SEATTLE (AP) The Seattle SuperSonics traded center Predrag
Drobnjak, who had gone unsigned all summer as a restricted free
agent, to the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday for a future
second-round draft choice.
Drobnjak, 6-foot-11 and 272 pounds, averaged 9.4 points and 3.9
rebounds in 82 games last season for Seattle. He was the Sonics'
starting center for most of the season.
Drobnjak received little interest on the free agent market, and
the teams worked out a sign-and-trade deal that prevented Drobnjak
from waiting 15 days to see whether Seattle would match an offer
sheet from the Clippers.
``This way he can start with the Clippers immediately,'' Sonics
spokesman Mark Moquin said.
The Sonics have three other centers Jerome James, Calvin Booth
and Vitaly Potapenko, while the Clippers lost starting center
Michael Olowokandi as a free agent when he signed with Minnesota.
During the offseason, the 27-year-old Drobnjak was a teammate of
Clippers' guard Marko Jaric on the Serbia and Montenegro team that
participated in the European Championship.
He was also a member of the Yugoslavian National Team that won
the gold medal at the 2002 World Championships in Indianapolis.
A native of Yugoslavia, he was acquired by Seattle from the
Washington Wizards in 2001. The Wizards had chosen him in the
second round of the 1997 draft.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)