LOS ANGELES -- Clippers
guard Chauncey Billups will miss the remainder of the season after
tearing his left Achilles tendon during Los Angeles' 107-102 victory
over the Magic in Orlando on Monday night.
The team says an MRI on Tuesday confirmed Billups' injury.
Billups will return to Los Angeles on Thursday for further evaluation. The Clippers say a date for surgery hasn't been determined.
The five-time All-Star, whom the Clippers claimed off
waivers in December, was averaging 14.9 points and 4.0 assists in 30.4
minutes per game this season.
Billups was having a huge night Monday, scoring 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter when he turned to run up the court and buckled to the ground with 5:48 left in the game. He was surrounded by trainers and teammates, but needed assistance on both sides to make it off the court.
Billups, who was selected third overall in the 1997 draft by the Boston Celtics, is playing for his seventh NBA club. One of them was the Denver Nuggets, who dealt him to New York with Carmelo Anthony as part of a three-team, 13-player trade with Minnesota last February.
The Clippers, according to a source, have no interest in signing free agent guard Gilbert Arenas. Arenas, who was waived by the Magic via the amnesty provision before the start of the season, is in California and having an open workout this week for teams that may be interested in signing him.
The Clippers will likely use the larger of their two traded-player exceptions, worth $3.8 million, to try and acquire a player to replace Billups. They can make a trade with a team in which Los Angeles sends that team a Draft pick in exchange for a player making up to $3.8 million in salary. However, since the Clippers are not a luxury tax-paying team this season, they can make deals in which the total amount of money in the deal is either 150 percent of the salaries of players being traded, or the salaries of players being traded plus $5 million, whichever is lower.
The Clippers have a second traded-player exception worth $2.75 million.
-- TNT analyst David Aldridge contributed to this story.
The team says an MRI on Tuesday confirmed Billups' injury.
Billups will return to Los Angeles on Thursday for further evaluation. The Clippers say a date for surgery hasn't been determined.
<p>Your browser does not support iframes.</p>
Billups was having a huge night Monday, scoring 11 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter when he turned to run up the court and buckled to the ground with 5:48 left in the game. He was surrounded by trainers and teammates, but needed assistance on both sides to make it off the court.
Billups, who was selected third overall in the 1997 draft by the Boston Celtics, is playing for his seventh NBA club. One of them was the Denver Nuggets, who dealt him to New York with Carmelo Anthony as part of a three-team, 13-player trade with Minnesota last February.
The Clippers, according to a source, have no interest in signing free agent guard Gilbert Arenas. Arenas, who was waived by the Magic via the amnesty provision before the start of the season, is in California and having an open workout this week for teams that may be interested in signing him.
The Clippers will likely use the larger of their two traded-player exceptions, worth $3.8 million, to try and acquire a player to replace Billups. They can make a trade with a team in which Los Angeles sends that team a Draft pick in exchange for a player making up to $3.8 million in salary. However, since the Clippers are not a luxury tax-paying team this season, they can make deals in which the total amount of money in the deal is either 150 percent of the salaries of players being traded, or the salaries of players being traded plus $5 million, whichever is lower.
The Clippers have a second traded-player exception worth $2.75 million.
-- TNT analyst David Aldridge contributed to this story.
No comments:
Post a Comment