Rumors abounded for a spell, but what we appear
to finally have is the truth: the Knicks just dumped Zach Randolph off on
the Los Angeles Clippers. Donnie Walsh has become the un-Isiah.
There's no point in killing the Clippers too much for making
what is essentially a pretty pointless move. They don't need Zach Randolph, at
all. The idea of Randolph and Chris Kaman playing alongside each other kind of
reminds of Zach and Eddy Curry trying to go at it, though Kaman has more high
post gifts than Eddy Curry. Michael
Kamen had more high post gifts than Eddy Curry, for that matter, but that's
beside the point.
Randolph's
contract is horrible, and I still think he hurts teams despite his point and
rebound production, but the contract isn't piling on the mess in the same way
that Isiah piled bad deal after bad deal on his Knicks.
The Clippers had to pay Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas anyway
next season, so they're not losing any money this year or next, and with Marcus
Camby's contract coming off the books in 2010, the Clippers will have some
flexibility in Randolph's
final year.
What the deal is, though,Nike Zoom Lebron VII(7) Women Shoes Black Grey Red, is pointless. The Clippers are 29th
in offense, and Randolph
will help, but what the squad desperately needs is some sort of wing scorer.
Actually, they needed two. Cuttino Mobley and Al Thornton have both had their
moments this year, but they use up a lot of minutes and a lot of shots to get
their (average the two out) 15 points per game. There's a reason this team is
so inefficient, and Thornton/Mobley/Ricky Davis' play at the wings has the most
to do with it.
And as horrible as Baron Davis has been at times, he's still
helping the offense. Not a lot, but he is averaging eight assists for a team
that only 35 field goals a game. That's a Steve Carlton-on-the-Phillies level
of production, if Carlton
had a 9.72 ERA and struck out 12 guys all season.
Davis
is shooting 36 percent, he's taking an average of 6.5 three-pointers per game
and making an average of 1.6 a contest (re-read that, it's astounding), and
he's getting to the line nearly half as much as he used to. Other than that,
bang on.
But while Baron should be playing better per his contract
and abilities, he's not the problem. Mobley and Thornton and Ricky Davis have
been. The team is just getting nothing from those wing spots.
And the team's
rebounding, somehow, is awful. The Clippers are being out-rebounded by about
five and a half per game, even though Kaman and Camby are combining to average
over 20 per game. I don't see how Randolph
can help that, because his rebounding acumen will come at the expense of another
good rebounder's minutes.
So, essentially, the Clippers have further weakened their
weakest position, added a superfluous big man,Mens Barefoot Nike Free 5.0 V4 Sea Blue Black Shoes, and a year's worth of salary.
Not the end of the world, but not good, either. Maybe they can trade Camby back
to the Nuggets for J.R. Smith and a part?
The Knicks, as you know, killed it. Thomas and Mobley don't
have to play a game. Hell, if I'm New
York, I do a favor to their agents and try to work
the buyout. Let them try to catch on with a contender. You don't need old, bad
(Thomas' PER is about 10, Mobley's
is 11) players taking up space on your team. Trade like mad,Nike Zoom Lebron VII(7) Kid Shoes Wine, if you can.
As it stands, as
Woj mentioned, the Knicks have lopped off about $17.34 million off their
2010-11 books, and are only set to send about $18.1 million combined to Eddy
Curry and Jared Jeffries that year (both player options ... thanks Isiah!), plus
the rookie deals of Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari (about $5.4 million,
combined). That's a pretty barren landscape, with lots of flexibility.
It doesn't have to be for LeBron, or D-Wade, or Chris Bosh.
It just has to be a way to start over. The same start Knicks fans have been
waiting for since it became obvious that the Ewing/Sprewell/Houston troika
wasn't going to work some eight or nine (depending on your fandom) years ago. What
a fantastic trade.
And the Clippers? Thanks for knowing your role.
