Ronald Tillery of the Memphis Commercial-Appeal emptied his notebook on the paper's Grizzlies blog. The most incredible (if not uncredible) rumor had Clippers owner Donald Sterling nixing a trade which would have sent troubled/troubling Zach Randolph to Memphis for Darko Milicic and Greg Buckner. Darko instead went to the Knicks for Quentin Richardson and cash. Z-Bo remains directly in Blake Griffin's path and peripheral vision.I have absolutely no clue why Sterling would nix a deal like this. The Clippers had nearly a full season to realize Randolph isn't worth it. He scores frequently but inefficiently, which is spyspeak for "he takes way too many shots." He's a great rebounder ... but so are Marcus Camby, Chris Kaman and Griffin. Randolph will make more than $33 million over the next two seasons, while Darko (a far better defender than Z-Bo) has a $7.5-million contract which expires after 2009-10 and Buckner's contract can be bought out for about $2 million.
The Clippers will not find a better deal for Randolph, mark my words. What, is Sterling waiting for someone to offer a draft pick or a young stud for the most reviled waste of talent in the league? There's a reason the Knicks sent Randolph to L.A. for a cruddy, selfish player (Tim Thomas) and an instant retiree (Cuttino Mobley). Because Randolph isn't worth it.
If Sterling won't let Randolph go for that type of salary dump, I can only imagine he'll be holding on to Kaman until the Heat make Dwyane Wade available.
(To be sure, I have no idea why Memphis would be thinking about bringing in Z-Bo. Poor Hasheem Thabeet and Marc Gasol have enough to deal with already, don't they?)




