In addition to Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins, the Clippers received approximately $1 million dollars from the Knicks in the trade for Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas last Friday.

Also, because of the way Randolph’s contract is structured, nearly a third of his salary is deferred money. His salary cap number is the same of course, but the actual payouts are different.

In other words, financially this deal was quite a bit more shrewd for the Clippers side than we’d previously understood.

The Clippers and Knicks finalized their trade for Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins around 12:30 this afternoon.

Zach and Mardy were able to take part in the short practice Tuesday. Assistant coach Kim Hughes ran practice today because Mike Dunleavy was in Dallas for a family funeral.

Dunleavy said Monday that he expected to be back in time for Wednesday’s game, but it really depends on flight times. If he doesn’t make it back, Kim Hughes would coach the team against the Nuggets.

By Ramona Shelburne
Staff Writer

The Clippers’ proposed trade with the New York Knicks has gone through, a source close to the team said Tuesday afternoon. The Clippers traded Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas to the New York Knicks for Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins.

The deal had hit a snag Monday night, when New York raised questions about the condition of Mobley’s heart.

The knicks had Mobley undergo additional testing Tuesday and signed off on the deal shortly thereafter.

Cuttino Mobley is having additional tests done on his heart this afternoon. After those are completed, the Knicks will decide whether to approve the four-player deal with sent Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins to Los Angeles for Mobley and Tim Thomas.

Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni told reporters in New York that Knicks general manager Donnie Walsh would make a final decision on the deal.

“There are more tests today and this afternoon Donnie will make a decision (after) whatever comes out of the tests,” D’Antoni told reporters at the Knicks practice.

OK, so I’m about to head for bed after another wild night in Clipperland and if you pinned me down, I’d still say I’m pretty sure the Randolph trade will end up going through.

There is some sense that the reason New York might be holding back on approving the deal, and signing off on Mobley’s heart condition, is that it’s trying to get a “rebate” from the Clippers. Say a draft pick, back from them as some sort of compensation for accepting Mobley with this condition.

That might be true, since New York had really wanted a draft pick as compensation before even making the deal on Friday. If that’s the case, the Clippers will not be pleased. According to a person familiar with the club’s thinking, the Clippers are pretty adamant about not giving any sort of “rebate.”

But I don’t think it’s the whole story.

Basically, New York is just making itself comfortable with Mobley’s condition. He’s obviously had no setbacks from it in the past, which is why it has never come out in public before. But considering NY’s recent history with Eddy Curry, you can understand why it would be wary, and insist upon doing its due diligence.

Second, New York had the luxury of time. It didn’t play Monday night. So it could spend an extra day checking into things.

But the most compelling reason I see this deal going down is that New York has made such a public case for why it did the deal, sold the notion of clearing cap space for LBJ in 2010 so well, I just don’t see ever getting this fizz back into a bottle.

Clippers president Andy Roeser said he’s “confident that both guys (Zach Randolph and Mardy Collins) will be in uniform” when the team plays Denver on Wednesday, despite concerns raised by the Knicks about a physical condition of Cuttino Mobley’s that has held up the four-player deal.