Clippers Reportedly Talked to Isiah Thomas, Threatening Armageddon

Few terms in the NBA lexicon draw more guffaws of pity than "Los Angeles Clippers." One term which certainly has a case would be "Isiah Thomas." In fact, in a tournament of Most Hilariously Bad Things About the NBA, the Clips and Isiah would assuredly be one seeds (along with Darko Milicic and the microfiber ball).

It may pique your interest then, that according to ESPN.com's Chris Sheridan, Isiah recently discussed a potential role in the Clippers front office with team owner Donald Sterling. Stock up on beans and barricade the doors, my friends.

Sheridan reports no job has been offered, but that in February Thomas and Sterling had substantive talks in a meeting arranged by Mike Dunleavy. Following on the Jerry West rejection, it's believed Sterling wants a new GM or assistant GM to help Dunleavy out. Dunleavy remains the coach, and will apparently remain the coach for the foreseeable future.

If Thomas is not considered the worst GM of this era, it's only because of Pete Babcock's reigns of terror in Atlanta and Toronto. Thomas' record in the draft is touted highly, having nabbed David Lee, Nate Robinson, Wilson Chandler and Renaldo Balkman with lower picks. But Dunleavy has done well in the draft, too: Eric Gordon was a fantastic selection this season, and getting DeAndre Jordan and Mike Taylor in the second round was a stroke of brillance. Some argue Dunleavy has done good work as a GM, with the acquisitions of Marcus Camby, Baron Davis and Zach Randolph. (I'd argue these moves don't shimmer nearly as much as the neon names would have you believe.)

Is Thomas going to join the Clippers as a draft specialist? Or is there something else under this ... the potential for Thomas to take over coaching duties? Sheridan reports that Grizzlies management discussed hiring Thomas to replace Marc Iavaroni, who was fired in January. (Lionel Hollins instead came back to Memphis to take the job.)

Isiah isn't a great coach (his Pacers teams immediately improved when he was fired, his Knicks teams were among the most discombobulated in recent memory), but he's a worse executive. There seems to be no way the Clippers (or Clippers fans, the real victims) can win here. But if there's a preferable result, Thomas replacing Dunleavy on the bench might be it.