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What John Hollinger thought about the trade for the Clippers

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The Clippers' end of the deal is the more interesting one because L.A. rolled the dice. In order to parlay their considerable backcourt depth into some frontcourt quality, the Clips sent Mo Williams to Utah and take in Odom. The theory is that Odom will play considerably better once he's back in Los Angeles, but one must also consider other possibilities -- that he suddenly got old or lost his passion for the game. Nonetheless, it's a one-year deal, and the Clippers can bring Odom back with Bird rights if he plays well. Given his professed love of L.A., Odom is a limited flight risk as an unrestricted free agent, something that couldn't be said of Williams. Even if Odom is the least bit rejuvenated with the Clips, having a backup big who can actually score once in a while should be a major improvement. Plus, the Clippers didn't have a lot of room for Williams with Chris Paul and Eric Bledsoe both playing the same position. For L.A., then, this deal clears an item from its offseason checklist and allows the Clippers to use their exception money on wing players -- historically, a much easier area to fill with lower-salaried players. All told, it's a decent piece of opportunism from the Clippers and a spectacular one from Utah. Nonetheless, all eyes will be on Dallas. If the Mavs get Deron Williams, this trade is a home run. If not, it's more ho-hum.

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