For a good analysis of the trade of one overpaid player with a bad attitude (Zach Randolph) for one overpaid player with a bad back (Quentin Richardson), check out Kevin Arnovitz’s good post earlier today on TrueHoop. He also has some interesting comments on his ClipperBlog about how this gives Clipper fans hope for the future which you might find intriguing. However, for moronic babbling about the trade, stick here.
Now while I would’ve loved to get back more than a stiff with a stiff back (say that 10 times, fast, “get back more than a stiff with a stiff back, get back more than a stiff with a stiff back, get back more than a stiff with a stiff back…”), it’s pretty amazing that any team was willing to take on Zach’s huge contract. While he may be able to help Memphis score more, he’s rather lacking in personal character, defensive ability, and general knowledge that one is allowed to pass the ball. I read some Grizz fan saying that new rookie Thabeet (who’s a defensive stud) will be able to make up for Zach’s D miscues. Um, we had Marcus Camby whose been at this a while and whose whole game is about helping out on D when people get beat, and that didn’t work. The other thing is he will end up taking time away from Thabeet and Pau’s baby bro, Marc Gasol, while providing a poor role model.
Wait, wait, but this wasn’t going to be a whole post ragging on Zach. It was gonna be a post ragging on the Grizzlies. See the other disappointment I had with this trade is that I was pretty frickin’ psyched when Quentin got traded to Memphis for comedic reasons: it meant that him and his ol’ fellow former Clip head-bopping buddy Darius Miles were gonna be reunited! Then it occurred to me, wait, aren’t there other former Clips on Memphis? Oh yes indeed. Marko Jaric and Quinton Ross. That means he Grizzlies will have had 5 former Clips on the their roster this week (when you add in Q, Darius & Zach)! Bet they were pissed as hell last season when the Thunder beat them to the punch and picked up Shaun Livingston.
Lots of teams have been following in the footsteps of Portland’s Kevin Pritchard and the Former Sonic’s Sam Presti who have cut down on large salaries and have been slowly accumulating talent and assets through the draft. Similarly, some teams are starting to follow Houston’s brilliant GM Darryl Morey who’s use of statistics is attempting to do for basketball what Moneyball did for baseball. But what team in their right mind would follow the Clippers’ model?
It’s not just that they take former Clips — everything about them reeks of Clip-dom (or should that be Clip-dumb?). They have a cheap owner. They have a team name leftover from their previous location that no longer makes sense (there are about as many Grizzlies in Memphis as there are clippers sailing through East Los Angeles & downtown). Both teams have had brief flirtations success when it seemed like they were laying the foundation for something larger only to completely fizzle out (the Clips with Larry Brown in the 90s, then with Elton Brand & Sam Cassell a few years ago, while the Grizz made the playoffs several times with the Pau, Battier, Posey, White Chocolate combo under Hubie Brown). They both have let solid players go for nothing (the Grizz with Pau, the Clips with every semi-decent player who became a free agent before Brand). Injuries were part of what brought both teams in their “hey-day” (the Clips with Brand, Cassell, Livingston & every dang Clip who’s been hurt, and the Grizz with Pau who missed a ton of games his last couple of years in Memphis which sent the team into a serious funk). They both have GMs (Dunleavy versus Chris Wallace) who are laughingstocks in the league and amongst even their local fans. They both reached such low points that they figured what the heck, let’s give Zach Randolph a chance, maybe he can help us, even though it’s well known that he’s got a cancerous contract & personality.
Is it just me, or does it seem like the Grizzlies are doing everything possible to emulate the Clippers? Once again this week I’m left with the inescapable conclusion that somehow there are other teams out there doing a worse job than Donald T. Sterling’s crew. There’s an old saying: “Who is more foolish, the Fool or the Wise Man who follows him?”
Wait a sec. If the Clippers are the Fool in that example, not only does that make Memphis look dumb, but uh, it kinda makes fun of morons like me who also follow the Clips…
Can’t we Clips fans get the last laugh just once?