Reports surfaced Tuesday night that Baron Davis has decided to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, potentially teaming up with Elton Brand to try to lead the Clippers back to respectability. On paper, Davis and Brand would form a point guard/power forward combination to rival any of the other outstanding such duos in the West: Chris Paul/David West, Deron Williams/Carlos Boozer, Tony Parker/Tim Duncan, Steve Nash/Amare Stoudemire, and Jason Kidd/Dirk Nowitzki. So, how would this move translate to actual team success? And more importantly, how would it affect the fantasy fortunes of all involved?
If the parts mesh together, the Clippers could field a team to compete with the Hornets and Jazz as up-and-comers attempting to break into the Lakers/Spurs power structure. Brand is an underrated defender, and he should team with Chris Kaman protect the paint on defense. On offense, the question is whether a team with five scoring threats (Davis/Cuttino Mobley/Al Thornton/Brand/Kaman) can find a way to share the ball in an efficient way. Having a strong point guard helps that process, and despite being known as a scoring threat Davis has traditionally been a good playmaker as well when he wants to be. If he can facilitate the team offense to get both Brand and Kaman their touches, this team is dangerous.
That segues well into the fantasy fortunes. Kaman showed last season that he could potentially be a 20/10 guy himself with Brand out, but with Brand back his offense may suffer a bit. And with Davis in the fold as well, shots could be even harder to come by. I expect Brand and Davis to both average near 20 points, while Kaman is likely closer to 15. Thornton and promising rookie Eric Gordon should also be in the low-double figures. On the plus side, the presence of so many offensive threats should minimize the opposing defense's ability to focus on any one of them, leading to better shooting percentages and fewer turnovers.
Ultimately, Brand and Davis should not have their fantasy value affected much by this trade, with each worthy of a top-3 round pick. Kaman is more of a risk, but he shouldn't fall outside of the top-5 rounds. Thornton and Gordon make nice mid/late round upside picks, while Mobley becomes nothing more than a roto role player. All in all, the Clippers now appear to be one of the more relevant roto teams in the league.