Now that Elton Brand is Philly-bound and Corey Maggette has What do the Clippers do now? L.A. has substantial cap space, which had been earmarked for Brand. There's a gaping whole next to Chris Kaman -- something named Tim Thomas or Paul Davis are otherwise your starting power forwards. Josh Smith of Atlanta, a still-restricted free agent who had been Philadelphia's premiere target this summer, seems like a no-brainer. He's not your traditional power forward, but he's certainly the best option alive (and some would argue he's a better piece than Brand at this point).
With Eric Gordon in line to succeed Cuttino Mobley at the two-guard, chasing someone like Monta Ellis or Andre Iguodala out of spite wouldn't be practical. If you think Al Thornton is an acceptable power forward next to Kaman, though, maybe you chase Iggy to play the three for five years and hope for the best. Between Davis (not Paul), Kaman, and Thornton, there's a good chance scoring won't be a terrible issue. (Scoring efficiently might be.) Smith or Iguodala both offer non-buckets contributions, and should be high on any list of targets the "braintrust" in L.A. develops.




