Piatkowski Jumps Clipper Ship for Rockets

Free-agent guard Eric Piatkowski, the Clippers’ leader in games played since their move to Los Angeles two decades ago, agreed to a three-year contract with the Houston Rockets for approximately $8.5 million early Friday evening.

“Eric has always enjoyed playing for the Clippers,” his agent, Jeff Austin, said from his Virginia office. “He feels he had a great relationship with the team. Other people said it was an unhappy experience, but he feels it was a happy one. Still, there is a time to move on and, for Eric, this is that time.”

Piatkowski, who was unavailable for comment, will be in Houston today to take a physical, sign the contract and appear at a news conference.

He departs the Clippers as the team’s all-time leading three-point shooter, his confidence and accuracy from outside the arc never wavering through good times and bad.

Piatkowski spent nine years with the Clippers, appearing in 616 games. Only Randy Smith (715) played in more for the franchise, but that was back when it was in Buffalo and San Diego. In Piatkowski’s seasons, the Clippers were 220-486 for a dismal .317 winning percentage.

He leaves with 738 three-pointers in 1,835 attempts, a 40.2% accuracy rate, all three numbers the best in club history.

And it will be some time before anyone challenges Piatkowski in that area. The second-leading three-point shooter in Clipper history is Terry Dehere, who had 262.

After playing at Nebraska, Piatkowski was a first-round draft pick of the Indiana Pacers, who quickly traded him, along with Malik Sealy and Pooh Richardson, to the Clippers for Mark Jackson and the rights to Greg Minor.

Piatkowski finishes with overall game averages of 20.5 minutes, 8.6 points, a 43.8 field-goal percentage, but, reflecting his primary role as a shooter, only 1.1 assists.

“He’s looking forward to the next phase of his career,” Austin said of Piatkowski, who will turn 33 in September. “He likes the fact he’s going to a team where [center] Yao Ming is in the post, meaning Eric should get a lot of good looks on the perimeter. He’s happy to be going to a good organization that has an excellent chance of making the playoffs.”

The Clippers made the playoffs once with Piatkowski.

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With Piatkowski in the Clippers’ rear-view mirror, it remains unclear what is ahead for the team.

Miami Heat General Manager Randy Pfund said Friday in a conference call that his club remains interested in Clipper forward Lamar Odom, a restricted free agent who met with Heat officials in Miami earlier this week.

“It’s been obvious we have interest in Lamar,” Pfund said. “It’s an ongoing negotiation, ongoing evaluation and there are some triggers in the next week that probably will bring some more information into the equation.”

Those triggers will be the Clippers’ decision on their two other restricted free agents, both of whom have signed offer sheets. The Clippers have until Wednesday to match the offers to guards Corey Maggette (Utah Jazz, six years, $42 million) and Andre Miller (Denver Nuggets, six years, $51 million).