As Usual, Clippers Are Re-Signed to Their Fate

The Clippers’ Silent Summer of 2002 keeps casting its long shadow.

Their failure to lock up any of their future free agents already wrecked one season, and Thursday it took the zip out of the draft.

Who knows how much longer the effects will continue? It’s like waiting for dawn to assess the damage from a hurricane.

Well, we can already forward this claim to the insurance company: There’s a big broken tree on top of the car, which means these guys aren’t going anywhere.

Because the Clippers didn’t re-sign Michael Olowokandi, they’re back to where they were five years ago, looking for a center. That forced them to take 6-11 1/2 Chris Kaman from Central Michigan with the No. 6 pick in the draft instead of addressing another need, point guard.

Kaman won’t be an impact player. When Hubie Brown used the words “tremendous upside potential” later in the night, he wasn’t talking about Kaman.

I’m not down on the kid, I’m just going by history.

Any 7-foot center worth anything won’t last beyond the second pick. The All-Star big men, the ones who play key roles in getting their teams to the NBA Finals, all go at the top of the draft. First and second picks since 1980 include Shaquille O’Neal, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Alonzo Mourning, Rik Smits, Brad Daugherty, David Robinson, Ralph Sampson and the celebrated Yao Ming.

Worthwhile centers beyond those slots are few and far between. Dikembe Mutombo, the No. 4 pick in 1991. Rony Seikaly, the No. 9 pick in 1988.

True, Olowokandi is an anomaly among centers chosen No. 1 in that he isn’t a franchise player. But will Kaman be any better? Will he produce more impressive numbers than the 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots Olowokandi averaged last season?

Doubt it.

Olowokandi didn’t deserve a maximum contract. But it might have made sense to pay him an average of $10 million a year.

They’ll spend an average of $2.2 million the next two years for Wang Zhizhi, who did virtually nothing last season. They’re slotted in at an average of $2.1 million per year for Kaman on the rookie salary scale.

Instead of wasting that combined $4.3 million a year, they could have tacked it onto the $6 million they paid Olowokandi last year and arrived at a number that should have kept Olowokandi happy while giving the Clippers one less position to worry about.

At least they would know what they had, instead of waiting to see how Kaman will develop. That’s one reason the 2001 draft-day trade of Tyson Chandler’s potential for Elton Brand’s accomplishments was so good.

I’d rather see them pick the college player of the year, Texas’ T.J. Ford, who went to the Milwaukee Bucks with the No. 8 selection. Ford’s an athletic, pass-oriented point guard who would be a good fit for the Clippers. There were concerns about his size, but at least he was looking down, not up, at David Stern when he shook his hand. And if his outside shooting was such a worry they could have taken Kansas’ Kirk Hinrich, who went to the Chicago Bulls at No. 7.

Instead Kaman’s coming, which is another sign that Olowokandi’s going.

Draft Day used to be the most exciting day of the year in Clipper Country. They could always be counted on to do something dramatic or exciting or, at least, questionable.

This time, they went the straightforward route, the most basic pick in the NBA: best available big guy.

“It’s a very difficult position, and in this draft he’s really the only center, when you stop and think about it,” said Barry Hecker, the Clippers’ director of player personnel.

Clearly, Kaman has a lot to learn about the league. He called the Clippers “a great organization” and said, “They’ve got a great owner, too.”

When asked if Kaman will start next year, General Manager Elgin Baylor said, “That’s not up to me.”

Which raised the question, whose call will it be?

Even Kaman knew enough about the Clippers to say, “I know they’re in the process of hiring a coach.”

Mike Dunleavy hasn’t accepted their low-ball offer, and Dennis Johnson is just hanging around waiting to see if he’ll get to keep his job.

“The process is still going on,” Baylor said. “And I’m not going to speculate when it’s going to happen. It’s still an ongoing process. When it happens, you’ll know.”

So no news from the Clippers. Not much going on in Lakerland, either. They took Brian Cook, a big man who doesn’t immediately answer their power forward needs, in the first round. The most interesting developments came elsewhere. Could the Bucks’ selection of Ford and the New Orleans Hornets’ choice of power forward David West mean they are bracing for the free-agent departures of Gary Payton and P.J. Brown?

The real action this summer will come when the free agent season begins July 1.

That applies to the Lakers, of course. For the Clippers, the less we use the words “free agents,” the better.

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com