Cassell hopes to cash in his Clippers playoff chips

	Sam Cassell hopes to parlay the Clippers' second-round playoff appearance into a rich deal for another three seasons. John W. McDonough/SI
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Lurking beyond the unprecedented playoff run of the Clippers is another offseason of potential change. Sam Cassell is a free agent, and he says he wants to play two or three more years. Would Clippers owner Donald Sterling be willing to pay $8 million or $9 million a year for a 36-year-old when the team has Shaun Livingston waiting in the wings?

Cassell's agent, Charles Tucker, says Clippers management should be willing to do whatever it takes. He notes that L.A. coach Mike Dunleavy and star Elton Brand both have fully endorsed the veteran guard's return. He also says any suitor should have no fear about Cassell breaking down.

"You look at Sam, and you hear him talk, and you think he's some kind of hip daddy," Tucker said. "But he doesn't drink. He doesn't smoke. He eats like a vegetarian. He takes great care of his body. He's not going to fall down all at once.

"Plus, he's a leader. He knows how to play the game and make his teammates better. He's still going to be very effective two or three years from now."

Cassell, by the way, had an incentive clause in his contract this season that paid him extra money if he had an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.6 or higher. Over his final 17 contests he dished out 97 assists while committing just 29 turnovers. During that span he had just one game with as many as four miscues (and he had 10 assists in that game). Cassell wound up finishing with a 2.8 A/TO ratio and an extra $500,000 or so in his pocket.

Now that's a guy who knows how to cash in his opportunities.

The Lakers or Suns should consider themselves warned.

Smith sees bright days ahead for Magic

The Magic ended the season as one of the NBA's hottest teams, winning 16 of their final 22 games. But some around the league wonder if Orlando's late surge was really indicative of a team on the rise or whether the Magic were just this year's version of the Warriors. Last year, Golden State won 14 of 18 to finish the season and fuel talk of a playoff berth in the West. However, it proved to be fool's gold as they wound up a disappointing 34-48 in 2005-06.

"I think it's different," new GM Otis Smith said. "There's no false sense of comfort here from anybody. That goes for [coach] Brian Hill, the coaching staff, myself. We're not taking anything for granted.