The bad dream will soon be a memory:
Clearing the way for No. 1 pick Blake Griffin, the Clippers have agreed to trade power forward Zach Randolph to Memphis for former Clipper Quentin Richardson, The Times learned today.
Because of salary-cap rules, the deal can’t be completed until next week.
A Clippers spokesman said the team would have no comment on the report.
Randolph played 39 games for the Clippers last season after being acquired from New York, averaging 20.9 points and 9.4 rebounds, both team highs.
He was a core member of the team, right up until the Clippers won the lottery that enabled them to draft Griffin, considered one of the top power forward prospects in recent years.
Beyond that, the Clippers are intent on turning up the pace, which didn’t fit Randolph, a half-court low-post player, but is perfect for the speedy Griffin.
It also works for the Clippers’ bottom line, and their salary cap. With Richardson under contract for only this season, the deal gets them out from under Randolph’s contract, which has two seasons, worth $33.3 million left on it.
This will have the effect of putting the Clippers far under the salary cap after the upcoming season, which may make them major players for the big 2010 free agent class.
25 Responses
This should make you really happy, Kevin. Remember the email I sent you talking about sending Randolph to MEM? Looks like it happened, only without the number two pick. Oh well. The major benefit I see out of this is cap space for 2010 (LBJ, dare I dream?).
I would rather have seen Kaman dealt for Battier (but that ain’t gonna happen, thank you Gortat) or Prince. C’est la vie.
Posted on July 1st, 2009 at 5:59 pm
finally– a deal that makes sense. when i heard (from chad ford’s espn chat yesterday) that a zach-darko draft-day deal was in place and donald nixed it, i was po’d. now im ecstatic. donald probably only OK’d this b/c he knew who Q was.
Posted on July 1st, 2009 at 6:00 pm
i can’t believe they did the impossible by trading zbo!
Q rich is an ok player i guess as long as he doesn’t take selfish shots.
I would of taken the kamen for rip hamilton trade though.
Posted on July 1st, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Wow, we got someone to take Randolph. That’s excellent news.
How much exactly is Q being paid this year? Must be a lot for that trade to work, cap-wise. I never liked the guy when he was a Clipper the first time, wouldn’t know a quality shot if it slapped him in the face. Anyway, let’s hope the injuries don’t mess us about as much this year and we can keep him where he belongs, on the bench.
Posted on July 1st, 2009 at 6:03 pm
What an amazing deal!!!
Not only is he a Clipper favorite, but also he’s in the last year of his contract which means two things:
1. He’s off the books after the season, making us major players in 2010 (Which was noted in the article)
&
2. He will be trying/playing really hard at 29 years old (peak age for several NBA players) because he will try to get another legit deal after the season is over.
Next move:
Buyout Ricky Davis, and sign D. Miles!!!
Posted on July 1st, 2009 at 6:07 pm
I think a tear of joy may have just come, and dare I say Donald Sterling saved the day by not doing the Darko deal (sure, may have been one year too, but Q Rich was fun to watch here and plays more uptempo and can back up Gordon). AMAZING!
Posted on July 1st, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Wow, I’m calling it: Quentin Richardson 2009-2010 Sixth Man of the Year.
clipsamba Reply:
July 1st, 2009 at 6:49 pm
Agree. But Dunleavy might play him too much for his D. He’ll retire as a Clipper and if everything goes well…he’ll be the part of Clippers success story.
Don’t we really miss D.MILES now?
Seth Reply:
July 1st, 2009 at 7:05 pm
I think D. Miles’ knees are too messed up to be high-flying like the good ol’ days; however, Q has a new partner, Al Thornton has the athleticism of D. Miles circa 2003.
Ian Reply:
July 1st, 2009 at 8:16 pm
and the IQ
Posted on July 1st, 2009 at 6:18 pm
I was a fan of Z-BO but he just had to go with Blake coming on. Although I really don’t think we will be players in 2010 regardless of our cap situation, We will still have Baron at the 1, Gordon at the 2, Blake at the 4. Leaving only an upgrade at the 5 or 3 positions. I don’t think there will be a Center free agent upgrade over Kaman and Lebron is going to the Knicks or staying in Cleveland in my opinion. I say we use the extra scratch to sign a decent defensive minded small forward such as Shawn Marion, Marquis Daniels, or maybe a guy like Von Wafer.
pel Reply:
July 1st, 2009 at 8:11 pm
I have your guy, Q-ross, super defender+super cheap
Chris. Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:54 am
lol
Posted on July 1st, 2009 at 6:28 pm
First of all this is AMAZING news. Sure, we’d all love a defensive minded SF in return but we get an ol’ fan favorite in return and someone who can back up Gordon and run and gun and move the tempo. Players wise this is GREAT, especially for Gordon.
Now, let’s talk salaray cap, AMAZING. Next year we will be players in the 2010 market, maybe not for a Lebron but for a talented player who can fill a void we need after playing this upcoming season (now we can get our defensive star glue guy SF hopefully and Al can be the 6th man of the year every year). Also, let’s not forget that the following year Kaman comes off the books and we will be players in that FA market too (although eventually are going to have to keep money open to re-sign our young stars).
3rd and I can’t believe I can say this, but nice one Sterling (hey, i could mean the silver and i will stick to my guns if i have to), but this is better than Darko or Jaric deal he, he, he denied.
Finally, NO MORE TRADES. I know many of you want to trade Kaman or Camby, but we definitely need Camby now to teach Griffin and be his mentor and back up/starting Center when Kaman goes down. Hopefully Kaman can get his act together because he is worth much more than what is being offered for him right now. Plus, even if he doesn’t go back to Kaman 2.0, next summer as on the last year of his contract he’ll be a better trade asset. But MAINLY, and this may upset a few of you, but D. Jordan is not a starter and nowhere near being a starter for us. Trading Kaman now and he may have to be and that is not a good idea. We cleared the room for Griffin, please lets keep this team. B. Davis will be out to prove something, Q Rich will want to be healthy it being a contract year for him, and Camby is happy to guide B. Griffin. This trade makes us go from worst to much better, let’s not try to keep changing things anymore. Best deal, Clips should be done.
Ian Reply:
July 1st, 2009 at 8:17 pm
Kaman’s gotta go. He can’t play up-tempo. Deandre can…
Chris. Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:56 am
Deandre is still a project and not a starter at all. Kaman’s value is too low for what it should be for a true legit center like him that is hard to find in this league. Now, Kaman for S/T Artest from Houston, yeah, dream, but not worth some of the junk being said because Jordan is not ready to step it up yet, hopefully he will be in the future which looks bright, but not yet.
Posted on July 1st, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Anyone else notice that this trade doesn’t work in the NBA trade machine?
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine
Ted E. Reply:
July 1st, 2009 at 6:57 pm
I should add, Richardson still shows up as a Knick in the trade machine. Also, the salaries figures are slightly different than on Hoops Hype but the overall dollar gap is roughly the same. Certainly big enough to invalidate a trade.
Seth Reply:
July 1st, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Memphis is way under the cap, so it works out.
Chris. Reply:
July 2nd, 2009 at 12:57 am
i believe we get a bit trade exempt kicker plus money from them too
Posted on July 1st, 2009 at 6:54 pm
o happy day
andrew Reply:
July 1st, 2009 at 11:15 pm
indeed
Posted on July 1st, 2009 at 7:06 pm
F Q, this means we get Moesha back running over the citizens of LA! Look both ways before you cross the streets bitches!
Posted on July 1st, 2009 at 7:27 pm
I like the trade,We need more players who work and play Hard!Not who Punches
people and only think about Themselves,not the team.We next need a Back-up
PG I’m thinking “Bobby Jackson”.
Posted on July 4th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Clippers are going to the playoffs this upcoming season we are stacked thank god for the zbo trade the only thing that needs to happen is for dunleavy to step down as head coach bcuz this team needs to run and dunleavy plays a half court game imagine how much better b diddy would have played if dunleavy ran uptempo basketball all he does is sloww the ball and iso either kaman or randolph he is garbage as a gm he is very good he gets great talent he even got somebody to take on randolph’s contratct you have to be a great gm to achieve that but unless dunleavy is at the helm us CLIPPER NATION will not see the nba finals or come close to it
Posted on July 6th, 2009 at 2:32 am
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