Los Angeles Clippers Uses Cap Space For Foye and Gomes
Los Angeles lost the bid to land the services of LeBron James, the most coveted free agent in recent weeks, when the latter decided to link up with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami. Nevertheless, the Clippers have moved on and made offers to sign Randy Foye and Ryan Gomes.
Foye, a four-year NBA veteran, last suited up for the Washington Wizards, and averaged 10.1 points, 3.3 assists, 1.9 rebounds and 23.8 minutes in 70 games.
Asked about Foye’s foray in Los Angeles, the Clippers’ Neil Olshey said: We are excited to have the opportunity to add Randy to our team. Randy is a player who has improved throughout his time in the league, and is someone who will provide on the ball defense, athleticism, intensity and an impressive ability to score to the group we already have in place.”
The Newark, New Jersey native first plied his trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves during the 2006-07 and was selected for the 2006-07 All-Rookie First Team after appearing in 82 games and averaging 10.1 points. The six-foot-four, 210 pound guard was originally slated to suit up for the Boston Celtics after he was drafted seventh overall in the 2006 NBA Draft. But after two draft day deals, Foye found himself in Minnesota.
During first three years in the NBA, Foye fired so well that he was able to improve his scoring and assists average after every season. Foye found his best form to date, with a career-best 16.3 points per game average in 70 games during the 2008-09 season.
Prior to the 2009-10 season, Foye figured in a trade that sent him to Washington, alongside Mike Miller in exchange for Oleksiv Pecherov, Darius Songaila, Etan Thomas and a 2009 First Round draft pick.
With the Wizards, Foye became the team’s go-to-guy in terms of assists and even netted a career-high 36 points on Feb. 20, 2009 vs. the Indiana Pacers.
Meanwhile, the Clippers also closed another deal with free agent forward Ryan Gomes. However, details of the deal were not disclosed as per team policy. Gomes, too, last saw action with the Timberwolves, where he averaged 10.9 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 76 games last season.
Commenting about the Gomes acquisition, Olshey said: “I think Ryan Gomes is an excellent addition to our team. Ryan is a proven, hard-nosed veteran presence who is a consistent inside-out scorer with great character who has had a positive impact on every team he has been a part of.”
Gomes got the go-ahead from the Timberwolves head coach to handle the scoring duties, and effectively ended up with the team’s best scorer at least 10 times during the past season.
Despite his steady scoring output, Gomes was traded by the Timberwolves to the Trail Blazers in a draft day trade, and subsequently waived by Portland.
The six-foot-seven, 250 pound Gomes was a former Providence College standout, where he managed to become the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,138 points.
After he capped off his college career, Gomes was drafted by the Boston Celtics and spent two seasons with the former world champions. Before long, Boston traded him to Minnesota along with Gerald Green, Al Jefferson, Theo Ratliff, Sebastian Telfair and two 2009 First Round draft picks in exchange for one-time MVP Kevin Garnett.
With the two key signings, team officials are said to be cleaning up in Clipperland. And so far, the Clippers have had a fairly productive off season already, bringing in Al-Farouq Aminu, Eric Bledsoe, and Willie Warren into the fold.
Are the Clippers now closer to being solid title contenders? We shall wait and see. One thing is certain for the Clips: they are reloaded this coming season.
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