Richardson Is Thriving as Injured Kittles Sits

While Kerry Kittles remains idle for the Clippers, his sore right knee expected to land him on the injured list to open the regular season, Quentin Richardson looks back on a stellar exhibition season for the Phoenix Suns.

Helping the Suns to a 7-1 record, Richardson was the Suns’ second-leading scorer and third-leading rebounder during the exhibition season. The former Clipper guard averaged 15.9 points and 5.5 rebounds in 24.8 minutes while making 46.6% of his shots, 48.7% on three-point attempts.

The Clippers, though, have expressed no second thoughts about their decision in July to trade for Kittles and give up their rights to Richardson.

“We made a decision based on the information that we had,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said Saturday, referring to Kittles’ balky knee, which has kept him from practicing with his new teammates and generally has limited his activity since arthroscopic surgery in June. “At that time, there was no question for us the way we would go.

“The back side of it is, if it turned out Kittles could never play again ... there’s no way we would have let Q go. It wasn’t a money issue.”

Richardson joined the Suns after the Clippers, having acquired Kittles from the New Jersey Nets, declined to match the six-year, $45-million offer sheet that Richardson had signed with Phoenix. Kittles, who has been cleared to play by the Clippers’ medical staff, is in the last year of a contract that will pay him $10.2 million this season and will be an unrestricted free agent in July.

Ironically, the Clippers’ decisions were based in part on their belief that Richardson had injured his back more seriously than they’d let on last season.

“Real good, real good,” Richardson said of his general well-being after scoring 18 points Thursday night in his Staples Center homecoming, a 109-88 victory over the Clippers. “Real happy with the way things are going right now ... real excited about everything. We’ve got a promising chance ahead of us.”

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