Poor Luke Ridnour Has Been Traded Three Times In 25 Hours

NBA point guard Luke Ridnour has been traded, again. And again.

For the third time in the past day, Ridnour, was traded to a new team on Thursday, this time to the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for shooting guard Jeremy Lamb.

Ridnour woke up Wednesday morning as a member of the Orlando Magic, but was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies before noon. How exciting! Ridnour, a 34-year-old veteran entering his twelfth NBA season, was set to back-up star point guard Mike Conley for an annual Western Conference contender. Sounds fun, no?

But wait! Ridnour was then traded to the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for small forward Matt Barnes, who recently wound up in Charlotte via the Los Angeles Clippers as a piece of the Lance Stephenson trade.

Then, less than three hours after Ridnour's move to the Hornets, he was dealt for the third time in 25 hours. Packaged with a 2016 second-round pick, Ridnour was moved for 23-year-old Jeremy Lamb, a former first-round draft pick who struggled to make an offensive impact off-the-bench during his three years in Oklahoma City.

So what gives, NBA GMs? Are you colluding to force Luke Ridnour to play out the remainder of his career in airports? Or is there an actual reason why he keeps getting moved?

Luke Ridnour played for the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2010-2013 before he was (surprise) traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. Poor guy. (Source: Getty)

A look at Ridnour's current contract reveals the carrot these NBA GMs are chasing, or rather, taking one bite of and putting back on the party tray. Per Spotrac, Ridnour's in the final season of the two-year, $5.5 million deal he signed with the Magic in 2014. Cheap expiring contracts are like dollar bills in NBA trade currency -- they're easy to flip, making them somewhat sought after by GMs. But with a rapidly rising salary cap, assets like that have become mostly fungible in today's NBA.

Ridnour's contract, however, has one stipulation that puts him at the top of wish lists: His $2.75 million salary for the 2015 season is non-guaranteed, and if he's waived before July 10, the Thunder (or whatever team still has him) won't have to pay Ridnour a dime. Essentially, Ridnour is a $2.75 million salary cap dumpster.

The Thunder will be Ridnour's seventh NBA team. No word on if they plan on sending him to his eighth, but probably.