Clipper Deal Not Seen as Clincher

Wednesday’s trade sending Melvin Ely and Eddie House from the Clippers to the Charlotte Bobcats cleared more space under the salary cap for the Clippers, opening a maximum slot for the team to offer Kobe Bryant.

But it was not an indication that a deal has been reached with Bryant, who could choose between the Lakers and Clippers as early as today.

Wednesday’s trade had been in the works for several weeks, the Clippers looking for cap flexibility and Ely and House no longer in their plans.

In exchange for backup players who made a combined 12 starts for an injury-riddled, last-place team last season, the Clippers acquired the Bobcats’ second-round draft picks in 2005 and 2006.

Presumably, the expansion Bobcats will be one of the NBA’s worst teams over the next two seasons, resulting in top-35 picks for the Clippers. In one of those drafts, depending on how they finish next season, the Clippers won’t have a first-round pick, having traded it in a 2000 deal that brought Corey Maggette. Meanwhile, the Clippers again declined to comment on Quentin Richardson’s signing of a six-year, $45-million offer sheet from the Phoenix Suns. The Clippers have 15 days to match the offer or lose the 6-foot-5 guard, a source saying that, Bryant or no Bryant, they probably would not, which would be fine with Richardson.

“I appreciate the time that I spent there,” Richardson, who played his first four seasons with the Clippers, said Tuesday. “I’m grateful to Coach [Mike] Dunleavy and the whole organization for everything they did for me. But right now, you know, I feel like it’s time for me to move on and be a Phoenix Sun.”

Ely too looks forward to moving on. The 12th pick in the 2002 draft, the 6-10 forward from Fresno State played sparingly in two seasons with the Clippers, averaging 3.7 points and 2.9 rebounds in less than 14 minutes.

Midway through last season, he asked to be traded.

“This is a great feeling to start all over with a brand-new team,” he said Wednesday in Charlotte. “I’m just happy that I can start with a new team and a new coach and a clean slate and finally show people that it wasn’t a fluke that I was picked 12th and that I can go in there and help the new team out.”

House, a 6-1 guard, averaged 6.8 points and 2.5 assists in his only season with the Clippers. Ely is due $1.7 million next season, House $825,000.

Dumping their salaries was the last move required of the Clippers to clear a max slot for Bryant, whose offer from the team is about $106 million over six years. Because of rules set forth in the collective-bargaining agreement, the Lakers can offer Bryant about $136 million over seven years.

In a statement, Clipper General Manager Elgin Baylor made no mention of Bryant, saying that the trade would “allow us to take advantage of potential opportunities.”

Should they lose out on Bryant, the Clippers are expected to move quickly in another direction, their cap space providing great leeway.

As Dunleavy noted at the start of the free-agent period, “We have a number of guys that we’re very interested in. When a team is going after a player of Kobe’s caliber, I think everybody else understands that.

“It’s not like you’re insulted by [a team] saying, ‘Hey, Kobe Bryant’s available, and we’re trying to get him.’ Some guys are Plan A, some are B, some are C, some are D. You’ve got to be ready for all possibilities.”