Clippers Deal Donaldson to Dallas for Nimphius

Kurt Nimphius said he knew all along that he was going to be traded, so the announcement Monday morning that the Dallas Mavericks had sent him to the Clippers for James Donaldson came as no surprise.

Who tipped Nimphius, a 6-foot 10-inch center who figures to back up Clipper rookie Benoit Benjamin, about the deal?

Was it Dallas Coach Dick Motta? A Maverick teammate? Nimphius’ agent?

“It was my psychic,” Nimphius said, matter of factly. “She told me before the season that I’d be traded, and a couple weeks ago, she said it would be to a team in California. I suspected it was the Clippers.”

Nimphius’ psychic, whom he says is rarely wrong in her predictions, has assured him that the trade will ultimately be beneficial for him. The only thing she missed in her forecast was the number of players involved in the deal.

“She said it would be four players,” Nimphius said.

None of that matters to the Clippers, who have been trying to trade the bafflingly inconsistent Donaldson since late last season. General Manager Carl Scheer denied talk that the deal was made for financial reasons.

Donaldson, 7-2 and 275 pounds, will earn $515,000 this season and $560,000 next. Nimphius will make $225,000 this season and again next. Moreover, his salary is not guaranteed.

“It was strictly a basketball decision with him,” Scheer said of Donaldson, who started all 14 games he spent with the Clippers this season.

Whatever the reason for the trade, the result is that Benjamin, 21, will play most of the time. Nimphius, who will not join the team in time for tonight’s game against the Seattle SuperSonics, most likely will play 15 to 20 minutes a game as Benjamin’s backup. Coach Don Chaney said that Nimphius would play Wednesday night against Houston at the Sports Arena.

Turning over the starting center spot to Benjamin, whose rookie play has been typically inconsistent, makes Chaney nervous. But Chaney, who wasn’t as positive about the trade as Scheer, said that now is big Ben’s time.

“We’ve got to take the bottle away (from Benjamin) early,” Chaney said. “He’s going to have to grow up overnight. We’re going to suffer early, but in the long run it will speed up Ben’s maturity and growth.

“I still have a little reservation about making the trade. I have a problem about giving up big people like James, who are veterans. But like I said, in the long run, we’ll benefit.

“I’ve never been able to figure James out,” Chaney added. “Some players respond when you yell at them. Others you leave alone and that helps their performance. I never could figure it out with James. But I hope he does well in Dallas.”

Sources in the Clipper organization said that management was not pleased with what was perceived as Donaldson’s lack of desire and, often, effort. Apparently there was concern that Benjamin, a highly impressionable rookie, would be affected by that attitude.

“It has been a trade we wanted to make for a long time,” Scheer said. “If Don wasn’t fully behind the trade, we wouldn’t have made the deal. I gave Don every opportunity to say, ‘Let’s not do it.’ ”

Donaldson averaged 10.2 points, 9.4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. In recent games, however, Chaney had significantly cut Donaldson’s playing time in favor of Benjamin, a move that obviously bothered Donaldson.

“After the Laker game (last Wednesday) when I was benched, I was just tired of being used the way I was,” Donaldson said Monday. “When they started drastically cutting my minutes, I wasn’t happy. If they want me to average double figures in points and rebounds, I can’t do that unless they give me the playing time.”

Dallas’ Motta said Monday that Donaldson would eventually start at center.

“I asked a couple of our players and they said they’d like to have Donaldson come aboard,” Motta said. “We’re not expecting miracles, but he is a solid center. We almost did this trade during training camp and almost had it completed Thursday night.”

The holdup during training camp was that Chaney wanted to see how Donaldson responded and how Benjamin developed. The holdup the last few days had to do with Dallas’ problems with the salary cap.

The Mavericks and Clippers reached an oral agreement earlier in the week, but Dallas officials thought the club needed to trade forward Dale Ellis before having enough money under the salary cap to complete the Donaldson trade. After checking with the league Monday morning, it turned out that the Mavericks still would be under the limit if they traded for Donaldson.

The Clippers will travel to Dallas Saturday night, and Donaldson and Benjamin will go against one another.

Of Benjamin, Donaldson said: “Ben’s got a lot of talent, but he’s young and has a lot to learn. Any center in the league, if he’s smart, will come right at him and try to intimidate him and get him in foul trouble.”