The Clippers are out of the running, which is normally a sentence one would say sometime around December. This season, however, they made it all the way to the conference semifinals, taking care of a tough Grizzlies team in seven games before falling to the aging but still effective Spurs juggernaut. Seriously, 18 straight wins since mid-April? That's somewhat notable, don't you think? Anyway, the Clippers clearly must be pleased with how their season turned out overall, but there are questions about their long-term future, as neither Blake Griffin nor Chris Paul has signed a long-term contract extension. Will both reside in Lob City for the long haul?

What are Blake Griffin and Chris Paul's long-term futures with the Clippers?

•  
  58%
  Both will sign long-term deals
•  
  19%
  Griffin will sign a long-term deal
•  
  4%
  Paul will sign a long-term deal
•  
  20%
  Neither will sign a long-term deal

(Total votes: 88,360)

Will the Clippers ever win a championship with a core of Blake Griffin and Chris Paul?

•  
  43%
  Yes
•  
  57%
  No

(Total votes: 54,831)

After back-to-back sweeps, are the Spurs the favorite to win the NBA championship?

•  
  64%
  Yes
•  
  36%
  No

(Total votes: 141,130)

DeMarcus Cousins clearly isn't a fan of Blake Griffin, as Thursday night's dustup indicated. Cousins called Blake Griffin an "actor," implying that Griffin plays up things for competitive effect on the court. Does Cousins have a point?

• wetalkinaboutpractice33: "i like blake griffin but he is overrated to the fullest"
• shared_gum: "Honestly, what Blake said was the right thing to say. Blake still hasn't convinced me that he is a huge impact player (which I think he can be some day), but he said the right thing, and that's what people should say after the games. "
• WildcatRJMacReady: "Cousins so wishes he was in LA and not Sacramento"
• gbanks19: "Blake Griffin is really soft it's terrible to watch him play. He reminds of Christiano Ronaldo...incredible player but a fragile faker."
• Pfunk13: "See, Griffin is a good actor - he's got everyone believing he is a basketball player, when all he can do is dunk."
• THEREFTHEN12: "He can't help it that he dunks on everyone, he's more athletic and explosive than anyone else. Guys don't like being embarrased and now they have a problem with the way Griffin plays."



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On Friday, "First Take" debated Jason Smith's hard foul on Blake Griffin. Smith ran into Griffin on the Clippers' star's way to a likely dunk, laying him out on the floor and causing the Hornets crowd to applaud. Stephen A. Smith thinks Jason Smith should be suspended for at least 10 games, while Israel Guitierrez thinks the suspension should be shorter. Skip Bayless actually didn't have a problem with the foul, saying that the Hornets needed to step up against Griffin. What's your take?

• Rank 'Em: Is Blake Griffin having one of the greatest rookie seasons? | Other awards?
• More: Are the Clippers playing like a top-15 team? | NBA's best young stars?

If Blake Griffin is proving anything this season, it's that Elgin Baylor didn't deserve the criticism he got over the years. Sure, top picks like Michael Olowokandi, Shaun Livingston and so many more flopped for reasons varying from injury to general lack of talent, but so what? We now know that you can give the Clippers one of the most productive rookies in the history of the league and they still won't sniff the playoffs.

Despite recent wins against the Heat and Lakers, the Clippers enter Wednesday's game against Kevin Love and the Timberwolves as close to them in the standings as they are to the No. 8 seed. So can even Griffin eventually lift this moribund franchise?

traianos (slovenia)

Assuming everybody stays healthy, are playoffs reality for the Clippers?

John Hollinger

[Before Jan. 14 road loss at Warriors] Sure, if they play all their games at home. What you have to understand about the Clippers is that a) they're 3-12 on the road, and b) they have TWENTY SEVEN road games left. Even if they go 14-13 in those 27 road games -- which would be a spectacular achievement -- the Clips would be at 37 losses for the season, and would have to be nearly perfect at home just to finish with a winning record. There's plenty to be encouraged about here, don't get me wrong, but they basically blew it playoff-wise before Christmas. Full transcript

Nick (Nashua, NH)

Griffin over Mozgov! See it live? Thoughts? Top 3 in-game dunk of all time!

Bill Simmons

I missed [Nov. 20's] game because my wife said, "That's not how I am spending my Saturday night." So it's a very sore subject in my house right now. Here's the thing: The Mosgov dunk WASN'T A DUNK!!!!! He never touched the rim! I can't call that a dunk. It was incredible, it was unbelievable, it was the best NBA play of the year... but I need a hand to touch the rim for it to be a dunk. Full transcript

• Rank 'Em: Does Blake Griffin rank ahead of Dwight Howard and other young stars?

We'll leave LeBron James to ponder the deeper ramifications of karma. After the Los Angeles Clippers knocked off the Miami Heat, ending the latter's 13-game road winning streak, the better question seems to be just how close is Blake Griffin to entering the conversation with James and others as one of the NBA's best players?

On pure entertainment value, Griffin's credentials are difficult to argue against. But in putting up 24 points, 14 rebounds and six assists to help beat the NBA's hottest team, Griffin showed again that he's about more than monster dunks (although, let's face it, those are pretty cool).

So is Griffin merely one of the league's most entertaining players or one of its best?

omar (bronx ny)

Blake Griffin will be the rookie of the year without question if he plays the whole year without injury?

Chad Ford

Not only rookie of the year. All-Star. One of the Top 5 bigs in the league after his first season. Potential Hall of Famer. You name it. I LOVE watching him play. Why oh why is he stuck on the Clippers? Full transcript

1. Is Blake Griffin the NBA's most entertaining player?

It was just another night at the office for Blake Griffin, whose array of dunks against the Nuggets may or may not have included anything that would make his own top 10. And yet it was still mesmerizing, a word which has rarely been attached to the franchise of Stanley Roberts and Michael Olowokandi. Is Griffin the NBA's best watch?

• "'I know this is being redundant in the dept. of redundancy alerts, but Blake Griffin is a beast." -- SN commenter murphdawg58

• Rank 'Em: Would you take John Wall over Blake Griffin at this point in the season?
• Chat: NBA with John Hollinger, Thursday, 2 p.m. ET

This season's NBA rookie class benefited at the expense of last season's, as man among boys Blake Griffin spent what should have been his rookie season languishing on the disabled list.

According to David Thorpe's latest rankings, Griffin is running away with the NBA Rookie of the Year award. He's already thrown down some iconic dunks and has the normally hapless Clippers on a three-game winning streak. Griffin isn't the only rookie putting on a show, however -- Knicks fans are thrilled with the development of Landry Fields, Kings fans are loving DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall is doing some exceptional things in Washington when he's healthy. Griffin and Wall are destined to have big-time careers, but where do you see Cousins and Fields ending up?

• "Griffin is putting up great stats and sick dunks, to be sure. However, I disagree with Thorpe's claim "And I know this sounds crazy, but if the Clippers were more relevant this season, there would even be some talk about Griffin as an MVP candidate." The Clippers have decent talent, with Eric Gordon and Baron Davis. We can't simply say that Griffin is stuck on a bad team. If Griffin were a "winner" and "valuable", he would have been able to lead the Clippers to more wins. Obviously Griffin has a very high ceiling and he will learn how to be a "winner" in the NBA (and how to play defense), but right now his team's record is 8-21. " -- Sacjai
• "I'm sorry, but John Wall deserves ROY 2nd place over Fields because of what he is asked to do for that team along with his production. Fields might be more efficient, but if you put Wall on the Knicks where he'd be asked to do less, and surround Fields with the Wizards talent, it'd be a different story." -- msacksinsider

• Vote: Which standout rookie guard will have the best career?
• Chat wrap: Chad Ford took your questions on this year's draft class and more
• More from ESPN.com: Ric Bucher and Chris Broussard debate ROY race

Between the Blazers learning Brandon Roy has some serious injury issues to deal with, the Raptors keeping their playoff hopes alive, the final game for the Nets at the Meadowlands (all right, scratch that one) and the rest of a full night of NBA action, you might not have paid much attention to the Rockets beating the Kings. But perhaps surprisingly, more than 14,000 fans in Sacramento did pay attention, in that they shelled out money for tickets and showed up to see the Kings suffer loss No. 56. Which brings us to Tyreke Evans, who put up 26 points, six rebounds and four assists against the Rockets.

Oscar Robertson, Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

Those are the only players in NBA history to average 20 points, five rebounds and five assists as rookies. But once Evans finishes up his final game this week, it's a list that will expand to four. Despite that kind of success, is it even clear Evans would be the No. 1 pick if there were a draft do-over? Vote.

SportsNation blogger ricodade admires Evans but not his situation in Sacramento.

• "Evans is closer to "star" status than any of them. He isn't a prototypical point guard. He's a basketball player. At 6'6 he is a nightmare matchup for most point guards, and as quick and strong as any swingman in the league (excluding Flash and Lebron). The Kings are so high on Evans they shipped away Kevin Martin, who had been their most productive player the past two seasons. I'm so high on the rookie I have him on both of my fantasy basketball teams. The good news for Tyreke is he'll win Rookie of the Year. The bad news is he plays for the Kings." -- Read the full post.

Lee (Fargo)

Is Rubio worth waiting 3 years? How good could the a Rubio/Turner backcourt be?

Chad Ford

It should be 2 years. One more year in Europe and he has an out from his contract. The way he's been playing lately? I'd say yeah, he's going to be worth the wait. He's getting big time game experience in Europe, getting stronger. When he comes to the NBA, he has a chance to be a star. Full transcript