Clippers follow 'embattled' script with Vinny Del Negro

Vinny Del Negro is on his second NBA coaching job, and Job 2 is going much the same way as Job 1.

With the Chicago Bulls, Del Negro was, basically, a placeholder. He was bequeathed a No. 1 draft pick, Derrick Rose, and was asked to help him along. Though he did fairly well on that account—it could be argued he actually worked better bringing along young big men Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson—his days seemed numbered from the time he got to Chicago, like the Bulls were simply waiting until they could put together a championship-caliber roster, oust Del Negro and find the coach they thought could bring the team to contender-ship.

That’s how things went down in the spring of 2010, as the Bulls prepared for the summer’s free-agent bonanza. After a bizarre season of reported dust-ups between Del Negro and management (has any coach in league history spent so much of his career with the adjective "embattled" affixed to his name?), Del Negro was finally canned, replaced by Tom Thibodeau.

And so it goes in L.A. Del Negro took over a Clippers team last season that was breaking in Blake Griffin, and was charged with putting the former No. 1 pick on the floor and making sure he improved. Then the Clippers unexpectedly got a roster boost with the trade for Chris Paul; as had been the case with the Bulls, it looked like Del Negro's days were numbered from the moment that deal became official—he had had been hired to hold down the fort until the Clippers could find the coach they thought could bring the team to contender-ship.

It would be a surprise if Del Negro were to be dumped with just 20 games to go in the season, as has been rumored. The Clippers don’t have a ready-made replacement and would likely turn to Del Negro’s friend and assistant, Marc Iavaroni, to finish the year. Certainly, the play of his team lately can’t be seen as much of a vote of confidence for the coach. The Clippers have lost three straight, and they’ve been bad losses—they fell to Indiana after trailing by 19, lost to the Thunder by 23 points and, embarrassingly, couldn’t beat Paul’s old team, the woebegone Hornets, on Thursday.

After the Hornets game, Del Negro addressed the notion that he could soon be out of a job, saying he didn’t put much stock in rumors and anonymous sources.

“When you’re losing games, everyone jumps on you,” Del Negro said. “If you can’t take the heat, you shouldn’t do the job. That’s part of it, you have to win games. That’s what you’re measured on. We haven’t played as well as I would like or anybody would like.”

The loss of guard Chauncey Billups has been the Clippers' big problem, an indication of how influential Billups was as a coach on the floor. The Clippers are just 11-14 without Billups, and though they’re still in the thick of the playoff hunt (they’re No. 6 in the West), they’re also just one game ahead of the ninth-seeded Jazz. While Del Negro losing his job with so little time left in the season would be surprising, it would be downright shocking if the Clippers missed the playoffs. If the Clippers keep up their current slide, management might have no choice but to make a change just to shake things up.

Either way, this is sure to end much the way things ended in Chicago—with Del Negro holding his post just long enough for the Clippers to find a coach they think can bring them to a championship level.