BREAKING: Blockbuster Trade Sends Randolph to Knicks

Wow--the Blazers have not only snagged the consensus potential center of the decade in Greg Oden, at the draft they just announced that the Knicks have agreed to take Zach Randolph, Dan Dickau and Fred Jones for Steve Francis and Channing Frye.

Holy smokes--the one part of taking Oden that people thought might not be a fit was that it didn't look right with Randolph in it. LaMarcus Aldridge was the natural player there, and so Zach wasn't a fit. On top of that, he has a big contract and is also by far the worst remaining offender from JailBlazer days (Miles is more petulant but less dangerous).

The Knick fans looked like they were about to climax when the trade was announced; they are thinking they got the final major piece, and maybe that's true. Randolph is a huge player in the NBA, and that he was snubbed--twice--in the All-Star selections does not begin to tell what kind of year he had. But the Blazers have to be well satisfied that they've gotten something of use and are rid of the whole situation.

Steve Francis? Decent player, could be a big help, especially replacing some of Randolph's scoring--but he could be a chemistry killer in his own right. Frye is another talented young player that the Blazers can exploit if he blossoms, but he's raw. This is definitely a money deal, but the apparent combination of Randolph's low trade value and Pritchard's desire to get rid of Z-Bo has resulted in what you see here, agreed to in principle.

We'll see what happens here--maybe they flip something else with Miles, maybe not. The bottom line is that Randolph was always trade bait, so mission accomplished one way or another. His contract is off the team's back.

Confirmed here.

Also, the video of the crowd at the Rose Garden when it was announced is pretty cool.