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Clippers Introduce Free Agent Signings

Rowan Kavner

LOS ANGELES – The Clippers feel they’ve put themselves in a legitimate position to win an NBA championship in the 2015-16 season with their moves this offseason.

They made that clear during Tuesday’s press conference, introducing their free agent signings and re-signings, with DeAndre Jordan, Austin Rivers, Paul Pierce, Josh Smith, Wesley Johnson, Cole Aldrich and Branden Dawson all on hand alongside head coach Doc Rivers.

“It’s been a great summer for us,” Doc Rivers said. “I look around this, and, not even including the guys that aren’t here, I love what we’ve assembled. Now, the next step for us is to turn all this talent on paper into a team.”

Doc Rivers, as president of basketball operations, has fought through a tough cap situation to help the Clippers add crucial pieces they hope will allow them to break through past the second round of the playoffs and compete for a title. Now, Rivers, as head coach, knows it’s his job to make the pieces fit and guide the Clippers on their quest.

“On paper, I like us against anyone,” Rivers said. “I’m sure other teams will say the same thing, but we all know from being around this that it’s going to take a group that wants to play together, wants to get together and wants to win together. That’s our goal now.”

And that’s the part Doc Rivers is looking forward to most. He said he “loves this group” and can’t wait to get started to see how the pieces are going to fit.

He added that every team in the West had to get better this offseason in order to compete. He said people forget too often about Oklahoma City, which will be better when healthy. He also said San Antonio got better, as did Golden State because of a title. With the pieces next to him on stage, as well as Lance Stephenson, he believes the Clippers have done the same, adding depth at every position with their offseason additions.

“The one thing I do look at this team is you look at the last two champions, we’ve beaten the last two in the playoffs,” Doc Rivers said. “Two years ago, we beat Golden State. Last year, we beat San Antonio. So the last two teams that have won titles, we knocked them out in the last two years as well, so that tells us we’re right there. But we’re not over the hump yet. That’s what we have to get this year.”

Doc Rivers said he likes having flexibility, but the Clippers, who still have roster spots available, aren’t necessarily done signing players this offseason. Regardless of any other moves the Clippers may make, Rivers likes how the roster looks now after a busy offseason, highlighted by the re-signing of Jordan.

“What we’ve done the past two seasons, we’re going in the right direction,” Jordan said. "We’ve gone through so much the past two years, in the postseason and throughout the seasons, and we’ve overcome a lot of it. I think that we’re close to getting over that hump, and I definitely feel like we have unfinished business with this team and the pieces we added, and I’m comfortable here and that made (the decision to stay) that much easier.”

For all of the signings, the talent on the team and a chance to compete for a title played major roles in their decisions to either return or to go to the Clippers. Here’s some of what they had to say.

Austin Rivers: “Right now, I signed a short deal because I want to come here and help this team win, and that’s my focus. I believe we can do so, so it really made my decision very, very easy to come back and really maybe not even try to venture out and see what else is out there, because I wanted to be here.”

Paul Pierce: “I’m here with the same goal in mind that everybody else’s goal is, and that’s to win the championship. Truthfully, if I didn’t think the Clippers were close, then no matter home or not, I probably wouldn’t have made this decision.”

Wesley Johnson: “Get a chance to win, I think that was my mindset. I want a chance to win. My track record through my career is I’ve been on teams, unfortunately, that have been bad. So fortunately, I’m on the other side and looking forward to the season, looking forward to expectations that we have, like to win a championship. After they started signing the group of guys they did, I think that we’re able to compete with anybody. We have a clear shot of winning it.”

Josh Smith: “We have an opportunity to be able to do something special, and right now this is what I want to focus on…Hopefully we can do something historic for this franchise. I feel like we have the right pieces to do it. We just have to be able to, like Coach (Rivers) said, get it done early on, and that starts in September.”

Cole Aldrich: “Going from New York last year, where we struggled, to being on a contending team, it’s going to be awesome. You’ve got a bunch of guys that are going to come in every day and work hard and have fun doing it. That’s the biggest thing, is we’re a family. I appreciate all these guys welcoming me and my wife into the family.”

Branden Dawson: “I come from Michigan State, always been competitive. Playing with Tom Izzo, it’s something that he instilled in me, just being competitive, playing with energy. I’m going to do whatever it takes. I love to win and I like being around a good group of guys. I’m willing to do anything, so I’m excited.”