Goodness gracious saints alive, the Clippers are good for  a change!  The Clippers owner, who has forever been called cheap, a tightwad and plague on the Clips fortunes may indeed get the last laugh.  With so many Knicks, Blazers and Hawks teams in the league, Sterling may not have had a bad business plan after all.

Los Angeles second team has long been described as having a nucleus of young, budding talent.  Always on the cusp of breaking out, if only ownership would open up its pockets and keep some of that young talent around.  Oh how everyone loves to create villains.  Before calling Sterling stingy consider the players who have left his organization and the kind of money they wanted:

Lamar Odom: The next Magic Johnson?  That is what everyone touted Odom as when the forward came up for free agency with the Clippers.  Demanding max dollars for what was even then maxed out talent, many blasted Sterling for not keeping what sports writers insisted was the future of the franchise.  Critics need only look as far as the other L.A. team to see that maybe the Clippers knew something the rest of the league didn't.

Darius Miles: The next KG? Sure he had a promising, dunkfest rookie year.  But up until now, Miles has developed little beyond the occassional highlight dunk.  His skills suggest he would be a fine energy player off of the bench, his ego tells him he's the type of player you build a franchise around, which is how the Blazers pay him.  Do you really want to open the bank to a player that starts dropping N-bombs at the slightest hint of discipline?  Or did we forget Daruis's "do you know who I am" tirade when pulled over by the police?

Quinten Richardson: How quickly did this promising all-around talent get exposed as a glorified three point shooter.  Well, Q-Rich has finally made it to the all-overpaid team New York Knicks, me thinks that Sterling isn't crying over the loss of this one.

Maurice Taylor: Like "Q", Taylor is now drawing his overpriced checks from the Knicks.  The mere fact that GM Thomas thought highly enough of Taylor to acquire him shows that Sterling made the right move, as the Knicks remain a constant reminder of what NOT to do.

Derek Anderson: Not even the Spurs opened up their checkbooks to Anderson, and they are the smartest front office in the league.  If you wanted to see how a Clippers core would look if they had remained together, simply look at some of the Blazers teams over the past two-three years. 

Olowakandi: Sure, it was a mistake taking this guy number one overall, but letting him go was a stroke of genius.  Now the T-Wolves are stuck with this waste of bench and salary cap space. 

So this is the core that Sportswriters and fans were complaining that Sterling gave away.  Not very intimidating is it?  Shades of the Atlanta Hawks and New Orleans Hornets.  If Sterling had paid all of these players what they wanted, the Clippers would be the Knicks of the west.

As it is, Sterling paid big money to the two players he's had that have deserved it.  Brand is a constant 20 and 10 player, and even though he may not be a dominating franchise player, he certainly is worth every penny he gets.  Maggette has become a solid player in his own right, and much more complete than any former Clipper in the NBA. 

Perhaps for the first time ever, here's some kudos for not buying into unfulfilled talent and recognizing how to manage a salary cap.  Not everyone is fortunate enough to land a Shaq or Duncan, but that doesn't mean they have to pay a Kwame Brown or Jerome James like one.