Clippers Rumors

Clippers Waive Miroslav Raduljica

August 29th, 2014 at 1:09pm CST by Charlie Adams

FRIDAY, 1:09pm: The move is official, the team announced. It takes place in time for the team to use the stretch provision on Raduljica’s salary, a strategy the team indeed has been planning to pursue, as a report from today on the team’s waiver of Delfino indicates.

THURSDAY, 10:27pm: The Clippers are set to waive Miroslav Raduljica on Friday morning, reports Shams Charania of RealGM (on Twitter). Los Angeles received Raduljica and Carlos Delfino in the trade that sent Jared Dudley packing to the Bucks. Sam Amick of USA Today indicated on Tuesday that the Clips were likely to waive the duo, and the team appears poised to follow through with at least part of that move tomorrow morning.

Raduljica, 26, spent his sole NBA season with Milwaukee last year but didn’t get to spend much time on the floor. In 48 contests with the Bucks, the big man averaged 3.8 points and 2.3 rebounds over just 9.7 minutes per night. The Clippers will be on the hook for the $1,500,000 he’s owed this season, but won’t need to pay his non-guaranteed second year worth $1,567,500.

Waiving Raduljica will put the Clips at 12 guaranteed contracts. Should they choose to cut ties with Delfino as well, the team will roster only 11 players, two short of the league minimum. Los Angeles is reportedly likely to use the stretch provision to shed the injured Delfino’s contract. It’s not entirely clear whether or not they intend to use the same provision when they waive Raduljica, but that will presumably be the case, given the team’s proximity to its hard cap.

By moving Dudley and using the stretch provision on one or both of former the Bucks they acquired, the Clippers will distance themselves far enough away from the hard cap to be able bring aboard a veteran to fill out their roster. The team was recently linked to free agent big man Ekpe Udoh, as well as swingman Chris Douglas-Roberts.

Trade Details: Love, Thabeet, Sefolosha, Dudley

August 27th, 2014 at 9:41pm CST by Alex Lee

Here is the latest on a handful of recent trades from cap guru Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times and Basketball Insiders:

Pincus reports that the Wolves received a $6.3MM trade exception in the Kevin Love deal, which is the difference between the salaries of Love and Thaddeus Young ($6,308,194 to be exact). It was originally thought to be worth $4,644,503 — the difference between Love’s salary and the combined salaries of Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett — but Pincus indicates that, for Minnesota’s purposes, Love was traded for Young while Wiggins and Bennett were traded for Luc Mbah a Moute and Alexey Shved (Twitter links).
The Thunder have sent $100K along with Hasheem Thabeet to the Sixers in exchange for a top-55 protected second round draft pick, according to Pincus, who confirms that the deal will award Oklahoma City a $1.25MM trade exception. With Thabeet likely to be cut and Philly nearly certain not to finish as a top-five team next season, the Thunder essentially paid $100K for a $1.25MM trade exception that they’ll hold until August 26th, 2015 (Twitter links here).
Pincus reminds us that the Thunder also pulled off a similar maneuver when they dealt Thabo Sefolosha to the Hawks last month. In that deal, Oklahoma City sent $550K to Atlanta which netted them a trade exception worth $4.15MM. (Twitter links).
The Sixers are a likely candidate to take on salary this season via their cap room with cash and draft picks as compensation, Pincus believes. Each team is permitted to send out and receive up to $3.3MM in cash per season, so Philly can still receive up to $3.2MM (Twitter links here).
The 2017 first-round pick headed from the Clippers to the Bucks in the Jared Dudley deal is lottery protected through 2019, at which time it will become two second-round picks, one for 2020 and the other for 2021, Pincus reports. Of course, as Pincus points out, the Clippers are likely to be a playoff team for the foreseeable future so the pick should be with Milwaukee come 2017 (Twitter links).
While both deals were officially announced by at least one of the participating teams, Pincus tweets that Dudley still has to pass a physical to go to the Bucks while Thabeet is not required to do so to head to the Sixers.

And-Ones: James Jones, Sterling, Young

August 27th, 2014 at 5:02pm CST by Chuck Myron

The Wolves haven’t made the playoffs in 10 years, leaving owner Glen Taylor to blame as the constant amid a changing cast of star players, coaches and executives, argues Tom Ziller of SB Nation. Taylor’s latest salvos, aimed at Kevin Love, reflect poorly upon him, too, Ziller believes. Here’s more from around the league:

The Heat and James Jones had mutual interest in a new deal this summer and they spoke about the possibility before he chose to sign with the Cavs instead, as he tells Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel. Jones called his departure from Miami “the toughest professional decision I’ve had to make,” and while he previously cited a desire for more playing time as the reason why he left, he says to Winderman that he doesn’t harbor any resentment toward coach Erik Spoelstra.
Donald Sterling failed to petition the California Supreme Court by Monday’s deadline for review of a lower court’s decision to reject Sterling’s earlier petitions to halt or unwind the sale of the Clippers, according to Michael McCann of SI.com. That means Sterling has essentially run out of legal avenues to fight the sale, as McCann explains.
It was difficult to trade Thaddeus Young, Sixers GM Sam Hinkie admitted, citing the forward’s professionalism and positive attitude, as Michael Kaskey-Blomain of Philly.com chronicles. “Those things matter,” Hinkie said. “That’s why these decisions, while necessary, are still challenging.”

Clippers, Doc Rivers Agree To New Deal

August 27th, 2014 at 2:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

2:00pm: The deal is worth more than $50MM over the next five seasons, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports (Twitter link).

1:43pm: It’s an entirely new contract rather than an extension for Rivers, tweets Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times. That indicates that the terms of Rivers’ original pact with the team, which wasn’t set to expire until the summer of 2016, no longer apply.

11:07am: The Clippers and Doc Rivers have reached a deal that will keep him under contract with the team through the 2018/19 season, the team announced. Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports first reported a couple of weeks ago that Rivers, who serves as coach and president of basketball operations, was set for extension talks with the team just as new owner Steve Ballmer formally took control of the franchise. The terms of the new deal aren’t immediately clear, but Rivers signed a three-year, $21MM contract when he joined the Clippers last summer.

“This is an important day for this organization,” Ballmer said in the team’s statement. “I am excited to work with Doc for a long time as we build a championship culture that will deliver results both on and off the court. Not only is Doc one of the best coaches and executives in the game, but he continually embodies the hard core, committed and resilient character and winning culture that the Clippers represent. It was one of my top priorities to ensure that he was firmly in place as the long-term leader of this team.”

The extension announcement comes just a day after Rivers and his front office staff pulled off a trade that sent Jared Dudley to the Bucks and provides some long-term salary flexibility for the Clippers. Rivers has had a busy and tumultuous past several months, and the saga involving former owner Donald Sterling was at the center of it.

Rivers helped guide the team through the playoffs this spring just after the scandal burst into the headlines, but it was weeks before he shushed rumors that he would leave if the Sterling mess weren’t quickly remedied. Doubts about Rivers’ future resurfaced when interim CEO Dick Parsons testified in Sterling’s probate trial that Rivers had told him he didn’t think he would continue with the team if Sterling remained the owner. Ballmer’s formal acquisition of the club earlier this month seemed to stabilize that situation, and Rivers spoke of his admiration for the new owner and enthusiasm for a long-term future with the club as part of the team’s statement today.

Ballmer several days ago stopped short of acknowledging extension talks, but he called Rivers “phenomenal” and made it clear that he wanted to keep Rivers around. The former Microsoft CEO paid $2 billion to buy the team, a record price, but with a net worth of $18 billion, according to Forbes.com, there’s little reason to suspect he was unwilling to pony up for Rivers, particularly given the speed with which they reached agreement.

Rivers, 52, has only more than a year of experience as an executive but has served as a head coach for at least part of each of the last 15 seasons, compiling a 644-498 record. He won the 2008 title with the Celtics, but that was one of just three postseasons in which the teams that Rivers coached won more playoff games than they lost.

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports Images.

Clippers Likely To Waive Delfino, Raduljica

August 26th, 2014 at 5:49pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Clippers are likely to waive Carlos Delfino, whom they acquired earlier today, using the stretch provision, reports Sam Amick of USA Today. The other player that Los Angeles acquired in the Dudley trade, Miroslav Raduljica is also likely to be waived by the Clippers, notes Amick, suggesting that the team and Raduljica, who’s owed $1.5MM for this coming season, may reach a buyout deal.

The swap that was announced earlier today which sent Jared Dudley to the Bucks left the Clippers with just $649,228 to spend under the hard cap, according to the figures compiled by Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, which would leave only room for a prorated contract later in the season.

Delfino is owed $3.25MM for next season, and has a team option for 2015/16. By using the stretch provision prior to September 1st, the Clippers would be able to spread his salary for next season out evenly over the next five years, as well as his cap hit. This means Delfino would have to be waived by this coming Monday, otherwise this option would not be available to the team. By removing Delfino’s salary, the Clippers would then be able to add another player or two to their roster.

One strong possibility for the Clippers would be to add Chris Douglas-Roberts, reports Amick. The 27-year old shooting guard spent last season with the Hornets, appearing in 49 contests, averaging 6.9 PPG in 20.7 minutes per game. Douglas-Roberts could not be signed until Delfino was waived, notes Amick. Another player the Clippers could look to add would be Ekpe Udoh, who visited with Los Angeles earlier today.

Bucks Acquire Jared Dudley

August 26th, 2014 at 4:11pm CST by Chuck Myron

4:11pm: The deal is official, the Bucks announced. It’s Dudley and a 2017 first-rounder to the Bucks and Delfino, Raduljica and the Clippers’ own 2015 second-round pick, which Milwaukee acquired in a previous trade, going to the Clippers.

3:41pm: The 2017 first-round pick going from the Clippers to the Bucks will be lottery protected, a source indicates to Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Twitter link).

3:07pm: Delfino is only expected to miss part of the coming season, as Wojnarowski writes in his full story after deleting the tweet that indicated Delfino would likely miss the entire season.

2:33pm: The first-rounder headed Milwaukee’s way is a protected 2017 selection, according to Marc Stein of ESPN.com (on Twitter).

2:20pm: The Clippers will also receive their own 2015 second-round pick that Milwaukee had acquired through a previous trade, reports Sam Amick of USA Today (Twitter link).

1:59pm: The Clippers are sending Jared Dudley to the Bucks, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports. Carlos Delfino, Miroslav Raduljica head to L.A. while the Clippers also send Milwaukee a future first-round pick, Wojnarowski adds in a second tweet. Delfino, who missed all of last season because of injury, is likely to be out all of this year, too, according to Wojnarowski, making this trade purely about unloading Dudley’s salary from the Clippers’ perspective (Twitter link). Dudley is set to make $4.25MM this season and has an early termination option for the final season of his contract in 2015/16, which is also for $4.25MM.

Delfino originally hurt his right foot while with the Rockets in the 2013 playoffs, and while he signed a three-year, $9.75MM contract last summer with Milwaukee, he’ll never have taken the floor for the club while on that deal. The final season is non-guaranteed, so given L.A.’s apparent motivation to offload salary in the deal, it appears there’s a strong chance that Delfino will end up never having played at all under his contract.

Raduljica will make $1.5MM this season, but his salary for slightly more than that in 2015/16 is non-guaranteed, so the Clippers can cut ties with both he and Delfino next summer and pocket the savings. There was no guarantee that Dudley would have opted in, but the deal gives them greater cost control.

The move is a net gain in salary of $500K for the Clippers this year, moving them less than $1MM beneath their hard cap. The Clippers will end up with 13 players as a result of the transaction, so they won’t have to sign anyone else to meet the regular season roster minimum. The deal will leave the team with $649,228 to spend under the hard cap, according to the figures compiled by Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, so that leaves only room for a prorated contract later in the season.

The Bucks had been carrying 15 guaranteed contracts plus two non-guaranteed deals, one of which is for Kendall Marshall, who’ll probably be part of the team’s rotation. So, the trade will allow the team to keep Marshall without having to unload a fully guaranteed contract.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Clippers Meet With Ekpe Udoh

August 26th, 2014 at 3:26pm CST by Chuck Myron

Free agent center Ekpe Udoh is visiting the Clippers today, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports (on Twitter). The timing is curious, since the team’s trade agreement with the Bucks leaves the Clippers without the ability to sign him, thanks to the hard cap the club triggered this summer, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders points out (Twitter links). L.A. could afford to sign Udoh during the season to a prorated deal, as I noted earlier, or it could create additional space with another trade, or by waiving a player and using the stretch provision.

Udoh was close to a deal with the Clippers earlier this summer before the team signed Glen Davis, as Amick reported last month, though Udoh wasn’t among a group of big men the team was apparently set to work out earlier this month. The Heat have also reportedly held interest.

The Bucks decided against tendering a qualifying offer this summer to Udoh, the former sixth overall pick whom they acquired in 2012 as part of the Andrew Bogut trade. Milwaukee also renounced its rights to him, and while that doesn’t preclude him from re-signing with the team, it signals that it’s highly unlikely, especially in light of a lack of reports connecting the Bucks to the Chris Luchey client.

Pacific Notes: Thomas, Beasley, Ballmer

August 25th, 2014 at 5:57pm CST by Cray Allred

Jonathan Tjarks of RealGM expects plenty of suitors to pursue Eric Bledsoe next summer if he accepts the Suns one-year qualifying offer and aims for a max deal as a free agent. Here’s more from the Pacific Division:

Isaiah Thomas tells Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders that while many found it puzzling he would join a loaded backcourt in Phoenix, the Suns‘ belief in his talent made it an easy decision to leave the Kings as a free agent. “I went on one visit, with the Phoenix Suns, and they just pulled out the red carpet for me and in the end I just felt wanted,” said Thomas. “I always felt like [Sacramento] didn’t appreciate me as much as they should. I’m not saying the fans [didn’t]–the fans loved me and the city of Sacramento loved me. But it’s a business. They felt like they could get somebody better and I don’t blame them; that’s on them, and it’s their loss.”
The Lakers like what they saw from Michael Beasley‘s workout with the team, tweets Eric Pincus of the Los Angeles Times, but their abundance of forwards could motivate him to prioritize other options.
We learned earlier that the Lakers have signed their second-round pick Jordan Clarkson.
Mark Cuban said he thinks new Clippers owner Steve Ballmer will bring positive energy to the league, telling ESPN Dallas 103.3 FM’s “The Afternoon Show with Cowlishaw and Mosley” that Ballmer will be good for the NBA (transcription via Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com). “I’ve known Steve for a long time, going back into my twenties, and he’s always been this way,” Cuban said. “So this isn’t Steve Ballmer getting hyped just for the Clippers. This is just the way he is. He’s going to be great for the league.

Trade Retrospective: Chris Paul To The Clippers

August 24th, 2014 at 12:40pm CST by Eddie Scarito

With the Kevin Love blockbuster now official, time will tell which franchise got the better of the trade. The Wolves dealt away their star player for a number of intriguing pieces, and the Cavs netted a another star to pair alongside LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, while the Sixers look to nab the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s draft. It’s always a risky proposition to deal a top-flight player away, as past deals have demonstrated. It’s with that in mind that I’ve been looking back at other blockbuster trades and how they have worked out for all involved.

So far I’ve examined the trades that sent Dwight Howard to the Lakers; Deron Williams to the Nets; Kevin Garnett to the Celtics; Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks; and Shaquille O’Neal to the Heat. Next up is the 2011 deal that saw Chris Paul traded from the Pelicans to the Clippers.

On December 8, 2011, the Pelicans had agreed to a three-team trade that would send Paul to the Lakers; Pau Gasol to the Rockets; and Kevin Martin; Luis Scola; Lamar Odom; Goran Dragic; and a 2012 first-rounder (Royce White) that Houston had acquired from the Knicks, to New Orleans.

During this time the league was in charge of all decisions involving the Pelicans while they awaited new ownership to take control of the franchise. There were numerous reports that other team owners were angry about the trade due to their focus at achieving competitive balance between the larger and smaller market teams. The league allowing a pairing of Paul alongside Kobe Bryant was the antithesis of this goal.

An email that was sent to then Commissioner David Stern was published in The New York Times and Cleveland Plain Dealer, in which Cavs owner Dan Gilbert called the proposed deal “a travesty” and urged Stern to put the deal to a vote of “the 29 owners of the Pelicans,” referring to the rest of the league’s teams. Despite the backlash, the league claimed the deal was turned down for purely basketball reasons. “It’s not true that the owners killed the deal,” NBA spokesman Mike Bass said at the time. “The deal was never discussed at the Board of Governors meeting and the league office declined to make the trade for basketball reasons.”

The second attempt at trading Paul to a team in Los Angeles went a bit smoother, and on December 15th, Paul was dealt to the Clippers. Let’s take a look at the players and assets involved:

The Clippers acquired Paul and two 2015 second-rounders (both of which have since been traded).
The Pelicans received Eric Gordon; Chris Kaman; Al-Farouq Aminu; and a 2012 first-rounder via the Timberwolves (Austin Rivers).

It’s hard to compare the two deals and not think that the league and the Pelicans would have been better served with the initial trade to the Lakers, seeing how well Dragic has developed, and how Gordon’s injury woes and bloated contract haven’t quite worked out in New Orleans’ favor.

Once the trade was completed, Paul announced that he would opt in for the final year of his deal, thus ensuring he’d remain with the Clippers for at least two seasons. Paul would later sign a five-year, $107MM contract extension on July 10, 2013.

The Clippers’ records in the years leading up to the Paul trade were quite dismal.

2007/08: 23-59
2008/09: 19-63
2009/10: 29-53
2010/11: 32-50

Their records after the deal:

2011/12: 40-26 (Lost in second round of playoffs to the Spurs)
2012/13: 56-26 (Lost in first round to Grizzlies)
2013/14: 57-25 (Lost in second round to Thunder)

While they haven’t made it past the second round of the playoffs yet, there is a marked improvement in the franchise since Paul arrived. Let’s look at his production since arriving in Los Angeles.

2011/12: 19.8 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 9.1 APG, and 2.5 SPG. His slash line was .478/.371/.861.
2012/13: 16.9 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 9.7 APG, and 2.4 SPG. His slash line was .481/.328/.885.
2013/14: 19.1 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 10.7 APG, and 2.5 SPG. His slash line was .467/.368/.855.

While Paul isn’t solely responsible for the reversal of the Clippers’ fortunes, he’s been an integral part of the turnaround, and it’s hard to argue that Los Angeles didn’t win this deal easily, especially since Paul still has a number of seasons left in his prime before he begins to hit his decline phase.

The Pelicans definitely took a major step back with the trade. First let’s look at their records in the seasons prior to the trade.

2007/08: 56-26 (Lost in second round to the Spurs)
2008/09: 49-33 (Lost in first round to the Nuggets)
2009/10: 37-45
2010/11: 46-36 (Lost in first round to Lakers)

While they weren’t anyone’s definition of a Championship caliber team, here are their records after Paul was traded.

2011/12: 21-45
2012/13: 27-55
2013/14: 34-48

This trade would look a bit different if Eric Gordon had avoided injuries and continued the developmental progress he displayed during his first three seasons in the league, when he was considered a budding star. Here are his numbers with the Clippers.

2008/09: 16.1 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 2.8 APG. His slash line was .456/.389/.854.
2009/10: 16.9 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 3.0 APG. His slash line was .449/.371/.742.
2010/11: 22.3 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 4.4 APG. His slash line was .450/.364/.825.

Gordon only managed nine games during his first season in New Orleans. It was revealed that he had a pre-existing knee injury that was aggravated during the first game of the season. The injury was originally believed to be just a bone bruise, but further examinations determined that Gordon had cartilage damage in his right knee, and he underwent surgery in February of 2012. Gordon returned toward the end of the season, but was noticeably slowed as he continued to recover.

He entered the summer of 2012 as a restricted free agent and on July 11, 2012, Gordon signed a four-year, $58MM offer sheet with the Suns. The Pelicans matched the offer, much to Gordon’s displeasure, and the Indianapolis native returned to New Orleans a touch disgruntled by the events. At the time Gordon said, “If (the Pelicans) were interested, there wouldn’t have been no tour, there wouldn’t have been nothing. There’s been no negotiations. I was right there in Indiana. I haven’t received no calls, to me personally, they’ve contacted my agent. As for now, I don’t know what’s going on. If the Pelicans match as of right now, I’d be disappointed.”

Since the surgery Gordon hasn’t been the same player. Here are his numbers since arriving in New Orleans:

2011/12: 20.6 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 3.4 APG. His slash line was .450/.250/.754.
2012/13: 17.0 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 3.3 APG. His slash line was .402/.324/.842.
2013/14: 15.4 PPG, 2.6 RPG, and 3.3 A{G. His slash line was .436/.391/.785.

The injury to Gordon wasn’t something that could be predicted, but it’s interesting to look at the numbers of the players New Orleans could have gotten if the first trade went through.

Here are Kevin Martin‘s stats during the same span:

2011/12: 17.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG, and 2.8 APG. His slash line was .413/.347/.894.
2012/13: 14.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 1.4 APG. His slash line was .450/.426/.890.
2013/14: 19.1 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 1.8 APG. His slash line was .430/.387/.891.

Martin’s numbers are comparable to Gordon’s, and he’s currently signed to a four-year, $28MM contract, which is significantly less than Gordon’s deal. To compound the disparity, let’s look at Goran Dragic‘s numbers during the same span.

2011/12: 11.7 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 5.3 APG. His slash line was .462/.337/.805.
2012/13: 14.7 PPG, 3.1 RPG, and 7.4 APG. His slash line was .443/.319/.748.
2013/14: 20.3 PPG, 3.2 RPG, and 5.9 APG. His slash line was .505/.408/.760.

Dragic is currently in the middle of a four-year, $30MM deal he signed as a restricted free agent back in 2012. If you do the math, the Pelicans could have had both Martin and Dragic for the same price they are paying the oft-injured Gordon now.

Chris Kaman only played for one season in New Orleans, averaging 13.1 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 1.6 BPG. He would then sign with the Mavericks in the offseason for one year and $8MM.

Al-Farouq Aminu lasted three seasons in New Orleans before leaving this summer to also sign with Dallas as a free agent on a two-year, $2.1MM deal. Aminu’s numbers with the Pelicans were:

2011/12: 6.0 PPG, 4.7 RPG, and 1.0 APG. His slash line was .411/.277/.754.
2012/13: 7.3 PPG, 7.7 RPG, and 1.4 APG. His slash line was .475/.211/.737.
2013/14: 7.2 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 1.4 APG. His slash line was .474/.271/.664.

In keeping with the theme of “what could have been,” here are Luis Scola‘s numbers during the same stretch:

2011/12: 15.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG, and 2.1 APG. His slash line was .491/.000/.773.
2012/13: 12.8 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 2.2 APG. His slash line was .472/.188/.787.
2013/14: 7.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG, and 1.0 APG. His slash line was .470/.143/.728.

The polite way to describe Austin Rivers‘ career thus far would be to say he’s been a disappointment, as he hasn’t lived up to having been a lottery pick. Rivers was a highly touted freshman when he entered college for his lone season at Duke, but many draft experts correctly predicted that he should have remained in school for at least one more season. Rivers’ numbers in the NBA thus far are:

2012/13: 6.2 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 2.1 APG. His slash line was .372/.326/.546.
2013/14: 7.7 PPG, 1.9 RPG, and 2.3 APG. His slash line was .405/.364/.636.

Rivers is only 22 years old, and he could still develop into a serviceable rotation player, but from what he’s shown on the court thus far, it is extremely unlikely he’ll justify being selected in the lottery, even in a draft as weak as 2012’s.

The results of this trade are a prime example of how it is almost impossible to get equal value when trading away a star player. Granted, if Gordon had not have been injured and he continued to be a 20+ PPG scorer, the deal would look a lot more favorable for New Orleans.

The only benefit the franchise received from the trade was losing enough games during the 2011/12 season to secure the No. 1 overall pick they used to select Anthony Davis, who has the potential to become a top-five player in the league over the next few seasons. If Paul had remained on the roster it isn’t likely they would have been in that draft position, and Paul would have almost assuredly left as a free agent as soon as he was able.

It’s hard to predict what the Pelicans’ record would have been had the league not nixed the original trade. But looking at the transactions with hindsight, the franchise would have received better value with the original deal. The Suns should also send yearly thank-you cards to the Pelicans for matching their offer sheet to Gordon.

As for the Clippers, they clearly got the best player in the trade, and though it hasn’t resulted in a trip to the Conference Finals and beyond thus far, I’d be willing to bet they would make this deal 100 times over. This transaction is another shining example of the worth of a superstar in today’s NBA.

And-Ones: Clippers, Diawara, Mavs, Cavs

August 20th, 2014 at 12:00pm CST by Chuck Myron

Interim Clippers CEO Dick Parsons will step down in a few weeks, as he tells the Fox Business Network, according to Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com (Twitter link). The move is no surprise now that Steve Ballmer has officially taken over the franchise, since Parsons said in May shortly after the league installed him as a caretaker for the team that he had no plans of remaining with the club after its ownership situation was resolved. Parsons has been acting as a “proxy owner,” as he put it, with final authority over any decisions president of basketball operations Doc Rivers made. Here’s more from around the league:

Multiple NBA teams had interest in bringing Yakhouba Diawara back to the league this summer, but he indicated on his Twitter account late Tuesday that he’s signing with Pallacanestro Varese of Italy (hat tip to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia). David Pick of Eurobasket.com confirms the news with a tweet of his own. Diawara worked out for the Raptors, Bucks and Nets over the past few months.
This season’s minimum salary in Ivan Johnson‘s two-year contract with the Mavs is guaranteed for only $25K, reports Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link).
It appears as though the Cavs guaranteed $65K of the minimum salary for Alex Kirk this season, Pincus also tweets.

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