With the proper maneuvering, Clippers can improve in off-season Any correspondence about possible Clippers' off-season moves needs to go straight to the top. So, Chris Paul, here's a primer on what your franchise should do in the coming months to take that next step, otherwise known as getting past the first round of the playoffs. It's not going to be easy, the Clippers creeping toward taxpayer status for the first time in franchise history, assuming you come back. Your team will be working with relatively meager resources that could make only the Lakers jealous among other NBA teams. Since you're calling the shots these days as the de facto general manager, maybe start by sending Mitch Kupchak, your Lakers counterpart, a text message playing off that old yearbook phrase, "Raise hell this summer ... with your mini mid-level exception! The Clippers could have a full mid-level exception of about $5 million to spend if they are chintzy enough with the margins of their roster. Otherwise, they would have the mini mid-level exception of about $3.2 million plus a slew of veteran's minimum deals that usually go for about $1.4 million each. Thrilling stuff, it's not. But it should be enough to help your team upgrade at shooting guard while acquiring a post player who can consistently score, rebound and defend. You know, all the things DeAndre Jordan does only occasionally. Of course, the flip side will be saying goodbye to a dear friend while pruning the reserve unit known as A Tribe Called Bench. By way of explanation, just tell them, "The tribe has spoken." Here are the moves to make (with current salary, age and latest team for non-Clippers next to the players' names): Let them go Chauncey Billups ($4 million, 36) This one is going to be tough. You love him like a brother. He is the Penn to your Teller, a steadying presence to a young and, at times, juvenile group of players. Sadly, like Penn, he is prone to disappearing. In the final three games of the Memphis series, Billups scored zero, three and four points. Unless he's willing to come back on a veteran's minimum deal, it's going to have to be bye-bye, buddy. Lamar Odom ($8.2 million, 33) Odom tied for the league lead in games played. In those 82 games, he scored in double figures three times. Add it all up and ... well, that won't take long. Odom averaged career lows in points (4.0) and assists (1.7) while making more than the gross domestic product of some third-world countries. See ya. Ronny Turiaf ($1.1 million, 30)