NBA Twitter Mailbag: Rashad McCants, Clippers Rising and What Warriors Need

Let's get right to it. We asked for your Twitter questions and we got them. Now for some answers:

albert_kim: Is Rashad McCants going to be a good fit in Houston?
I don't think Rashad McCants is necessarily a good fit for any team. We're talking about a colossal headcase here. However, if he's going to be effective for any team it would likely be a team with established veterans, an established style of play and a veteran head coach who is pretty good at dealing with players such as McCants.

To that extent, the Rockets might be less worse of a fit for McCants than many other teams. Coach Rick Adelman is one of the best when it comes to handling players who aren't easy to coach, whether it be Rod Strickland from back in the day or Ron Artest recently.

The problem with McCants in Houston right now, however, is that the Rockets will likely be without Yao Ming for the entire season and without Tracy McGrady for at least a little while. Keeping a player like McCants in check just got a lot more difficult.

maxflipper: Who is your surprise team to make the playoffs?
Baron Davis

Until they start to prove me wrong, I'm going to continue to go with the Los Angeles Clippers as my surprise team for 2009-10. The more I think about it the more I think Blake Griffin is really going to help this team. Even if he's little more than a dirty-work-type player to start, I think that's the kind of player the Clippers need.

But the No. 1 reason I'm going with the Clippers to have a big year is point guard Baron Davis, who seems to have something to prove this year. At various times during his career, whether in Charlotte or New Orleans or in Golden State, Davis has shown when he's at his best he is among the elite point guards in the league.

If Davis can put 65 games under his belt this year, and Griffin can hold his own defensively against some of the better power forwards in the NBA, the Clippers are going to be in the mix for the eighth playoff spot.

_brandone_: Who do the Warriors need to acquire to become a .500 team or better?
There are two schools of thought on what the Warriors need to become a legitimate playoff team. Some think the team needs a big-time power forward and others believe the team still needs to go out and acquire a true point guard.

Obviously Warriors management thinks it needs to address its frontcourt and that's why we saw so much talk earlier this summer about the Warriors trying to acquire Amare Stoudemire. He would help, no doubt.

Some believe the Warriors won't be consistent with this team until you put a true point guard onto the roster. I'm one of those people. While Monta Ellis, Stephen Curry and C.J. Watson all have strengths, none of them are adept at running a team.

In other words, what you're essentially asking them to do is something that's not their strength or what they're comfortable doing. The Warriors gave Stephen Jackson lots of ball-handling responsibility last season and, while he was able to make plays here and there, over the course of a game he turned the ball over too much.

More Steinmetz on Twitter: @matt_steinmetz