In seasons past being in a contract season while on the squad of the Los Angeles Clippers also meant searching for a new zip code at seasons end, unless of course you were lucky enough to land with the Lakers.  The penny-pinching ways of owner Donald Sterling has seen an exodus of solid NBA players, leaving the organization in a struggling state year after year, no squad truly given a chance to grow and develop.

But does this only relate to Clippers teams past, is this current young, talented group the exception to the rule?  Part of a leaf freshly turned? A leopard currently changing its spots?  Elton Brand, Lamar Odom, Darius Miles and Quentin Richardon are a very solid nucleus to work from, then add players with the calibre of Corey Maggette, Michael Olowonkandi and Jeff McInnis into the mix and their future is brighter than the eyes of a five year old child on Christmas morning.  The team is young and exciting, and most importantly they are winning, but with Don Sterling in the coaches box do they really have a future together?

If you ask Center Michael Olowonkandi, a restricted free agent this offseason, that answer is no.

"Players are playing for themselves because they're very uncertain of their future with this team," Olowokandi said. "That's a fact.

"Whenever you have a group of guys that are very uncertain of their futures on the team that will always happen. Whenever you have that situation, you will never have a basketball team. Not this year, not next year, not 10 years from now."

Those comments cost Olowonkandi a $50,000 fine (which might make Charles Oakley, fined the same amount by the Bulls earlier this season, feel a little better) for negative comments towards the organization, but what he said is simply what the belief around the NBA is anyway.

But regardless of his history, this is one squad that Sterling cannot dissect at any cost.  The Clippers are the most exciting young team in the NBA today, and the group that make it cool to be Clippers have also had a little success, going from 15 wins to 40 in only two seasons.  Olowonkandi, who has turned it on strong over the three months, is a restricted free agent, meaning the team can match any offer he receives.  Starting point guard Jeff McInnis, who has been at odds with coach Alvin Gentry this season, is an unrestricted free agent, while young trio Elton Brand, Lamar Odom and Corey Maggette are all eligible for extensions.

J.A. Adande of the Los Angeles Times believes signing Brand to a contract extension for the maximum allowable, more than $80 million over six seasons, should be automatic, while Maggette and Odom are not quite as simple.

Odom, while extremely talented, is coming off a season where he has been hurt and has also had a lot of off-court troubles.  For this reason the Clippers should not rush to move him, nor should they max him out either.  They can afford to let Odom play next season without an extension in place, making him a restricted free agent and giving the team the opportunity to match any offer if necessary.  If he stays clean and plays well he gets his loot, otherwise the Clippers can look into moving him.

Adande states that the teams top priority this summer, ahead of maxing out Brand, would be to trade Maggette.  ?If he shoots almost every time he touches the ball now, imagine how he'd be in a contract year,? writes Adande.  Moving Maggette would clear a glut of talent at the two-three positions, also opening up a starting position for phenom Darius Miles in the process.

This is a new era for the Los Angeles Clippers, and to gain the respect that they want and perhaps even deserve is to put their money where their mouths are.  No longer can they put up a front while the talent plays off ?NBA chicken feed?, and coach Gentry knows it.

"We will be judged by what happens between July and August," said Gentry.  And we?ll all be watching closely as the vultures begin to circle.