About this time last year, Luke Ridnour was brought into Orlando to serve as Elfrid Payton's mentor and primary backup. Fast forward a year and it appears the guard has outstayed his welcome as he has officially be traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for the former 60th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft Janis Timma.
It was rumored that Orlando was likely going to waive Ridnour before his contract was guaranteed, but instead, they opted to get some return on their $5.5 million investment.
Ridnour previously suited up of the Seattle SuperSonics, Minnesota Timberwolves, Milwaukee Bucks, and Charlotte Hornets before taking his talents to Orlando--where he averaged about four points and two assists per game in about 14.5 minutes a night. The veteran only played in 47 games for Orlando and started in exactly zero of them. His only starts came in the preseason.
In Memphis, Ridnour projects to be the third un-athletic backup point guard to Mike Conley--the first two being Nick Calathes and another former-Magic player, Beno Udrih. This trade means that either Calathes or Udrih or even Ridnour could be on his way out of Memphis. It is also possible that Ridnour retires, but he has stated that he plans on playing another year. The former Oregon Duck still has some left in the tank and he should be a solid addition to a bench that features Courtney Lee, Vince Carter and some up-and-coming players in Jordan Adams, Jarnell Stokes, and Russ Smith.
Most NBA fans are not aware of who Janis Timma is. As the 60th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, Timma was deemed "Mr. Irrelevant." No one is even sure he'll ever play a minute in the NBA as he currently plays for VEF Riga in his home country of Latvia. Interestingly enough, that is the same country Kristaps Porzingis--who has been often linked to the Orlando Magic--is from. Perhaps Rob Hennigan is dropping hints on who he's targeting in the Draft or maybe it's pure coincidence. Timma's strengths and weaknesses as deemed by nbadraft.net are as follows:
"Strengths: Small forward with a powerful body ... Great shooter, one of the quickest releases in Europe .... He can create his own shot from off the dribble as well as shoot coming off screens. The big thing that stands out about Janis is his strong, athletic body, with great bounce ... Gets some highlight finishes and will dunk on players if they are unsuspecting ... His ability to defend and knock down 3s makes him an intriguing prospect for today's NBA ...
Weaknesses: Tends to disappear at times during games ... He doesn't do a lot to impact games if the things aren't coming easily to him ... With his body, he should be a bigger factor on the boards ... Not a great ball handler, needs to work on it to attack long close-outs and fully take advantage of his athleticism ... I expect him to work on his lateral quickness to be able to guard faster SFs..."
