The Clippers have traded 35-year old power forward Marcus Camby to the Trailblazers for 29-year old point guard Steve Blake, 25-year old small forward Travis Outlaw and $3 million bucks in cold, hard cash. Camby played in 51 games (all starts) for the Clippers this year and he averaged 31.3 minutes, 7.7 points, 12.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.9 blocked shots per game. Craig Smith and DeAndre Jordan will likely both see a bump in minutes with Camby out of the picture. That means that the Clippers will likely see a small bump in offensive production but Camby will be a huge loss defensively.

Steve Blake finally gives the Clippers a nice backup to Baron Davis. Blake has played in 51 games (28 starts) for the Blazers this season and he has averaged 27.4 minutes, 7.6 points, 2.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. Blake has now played in 470 games (289 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 25.6 minutes, 7.6 points, 2.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game. Blake’s best asset on the court is his long range shooting as he has nailed 39% of his shots from three point range in his career. Travis Outlaw has played in 11 games (0 starts) for the Trailblazers this season and he is averaging 21.0 minutes, 9.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. He has now played in 377 games (26 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 21.6 minutes, 9.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Outlaw is a good player but he will be behind Al Thornton and Rasual Butler at small forward initially with the Clippers.

The Clippers are 21-31 on the season which has them 8.5 games behind the Trailblazers for the final spot in the Western Conference Playoffs. The Clippers have wanted to trade Camby for a while knowing (hoping) that Blake Griffin is ready to return next season. But, this trade sends the message to the players that management is waving the White Flag on this season.

The Clippers have acquired 25-year old PG/SG Bobby Brown from the Hornets for a conditional 2nd round pick. I really like this move for the Clippers as Brown will back up Baron Davis at the point until Sebastian Telfair is ready to return to action. Brown played in 22 games (0 starts) for the Hornets last season and he was averaging 14.9 minutes, 6.6 points, 0.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Brown has now played in 90 games (2 starts) in his NBA career and he is averaging 14.0 minutes, 5.6 points, 0.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.

The Clippers have re-signed 33-year old PF/C Brian Skinner. Skinner played in 51 games (21 starts) for the Clippers last season and he averaged 16.5 minutes, 4.2 points, 4.0 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.0 blocked shot per game. Skinner has now played in 589 games (196 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 18.3 minutes, 4.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game. This was a good move for the Clippers who will have a very deep bench for the upcoming season.

The Clippers have re-signed 26-year old small forward Steve Novak.  Novak played in 71 games (3 starts) for the Clippers last season and he averaged 16.4 minutes, 6.9 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game.  Novak’s main skill is his long range shooting as he nailed 41.6% of his shots behind the three point line last season.  This was a good move for the Clippers as Novak can be the long range assassin off the bench again this year.

I’m stunned to write that headline but the Clippers have done a great job of adding talent to the roster. The only player the Clippers got rid of was Zach Randolph in a trade with the Grizzlies because they won the lottery and selected power forward Blake Griffin in the first round to replace him in the starting lineup. The Clippers then traded Quentin Richardson who they acquired for Randolph to get point guard Sebastian Telfair, power forward Craig Smith and forward Mark Madsen. The Clippers have released Madsen since then but he wasn’t going to get any minutes anyway. Telfair will back up Baron Davis and Craig Smith will back up Blake Griffin giving the Clippers’ bench some firepower. SG/SF Ricky Davis exercised his player option for this season and the Clippers hope he will play better for them which is possible. The cherry on top for the Clippers was getting SG/SF Rasual Butler from the Hornets for a 2nd round pick. He brings long range shooting ability to L.A.

OFF-SEASON GRADE FOR THE FRONT OFFICE SO FAR: A

The Clippers have acquired 30-year old SG/SF Rasual Butler from the Hornets for a future second round pick. Butler played in all 82 games (79 starts) for the Hornets last season and he averaged 31.9 minutes, 11.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. Butler has now played in 475 games (183 starts) in his 7-year NBA career and he has averaged 23.1 minutes, 8.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. This is another solid pickup by the Clippers who are going to actually be a pretty darn good basketball team this season.

The Clippers have released 23-year old guard Mike Taylor. Taylor played in 51 games (5 starts) as a rookie for the Clippers last season and he averaged 15.1 minutes, 5.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. It’s too bad that the Clippers released Taylor because he has a nice little upside. Some team will snap up Taylor this season.

The Clippers have officially released Jason “White Chocolate” Williams who essentially quit before the season started last year. Williams didn’t play a minute for the Clippers last season. Williams has played in 679 games (649 starts) in his NBA career averaging 31.2 minutes, 11.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. This is no loss to the Clippers even though Williams is thinking about making a comeback.

The Clippers have traded 29-year old SG/SF Quentin Richardson to the Timberwolves for 24-year old point guard Sebastian Telfair, 25-year old power forward Craig Smith and 33-year old power forward Mark Madsen. The Clippers only had Richardson for a couple of weeks and this was the third time he has been traded this off-season! The Clippers really helped out the bench with this trade as Telfair and Smith both have nice upsides. Telfair played in 75 games (43 starts) for the Timberwolves last season and he averaged 27.9 minutes, 9.8 points, 1.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.0 steal per game. He has now played in 349 games (180 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 8.2 points, 1.7 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game. He will give Baron Davis a break when he needs one. Craig Smith will back up Blake Griffin at power forward and he has a nice upside. Smith played in 74 games (31 starts) for the Timberwolves last season and he averaged 19.7 minutes, 10.1 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. He has now played in 233 games (47 starts) in his 3-year NBA career and he has averaged 19.5 minutes, 8.9 points, 4.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. If Smith were a baseball player he would be the kind of player portrayed in “Moneyball” as a bargain as he has solid stats per minute. Smith has the most upside of any player involved in this trade. Mark Madsen is nothing more than a “12th man” as he belongs at the end of the bench. Madsen played in 19 games (1 start) for the T-Wolves last season and he averaged 6.1 minutes, 0.3 points, 0.9 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. He has now played in 453 games (70 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 11.8 minutes, 2.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. The bench has been improved by adding some young players with an upside so Clippers’ fans should be happy with this trade.

The Clippers have traded 28-year old power forward Zach Randolph to the Grizzlies in return for 29-year old SG/SF Quentin Richardson. Randolph played in 39 games (34 starts) for the Clippers last season and he averaged 35.1 minutes, 20.9 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. The main reason for making this trade was because Randolph wouldn’t be happy backing up Blake Griffin at power forward. Quentin Richardson played in 72 games (51 starts) for the Knicks last season and he averaged 26.3 minutes, 10.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Richardson has now played in 601 games (389 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 28.0 minutes, 11.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Richardson still has some game left so this trade made perfect sense for the Clippers to make even though Randolph will likely excel for the Grizzlies in 2009-2010.