agreed Friday to a four-year, $16-million deal with the Minnesota Timbervolves, ESPN.com reported.

The Milwaukee Bucks have a week to match the offer sheet but are not expected to, bringing closure to Session's summer-long wait. His name was mostly linked with the New York Knicks and the Clippers.

The Clippers had sought Sessions for a backup role behind point guard Baron Davis, but their interest had tempered after acquiring Sebastian Telfair in a trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves and because Sessions wanted a starting position. Sessions was seeking the $5.8-million mid-level exception.

Nonetheless, the Clippers appeared to make room for the possibility they land Sessions, who’s played two years in the NBA. The Clippers waived guard Mike Taylor July 31 after he served mostly a backup role last season to Davis. He averaged 5.7 points and 2.1 assists in 15.1 minutes a contest in 51 games and five starts.

Telfair, acquired by the Clippers in a three-player trade that sent Quentin Richardson to Minnesota, was deemed within the organization as someone who could share the backup role with Sessions.

Sessions, 23, averaged 12.4 points and 5.7 assists in 27.5 minutes per game, but he only started in 38 of 79 games.

--Mark Medina

Updated: Clippers nowhere close to deal with Ramon Sessions

A Clippers official said a report from the Journal Times  of Racine, Wis., that said the Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks are having "serious conversations" involving free agent point guard Ramon Sessions is "not only outdated, but absolutely inaccurate."

The Clippers' interest in Sessions isn't anything new. They have maintained a wait-and-see approach while Sessions has pursued a starting role with the New York Knicks. The Milwaukee Bucks would have a week to match any offer. Newsday recently reported that the Knicks weren't prepared to offer Sessions a multiyear deal.

The Clippers want him as a backup to Baron Davis, but their flexibility is more limited after acquiring Rasual Butler from the New Orleans Hornets. They absorbed his $3.9-million salary thanks to a $7.3-million trade exception they had after shipping Zach Randolph last month to the Memphis Grizzlies. Sebastian Telfair, acquired in a three-player trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves for Quentin Richardson, will back up Davis.

-- Mark Medina

Photo: Milwaukee's Ramon Sessions drives between the Clippers' Jason Hart, left, and Eric Gordon last December. Photo credit: Morry Gash / Associated Press.

Clippers waive forward Mark Madsen

The Clippers released forward Mark Madsen almost a month after the team acquired him in a trade that sent Quentin Richardson to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Sebastian Telfair and Craig Smith, the Clippers announced today.

Although Madsen has had a limited role in his nine-year career, fans in Los Angeles remember him for his victory dance and speech at the Lakers' championship parades.

Clippers Coach and General Manager Mike Dunleavy didn't envision Madsen to have significant playing time, but had noted his reputation for being a positive influence in the locker room would help change the culture within the organization.

-- Mark Medina

You are fit enough to play for the Clippers if...

That you need to be in outstanding physical condition to play in the NBA is no secret. But should you be at all curious as to what that means in practical terms, Clippers Coach and General Manager Mike Dunleavy laid it out Monday afternoon, speaking at the team's news conference to introduce recently acquired swingman Rasual Butler.

"We do a three-man weave, which is three passes down, three passes back, 10 layups in 60 seconds. You need to do that three times. I know for the last 30 years- I did it as a rookie- that if you can do that, you're in shape," he said. "It's kind of old school. Forget about all the different techniques and apparatuses that you use to do whatever it is you're going to do. Bottom line is it's on that court, and it's running. You do it for time, and if you can get that time done I will bet you you're in shape."

For the record, I cannot do that. I am a shape, but not in shape.

But as long as I can type without panting (Check!) I'm good to go.  For the LAC, the fitness of their team is no small issue. "Last year, I don't think we ever got to it with some of our guys. Period. From the first day of camp on, I don't know if we ever got to that," Dunleavy said. The team was ravaged by injuries before the season started, and things didn't improve from there. Baron Davis played 65 admittedly awful games. Chris Kaman suited up for 31, Marcus Camby 62, Ricky Davis 36. And so on. Not all of that can be attributed to players starting the year out of shape- basketball is a physical, rugged sport wherein players can be injured in myriad ways having nothing to do with fitness- but given the spotty health history of some of the team's big guns they can't afford to give anything away.

That which can be controlled must be.

"Guys," Dunleavy said, "have the onus on them to get it right."

--Brian Kamenetzky

Photo: Mike Dunleavy disagrees with an official's call at the Staples Center on November 29, 2008. Photo credit: Christine Cotter / Los Angeles Times.

Mike Dunleavy: Arrival of Rasual Butler gives Clippers 14-man roster he could live with to open 2009-10 season

Their arrival at the Clippers' practice facility in Playa Vista Monday merely served as a brief interruption to their normal routines.

Rasual Butler, acquired last week along with cash in a trade that sent a conditional second-round 2016 draft pick to the New Orleans Hornets, stopped by in his first few days in Los Angeles before pledging he'd resume updating his Twitter account.

"Once I leave here," he said, "I’ll be on there the rest of the day."

Mike Dunleavy, the Clippers' coach and general manager, returned to familiar confines and discussed the latest trade in a busy off-season before stressing he may not be done updating his roster.

"I get up in the morning, read what all you guys have to write, see what information you came up with," Dunleavy said. "Anything that makes sense or potentially makes sense, I go from there with working the phones and trying to generate, whether it’s a fabrication or not, into something that might be workable."

As indicated by Butler's inactive Twitter posts since Monday morning and Dunleavy's acknowledgement he'd be comfortable fielding his current 14-man roster to open the 2009-10 season, both are stepping into a new phase to gear up for training camp.