My initial thought was to start with Eric Gordon, as his inclusion in the Team USA roster makes him the most newsworthy. But leading with any of the starting five might dampen interest in the later entries, so we’re going to start with one of the newest Clippers, G Randy Foye.

Foye is a fifth-year guard from Villanova who was selected seventh overall by Boston in the 2006 draft – but who then watched as his rights were first traded to Portland and then later to Minnesota on draft night in moves that had to be a quick wake-up call as to the business realities of the NBA.

In Minnesota, Foye increased his scoring average every year, from just over 10 points per game his rookie year to just over 13 points per game his second year to just over 16 points per his third and final year on the Timberwolves. He was traded again that summer to Washington, where he saw his minutes and scoring decline on a team that started the season with a guard heavy roster.

This summer, he was a sought after free agent who signed a two-year deal with the Clippers for a reported $8.5 million.

Foye provides an experienced combo guard off the bench for the Clippers, someone who has the ability to bring the ball up the floor to spell Baron Davis at the point and who has the size and shooting skill needed to give Eric Gordon relief at the two guard spot. His career shooting percentage is a respectable 41.9% and he has proven that he has the ability to get to the rim and finish or draw a foul and get to the line.

Foye’s presence on the roster means the team will not have to pin their back up PG hopes on rookie Eric Bledsoe nor their back up combo guard on rookie Willie Warren, good things as those guys adjust to the pro game and find their niche this season.

The signing of Foye barely raised eyebrows in the national media, let alone here in Clipperland, but the Neil Olshey and the front office have shown that they have a plan for this team and signing a proven guy who can provide offense off the bench to a cap-friendly contract is a good move towards providing some stability on a roster that has been devoid of stability of late.

The ill-timed interview airs Friday night, an off night for the Finals, and the transcript was released today (here’s the link). In it, LeBron and Larry talk about James’ upbringing in Akron, his early ventures into athletics, his childhood adulation for Michael Jordan, his own children, his increasing stardom, his pick for the NBA Finals (he ‘s going with the Celtics),  and then they finally address James’ pending free agent status and how  it will effect not only his future, but that of the entire NBA.

They frame the discussion around James’ ultimate goal, going to a team that is ready to compete for an NBA Championship.

Larry King uses the term “good team” so many times I lost count while reading and then asks about “not a good team” – that’s right, the Los Angeles Clippers. LeBron stays the politically correct route, saying that the Clippers have “some really nice, solid pieces” in place with Blake Griffin, Baron Davis, Chris Kaman and that if they could land a couple of free agents, they “could be a really good team.”

When pressed by King on whether those hypothetical free agent additions were James and Chris Bosh, how would L.A appeal to him, James goes back to say it’s not about the city but about the team’s capability to win, mentioning that the Cavaliers would benefit  greatly from a roster that included himself and Bosh or Dwayne Wade or Joe Johnson.

They go on to talk about James’ decision to skip college, his relationship with Warren Buffet…and a whole lot more. But the jist of it, for us here in Clipperland, is that James realizes that the Clippers have to be in play at some level when he and fellow free agents sit down to talk about their respective situations.

Now, do I expect James to wear a Clipper uniform next season? No.

But am I confident in the fact that he realizes the untapped star power the Los Angeles Clippers have to offer one of his fellow free agent peers? And that one of the others needs to go to the Clippers to both bask in the limelight while simultaneously stealing some of said limelight from the only player in the NBA whose star power matches (or tops, depending on the circumstance) James’, that player being one Kobe Bryant, who also plays in Los Angeles and currently has the market cornered on athletic stars in Los Angeles? Yes.

So, while the constant theme of optimism is once again present here in Clipperland as we get set to watch the free agent drama unfold, it’s not accompanied by the delusion that had been a hallmark of all optimism that dared to show its face around these parts.