High expectations for Clippers, who are suddenly in rarefied air

These are not your father’s Clippers.

You know, the ones who were perennially lottery-bound or always done by April 15. The ones who have not played in the postseason since 2006 and who have qualified for the playoffs four times in the 30 years that Donald Sterling has owned the team. The ones who were 32-50 last season.

These are the Clippers of your little brother, that little smart-mouthed dude who swore his Clippers would be good one day — you’ll see, he repeated.

That day is here.

It’s hip to Clip.

“This is a team that has every piece that you can imagine that you want,” TNT analyst Kenny Smith said. “With their top to bottom [roster], they have no excuses not to be a really good team this year.”

High praise indeed, but that’s the feeling around the NBA these days, not to mention Clipper Nation and Southern California.

The expectations for this season are higher than any other in franchise history.

And it’s easy to understand when looking at the collection of talent the Clippers assembled and will take into the season opener Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors in Oakland.

They have the must-see TV element in high-flying Blake Griffin, who won the dunk contest during All-Star weekend last season and was the rookie of the year.

Neil Olshey, vice president of basketball operations, and Coach Vinny Del Negro executed a plan that reverberated throughout the NBA.

They acquired All-Star point guard Chris Paul from the New Orleans Hornets for Eric Gordon, Chris Kaman, Al-Farouq Aminu and an unprotected No. 1 draft pick.

They won the auction for veteran guard Chauncey Billups, who was waived by the New York Knicks under the NBA’s new amnesty provision.

They signed free-agent small forward Caron Butler to a three-year, $24-million deal. They re-signed center DeAndre Jordan by matching the four-year, $43.2-million offer sheet he got from the Warriors.

They kept young guard Eric Bledsoe, veteran All-Star Mo Williams and key reserve Ryan Gomes.

The last time the Clippers had anything close to this collection of talent was when Larry Brown was the coach and they had Ron Harper, Danny Manning, Ken Norman, Loy Vaught and Gary Grant, a group that went to the playoffs in 1992 and 1993.

“But this is the best team, talent-wise, that the Clippers have had, ever,” Smith said. “There has never been a team that they’ve assembled that is this good.”

So now there are expectations … high expectations.

And with that comes pressure.

Right?

“We don’t feel any pressure,” Paul said. “Who’s putting that pressure on us?”

All the pundits, Paul was told.

“No, you’re not; you think you are,” Paul responded, smiling. “The thing is, at the end of the day, we’re the players. We control what we can control, and that’s the people in this organization and who are in here at practice every day. We can’t control what you guys say, because that is what it is.”

The Clippers have veterans, athletes and depth.

It will be needed because every team will be tested during the compressed 66-game schedule this season, a result of the 149-day lockout.

But more than anything else, the Clippers have given their long-suffering fans a reason to hope.

“We of course have some excitement here and we’ve added some good pieces to this team,” Billups said. “We do really have a great outlook, but in all actuality, we haven’t won a game yet.

“The difficult thing is that everybody knows that we should be a lot better, so you don’t have the advantage of sneaking up on teams anymore. Teams are going to be ready. We’re going to get a team’s best punch, so we’ve got to guard for that.”

Paul, a six-year professional, and Billups have dealt with the expectations before.

Paul was on a New Orleans team that reached the 2008 Western Conference semifinals.

Billups was on a Detroit Pistons team that won the 2004 NBA championship and reached the Eastern Conference finals in six consecutive years.

The Clippers will look to Billups and Paul for guidance on how to deal with the high expectations.

As the venerable Clippers broadcaster Ralph Lawler says, fasten your seat belts, gang. It figures to be an exciting ride.

“We have our own expectations more than anybody else,” Griffin said. “As players, we know what we’re capable of. Every single one of our guys is quality and a character guy. When we step on the court, it’s business. I know for a fact, this year is not a joke.”

broderick.turner@latimes.com

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