The Summer of Quentin Richardson

Quentin Richardson was traded last night from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Miami Heat in exchange for Mark Blount. Why is this important? Why would this get an article on Basketball.org after so much complacency has hit this blog?

This summer Quentin Richardson has been shipped around from team to team more than Elisha Cuthbert and NHL hockey teams. Really, an Elisha Cuthbert reference on a basketball blog? Really, that is where we are going?

Since June 25th, Richardson has been traded to four teams. Yes, four teams in the matter of 50 days!

Here is how his trades break down:

June 25th—Richardson is traded from the New York Knicks in exchange for Darko Millic of the Memphis Grizzlies.

July 8th—Richardson is traded from the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for power forward Zack Randolph of the Los Angeles Clippers.

July 21st—Richardson is traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for three players—forward Craig Smith, “Dancing Machine” Mark Madsen and much-traveled point guard Sebastian Telfair.

August 13th—Richardson is traded from the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for center Mark Blount of the Miami Heat.

Richardson’s summer is microcosm of what the NBA is all about these days. His worth is not the skills he possesses on the court, rather the contract paper that he holds.

You see, Richardson is in the final year of his contract that will pay him about $9 million this season, and in NBA executive terms, he is a trade commodity. To an NBA GM, Richardson is the ticket to get to financial flexibility and open up more cap space for the coming seasons. Or if they are the gambling type, procure a talented player another team is trying to dump to get to that financial flexibility mentioned above.

The Grizzlies brought him in to use as trade bait, and eventually secured Zach Randolph. The Clips used him to shed Randolph’s contract and land two needed and solid bench players in Craig Smith and Sebastian Telfair.

The Timberwolves were able to pawn Richardson off to get some much-needed depth on the front line, while not hurting their salary cap situation in the future. And the Miami Heat? Well, it looks as if they will keep Richardson and use his perimeter shooting to compliment their star Dwayne Wade.

So what will happen with Richardson and the Heat? IMO, Richardson is at best a role player. His defensive is atrocious and he loves the 3-point shot way too much.

Maybe the Heat will get lucky and Richardson will play his tail off knowing he has to sign a new contract next summer. My guess is he will be the same player he always has been, which will help the Heat to a certain extent as they are desperate for perimeter shooting.

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