Baron Davis is battling nagging injuries

Now it all makes sense.

One reason the Clippers got out front on the Baron Davis fitness issue became obvious Tuesday, the opening day of training camp.

New Coach Vinny Del Negro opted to sit out Davis. And the point guard said afterward that he is dealing with a couple of nagging injuries, namely some swelling in a knee and a strained calf.

And no, those two things did not occur on media day.

“It was just happening during training,” Davis said after the morning session. “I think I pushed myself a little too hard. Sometimes, you can overwork. I was doing a lot; my body is not a young body. When I do go overboard, then I have a little bit of swelling.”

Said Del Negro, who also put some limitations on Brian Cook, Craig Smith and Randy Foye on Day 1: “I sat [Davis] down. I want him to feel better. It’s just a process every day we’ll build on, not only with Baron, but with everybody.

“It’s a team and there’s certain standards, in terms of being in shape, that we have to hold guys to. And I believe strongly in that stuff, and overall the guys have been doing a good job of it.”

Davis said he thought he was only about three or four pounds away from his desired weight. Del Negro said there was not a set plan as to when Davis will be able to participate in all activities.

“The old cliche: take it day to day,” Del Negro said. “Let’s see how he feels, how the other guys feel; I might back a couple of guys off a little bit that are coming back from surgeries. I’ll monitor that every day. …I don’t think there’s a scenario that’s going to be perfect because things change so often. I don’t want to tell you something that’s not accurate.”

Said Davis: “I’ll just have to take a little bit of time and want to be 100% when I jump out here on the floor. So I can hit the ground running. And that’s the most important thing right now.”

Trading places

A year ago, power forward Blake Griffin was the one sitting out injured on Day 1 of training camp.

“I was doing what Baron was doing,” Griffin said. “I’m really glad I’m in the other position now.”

The Clippers’ first exhibition is Oct. 5 at Portland, and their regular-season opener is against the Trail Blazers at Staples Center on Oct. 27.

“I can’t wait,” Griffin said of the exhibition opener. “But I’ll be more excited for the first real game. I’ve played preseason before. It’s old. It’s old news.

“Coach Vinny said these first couple of games are going to be more about us than the other team.”

Etc.

Call it the no-surprise department: The Clippers exercised their fourth-year contract option on shooting guard Eric Gordon and third-year option on Griffin.

Gordon, exceedingly modest, is showing intriguing hints of leadership after his highly successful turn with the gold-medal-winning U.S. team at the world championships.

It’s not quite full-blown swagger from Gordon yet. But, perhaps, swag in progress.

“I’ve been talking a lot more,” he said, smiling. “I’m done being the quiet guy. You’ll always see me talking now to the guys. It’s time to step on up now.

“It was just a learning experience for me, going into my third year. Now they’re trying to have me as one of the leaders. I just need to speak up and also play good, at the same time.”

August helped offset two losing seasons in the NBA.

“Summer kept me in a winning mentality, starting to learn how to win and got better at the same time,” Gordon said. “I definitely want to transition that over here.

“We have a lot of good, young core guys. It’s almost like the same team we had in Turkey, a lot of young guys and a couple of older guys.”

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

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