Zach Randolph says he is as good as Elton Brand

The New York Knicks recently traded power forward Zach Randolph to the Los Angeles Clippers. Randolph is an excellent scorer and rebounder, but the rest of his game often gets criticized as not being particularly effective. Meanwhile, Philadelphia 76ers power forward Elton Brand has an excellent reputation, though like Randolph, Elton’s teams in the NBA haven’t been particularly successful. The Los Angeles Daily News (Ramona Shelburne) reports:

Zach Randolph seemed generally pleased to be in Los Angeles and playing with the Clippers, despite their woeful start to the season, and even more tumultuous offseason. Asked whether he was comfortable trying to fill the shoes left by Elton Brand, Randolph laughed, then confidently said, “Shoot, he ain’t better than me. He ain’t better than me.” The Clippers certainly could have used Randolph on Monday night. Hornets power forward David West went off for 27 points on 12-of-21 shooting and point guard Chris Paul had a triple-double with 14 points, 10 rebounds and 17 assists. The loss, and uncertainty surrounding the trade, overshadowed what ended up being a breakout game for Clippers rookie Eric Gordon who scored 25 points in his first career start.

Randolph was playing well with the Knicks this season under new coach Mike D’Antoni. He’ll be worth watching on the Clippers, at least initially to see how he plays alongside the mess of big men (Chris Kaman and Marcus Camby) and star point guard Baron Davis.