Everything But Poker

Amid the recent firestorm of fan disapproval of management's performance over the past couple years, the Clippers pulled off a trade Wednesday that perfectly illustrates one of the most disconcerting realities of the NBA: that no NBA general manager can resist the lure of 20 points and 10 rebounds, no matter what package they come in. But, more importantly, it could act as collective backhand slap to the army of haters that has relentlessly portrayed the Clippers as a never-ending suckhole of despair. While the deal cannot be made official until after the salary cap is set next week, the L.A. Times reported that the Clippers will trade Zach Randolph to the Memphis Grizzlies for Quentin Richardson and possibly one other player, depending on the cap number.

Whatever, right? That deal is just the Clippers’ making room for No. 1 pick Blake Griffin to get some more burn as a rookie and dumping some salary while they’re at it.

Oh, if it were only that simple. While it’s true the Clippers were looking to trade one of their talented big men in order to get Griffin on the court, the idea of Randolph’s being the one to go was inconceivable as recently as last week. The other two guys, Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby, are valuable commodities to just about any NBA franchise. One is a 7-foot, ambidextrous post player with 15/12 potential and three years left on his contract at a manageable salary. The other a 6-11 former defensive player of the year with an admirable work ethic and an expiring contract, which is the NBA equivalent of pudding in your lunchbox --- enjoyable for a far-too-brief period of time and extremely valuable on the trade market.

Zach Randolph is none of those things. He is 6-9 and weighs 260 lbs. His work ethic is, well, non-existent. He chooses not to play defense, was suspended twice last season (once for punching Phoenix Sun Louis Amundson in the face during a game, the other for getting arrested for DUI), and has been traded twice in the past three years for just about pennies on the dollar. He is owed $33 million over the next two years, which currently makes him the 18th-highest paid player in the NBA --- ahead of LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard and Chris Paul --- and is the perfect personification of the Clippers’ lifelong suckhole stigma.

Ah, but he is also one of the select few power forwards that can almost guarantee 20 points and 10 rebounds each night. In fact, that is what he averaged last season splitting time with the Knicks and Clippers, two teams that, only months after his acquisition, realized how grave a mistake they had made and immediately tried to get rid of him. In 2007 the Blazers traded him for Channing Frye and Steve Francis (who never played a game for Portland). The following year the Knicks shipped him off for Tim Thomas and Cuttino Mobley (who retired a week later). And on Wednesday, in return for Randolph’s services, the Clippers got Richardson, who returns to his former team with a bad back that may render him useless after it’s all said and done.

So to recap, despite his All-Star production each of the past six seasons, Zach Randolph is worth no more to his last three than a backup center (Frye), a poisonous, lethargic forward (Thomas) and an ailing shooting guard (Richardson). There was supposed to be no chance that he would get traded again, especially given the amount of money he is still owed. But the Memphis Grizzlies took the bait, showing how shockingly desperate NBA teams are for low-post point production, even at the cost of a team’s economic viability, emotional stability and community reputation.

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Well, now that that absurdity has been covered, it’s time to look forward to the 2009-10 Clippers, a team that still night not have its opening night roster set. If there is any truth to the myth of addition by subtraction in professional basketball, the Randolph trade will likely become Example A. Even though the Clippers won only 19 games last year, there are few people that would argue that they did not have the talent to win more. Hence, sports writers --- especially ESPN.com’s Sports Guy --- have taken to calling Coach/GM Mike Dunleavy the worst coach and/or general manager in the sport – or all sports, for that matter. So when they landed the top pick in this year’s draft, the concern around Clipper offices was that they had too much talent and too few minutes during a game in which to play it.

If studied in a vacuum, Randolph’s departure means the Clippers need to find someone to score 20 points and 10 rebounds to maintain the 19-win total from a year ago. And while it’s a bit of a stretch to expect that from the rookie, it’s not impossible. Either way, I’m not in a vacuum (I’m in a room sitting next to a vacuum). What is lost from Z-Bo’s offensive production can be replaced by Griffin’s expected offensive output, plus his defensive contribution --- the simple fact that it exists at all is enough to exceed Randolph’s.

So the Clippers’ opening night lineup, as it appears right now, will likely be Baron Davis, Eric Gordon, Al Thornton, Marcus Camby and Chris Kaman, with Griffin, Richardson, Steve Novak and second-year players Mike Taylor and DeAndre Jordan coming off the bench. Griffin will probably be starting by 2010 and several outlets have reported that the Clippers are pursuing Lakers’ forward Trevor Ariza, so this lineup could still improve further. But at first glance, that squad looks like a serious playoff contender.

In fact, barring injuries to Gordon, Davis, Kaman and Camby, this team will have no excuse for not making the playoffs next season. They may be a bit thin on the wing and will rely heavily on Gordon, the second-year stud, but if Dunleavy can’t steer this team to the post-season, fans will call for his head for the second off-season in a row, only this time it will be completely warranted. Unfortunately, those injury concerns are very real, not that it will stop the fans from calling for Dunleavy’s head anyway.

Beyond the elevated expectations for this season, however, the Clippers have now positioned themselves as one of the most attractive destinations for free agents next summer. Getting rid of Randolph clears $17.3 million from the 2010-11 roster, and Richardson, Camby and Ricky Davis’ contracts all expire after this season, all of which will clear $19.4 million from the roster. That will leave the Clippers $20-25 million under the salary cap next summer, when superstars such as LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh become free agents, all of whom will get the chance to play with emerging stars such as Gordon and Griffin.

Really, was there ever a team more tailor-made for LeBron James? An experienced, play-making point guard (Davis), a lights-out shooting guard (Gordon), an explosive, hard-working power forward (Griffin) and a dependable center (Kaman) --- plus plenty of emerging talent coming off the bench? George Bush could coach that team and it would still win it all. I could write Dunleavy’s sales pitch to the King James right now: LeBron, you will win a championship next year with this team. Want to sign?

OK, my math may be a little off, and the possibility of luring LeBron a ridiculous fantasy, but during my years as a Clipper fan, “the future” has been a tantalizing dream of success only twice: in 1992 after they nearly beat the Jazz in the first round of the playoffs, and in 2001 when the team had a young core of Elton Brand, Lamar Odom, Corey Maggette, Darius Miles and Richardson. Now for the third time, success is on the horizon, and this time it feels a little different. The first obstacle has been shipped out of town, now it’s time for all that talent to shine through. But, as they always say, this is the Clippers, so ...



Correction: Ramona Shelburne of the LA Daily News reports that, as it stands right now, the Clippers will be about $17 million under the cap next off-season. So that probably won't get the job done signing LeBron, but if the economy turns around in a big way, it could mean more cap room.