This Way Is OK for Pooh : Clippers: Richardson is glad to be back in Los Angeles after being obtained in trade that sends Jackson to Pacers.

When guard Pooh Richardson left UCLA in 1989, he hoped he could remain with an L.A. team for his NBA career.

Instead, Richardson went to the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves as the 10th player selected in the draft. They traded him to Indiana in September of 1992.

Richardson finally got his wish on Thursday, when the Pacers traded him to the Clippers, along with forward Malik Sealy and the rights to guard-forward Eric Piatkowski of Nebraska, for disgruntled guard Mark Jackson and the rights to Louisville guard Greg Minor.

“I’m glad to be back, and I’m happy for Malik because I think we have a great opportunity to start something new and let everyone know that we’re going in a different direction, and the direction is to be successful,” Richardson said. “I figured I’d end up here, but I took the long route.”

The trade was worked out during Wednesday’s NBA draft but couldn’t be completed then because of NBA salary-cap rules. Richardson signed an $18.2-million, seven-year contract extension on draft day last year and under NBA rules a player cannot be combined in a trade until one year after an extension because of aggregate salary cap rules.

The deal might have made free-agent forward Dominique Wilkins expendable. The Clippers now have a surplus of small forwards, considering the acquisition of California forward Lamond Murray, the seventh player selected in the draft, Sealy and Piatkowski.

Although Clipper General Manager Elgin Baylor would not say whether the club intended to re-sign Wilkins and free-agent guard Ron Harper, he said the club would explore the free-agent market.

“Tomorrow will be the first opportunity to go after free agents and by bringing in the players in the draft and Pooh and Malik and other things we intend to do, it gives us more options to look at alternatives,” Baylor said. “Outside from our free agents, there’s some talent out there in the free-agent market and we intend to explore that.”

Richardson and Sealy, who were left off the Pacers’ playoff roster last spring by Coach Larry Brown, hope to get fresh starts with the Clippers, who are rebuilding after finishing last in the Pacific Division.

“Me and Larry got along,” Richardson said. “We had problems because you know how Larry is, but it was never a thing where I hated him. At the end of the season, he said that me and Malik didn’t get a good deal with the Pacers as far as playing.

“They handled it professionally. They asked me what I wanted to do and I said, ‘That’s a question you shouldn’t have asked me’ and I said, ‘L.A., that’s where I want to be.’ ”

Sealy joked about his relationship with Brown.

“We had a love-hate relationship,” he said. “We loved to hate each other.

“We had a pretty good relationship. . . . Just some unfortunate circumstances occurred and I wasn’t able to play as much as I would have liked to have played. But now I’m in a better situation.”

Frustrated when the Clippers missed the playoffs for the first time in three years, Jackson said he didn’t want to return because he wanted to play for a contending team.

Baylor maintains that Jackson didn’t request a trade.

“He mentioned at times that he wasn’t totally satisfied with the way the season went,” Baylor said. “But this move had nothing to do with whether a player was happy or unhappy, it was based on the fact that we felt it was an excellent opportunity for us.”

Changing the Point

Guards Mark Jackson (left) and Pooh Richardson were the principals in the five-player trade completed Wednesday between the Clippers and Indiana Pacers. A look at their statistics:

MARK JACKSON

* Age: 29 * 1993-94 Scoring Avg.: 10.9 * Career Scoring Avg.: 12.3 * 1993-94 Assist Avg.: 8.6 * Career Assist Avg.: 8.4

POOH RICHARDSON

* Age: 28 * 1993-94 Scoring Avg.: 10.0 * Career Scoring Avg.: 13.5 * 1993-94 Assist Avg.: 6.4 * Career Assist Avg.: 7.8