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Early report: Paul Pierce fitting in with Clippers

Early report: Paul Pierce fitting in with Clippers

NBA preseason is just getting started, so it’s super early, but right off the bat the Clippers have reasons for optimism. Here’s the Orange County Register reporting:

Even though it was his first start as a Clipper and even though he was joining a starting group that was one of the NBA’s best, Pierce had few problems fitting in during the Clippers’ preseason opener.

That was especially evident on a possession in the second half, where the Clippers zipped the ball around the perimeter, finding Pierce open in the corner for a 3-point shot.

“That’s what we’ve got to kind of emphasize,” Pierce said. “When you have the weapons that we have, we don’t care who gets the shot, who gets the credit, it’s tough to guard. These guys make the extra pass when it’s there; everyone is being selfless. Those are the teams usually standing at the end of the day.”

Pierce, 37, is able to fit so seamlessly partly because of his smarts, partly because of his 17 years of NBA experience and partly because a huge chunk of that experience came while playing for Doc Rivers.

Clippers waive Nikoloz Tskitishvili

The L.A. Clippers announced today the team has waived free agent forward/center Nikoloz Tskitishvili.

Tskitishvili did not appear in a preseason game for the Clippers. The former fifth overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets, Tskitishvili has appeared in 172 career games (16 starts) for Denver, Golden State, Minnesota and Phoenix averaging 2.9 points and 1.7 rebounds in 11.3 minutes of play. The Tbilisi, Georgian native has played in Spain, Italy, Iran, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates post-NBA. The 32-year old played for Champville of the Lebanese Basketball League last season.

2015-16 preseason begins with Clippers win

Clippers win 2015-16 NBA preseason opener

DeAndre Jordan had 15 points and 12 rebounds to help the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Denver Nuggets 103-96 on Friday night in the first game of the NBA preseason.

Jordan scored 12 points in the first half on 5-for-6 shooting, including three dunks.

The Clippers spoiled Nuggets coach Michael Malone’s debut.

Nuggets: Joffrey Lauvergne scored 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting and had 11 rebounds in a reserve role. Rookie Emmanuel Mudiay missed eight of his first 11 shots and finished with 14 points.

— Associated Press

The L.A. Clippers announced today the team has signed free agent forward Luc Mbah a Moute and forward/center Nikoloz Tskitishvili.

A seven-year NBA veteran, Mbah a Moute has appeared in 466 career regular season games (301 starts) with Milwaukee, Sacramento, Minnesota and Philadelphia averaging 6.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 24.3 minutes. Born in Yaounde, Cameroon, the 29-year-old spent last season with the 76ers, averaging 9.9 points and 4.9 rebounds in 28.6 minutes of play over 67 games (61 starts). Mbah a Moute played three seasons at UCLA, where he helped the Bruins reach three straight Final Fours. He was the 37th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Bucks.

The former fifth overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Denver Nuggets, Tskitishvili has appeared in 172 career games (16 starts) for Denver, Golden State, Minnesota and Phoenix averaging 2.9 points and 1.7 rebounds in 11.3 minutes of play. The Tbilisi, Georgian native has played in Spain, Italy, Iran, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates post-NBA. The 32-year old played for Champville of the Lebanese Basketball League last season.

A glance at new Clippers additions

The Los Angeles Clippers will be deeper this upcoming season. It’ll be interesting to see how the chemistry develops. Here’s the Orange County Register reporting:

Joining fellow newcomers Lance Stephenson and Paul Pierce, and holdovers Austin Rivers and Jamal Crawford, [Josh] Smith gives the Clippers a versatility they’ve lacked.

“The whole goal was we needed multiple positions,” Rivers said. “I wanted the second unit to be guard-less, meaning Austin isn’t a point guard, Lance isn’t a point guard, Jamal’s not a point guard. But all of them can dribble. Josh can dribble. That was our goal. We wanted four (guys). If we could somehow come up with five in the second unit where they literally could all bring the ball up, the versatility they create for that unit … We can play a unit of Josh and Paul at four and five and Lance, Jamal and Austin.

“That’s just chaotic. Who do you guard? Paul will just stand out by the 3 and dare you. Jamal can do his things. Austin and Lance are downhill players. We had a vision of how we wanted to play. That always helps when you’re building a team. We thought, this year, the pool of players you could go after was so much larger than the year before that we had a chance to accomplish our goal.”

DeAndre Jordan reportedly parts with agent

It’s late August and therefore this qualifies as pretty big news even though it doesn’t really affect anything, but Clippers center DeAndre Jordan, who has already signed a huge deal that keeps him in Los Angeles, has reportedly decided to find a new agent. Here’s the Los Angeles Times reporting:

DeAndre Jordan has reportedly said farewell to his agents

DeAndre Jordan’s seemingly never-ending summer saga has taken another twist — the Clippers center has parted ways with his representatives at Relativity Sports, The Times has learned.

Jordan informed agents Dan Fegan and Jarinn Akana last week that he was moving “in another direction,” said an NBA official not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Jordan told his agents of his decision to drop them a few days after the NBA fined the Clippers $250,000 on Aug. 25 for violating rules that prohibit teams from offering players unauthorized business or investment opportunities.

Clippers sign Chuck Hayes

The L.A. Clippers announced today the team has signed free agent center/power forward Chuck Hayes.

According to the Orange County Register, “the one-year minimum deal is not fully guaranteed, and Hayes will have to earn his spot on the Clippers’ roster in the preseason.”

A 10-year NBA veteran, Hayes appeared in 642 career regular season games (244 starts) with Houston, Sacramento and Toronto averaging 3.7 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 18.4 minutes. Hayes, 32, spent the last two seasons with the Raptors and averaged 1.7 points and 1.8 rebounds in 29 appearances in 2014-15.

After going undrafted in the 2005 NBA Draft, the 6-foot-6 inch Hayes was selected sixth overall in the 2005 NBA D-League Draft by the Albuquerque Thunderbirds, where he played in 15 games before signing with the Rockets as a free agent in January, 2006.

A San Leandro, California native, Hayes played four seasons at the University of Kentucky from 2001-2005, averaging 9.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.3 blocks in 26.2 minutes. Hayes posted numbers that ranked him seventh in rebounding (910), eighth in steals (170), ninth in blocks (128), 16th in assists (292) and 35th in scoring (1,211 points) on Kentucky’s all-time list.

NBA fines Clippers $250,000 due to unauthorized DeAndre Jordan endorsement opportunity offer

The NBA announced today that it has fined the Los Angeles Clippers $250,000 for violating NBA rules prohibiting teams from offering players unauthorized business or investment opportunities.

The violation involved a presentation made by the Clippers to free agent DeAndre Jordan on July 2 that improperly included a potential third-party endorsement opportunity for the player. While the NBA’s investigation ultimately concluded that the presentation of this opportunity had no impact on Jordan’s decision to re-sign with the Clippers (especially since he reportedly then agreed to sign with the Dallas Mavericks before later changing his mind), the team’s conduct nevertheless violated the league’s anti-circumvention rules.

The NBA’s anti-circumvention rules prohibit teams from, among other things, providing or arranging for others to provide any form of compensation to a player unless such compensation is included in a player contract or otherwise expressly permitted under the CBA.

Clippers sign Pablo Prigioni

The Los Angeles Clippers signed Pablo Prigioni today, adding depth behind Chris Paul at the point guard position.

Prigioni, 38, joins the Clippers after playing in a total of 67 regular season games (three starts) last season with the Houston Rockets (24 games) and the New York Knicks (43 games), averaging 4.1 points, 1.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 17.9 minutes.

The 6-foot-3 guard enjoyed a decorated international career before signing with the Knicks in 2012 and has appeared in 211 career regular NBA season games (48 starts) with New York and Houston, owning career averages of 3.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 17.7 minutes.

A veteran of the Spanish and Argentine leagues, Prigioni played for Ramallo (1995-96), Belgrano (1996-98) and Obras Sanitarias (1998-99) of the Argentine League and for Fuenlabrada (1999-01), Alicante (2001-03), Caja Laboral (2003-09, 2011) and Real Madrid (2009-11) of the Spanish ACB and LEB Leagues. He won the Spanish National Championship in 2007-08, the King’s Cup three times (2004, 2006, 2009) and Spanish Super Cup three times (2005, 2006, 2008) and is also a two-time All-Euroleague second team selection (2006, 2007).

The Rio Tercero, Argentina native was a member of the 2008 Argentinian National Team that captured Bronze in the Beijing Summer Olympics and the 2012 team in the London Summer Olympics. Prigioni helped Argentina win a Gold medal at the 2011 FIBA Americas Championship, a Silver medal at the 2007 Americas Championship and a Bronze medal at the 2009 Americas Championship. He also represented Argentina in the 2006 and 2010 World Championships.

Clippers waive Jordan Hamilton

The L.A. Clippers announced today the team has waived forward Jordan Hamilton.

Hamilton appeared in 14 games with the Clippers last season, making two starts and averaging 2.7 points, 1.1 rebounds and 0.5 assists in 8.7 minutes.

The Los Angeles native originally signed a 10-day contract with the Clippers on Feb. 24, 2015. He has appeared in 140 career regular season games with Denver, Houston and the Clippers.