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Clippers sign forward Reggie Evans

The Los Angeles Clippers today signed free agent forward Reggie Evans. According to the Los Angeles Times, the deal is a one-year contract worth about $1.3 million.

The 31-year old averaged a career-high 11.5 rebounds per game last season for the Toronto Raptors in 35 appearances while making 22 starts. Evans averaged 26.6 minutes and 4.4 points per game for the Raptors, while missing significant time due to a fractured right foot suffered on Nov. 26, 2010.

The 6-foot-8 Evans comes to the Clippers having appeared in 572 career games, averaging 4.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 19.5 minutes. A nine-year NBA veteran, Evans ranked among the NBA’s top 10 players in rebounds per 48 minutes for six straight seasons from 2003-09.

Not drafted after a stellar two-year collegiate career at the University of Iowa in which he scored 1,054 points and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the 2002 Big Ten Tournament, Evans signed as a free agent with Seattle in 2002. The Pensacola, Fla. native has also played for Denver, Philadelphia and Toronto in his NBA career and appeared in 27 playoff games.

The Clippers roster currently stands at 13.

Atlanta Hawks sign guard Willie Green

The Atlanta Hawks today signed free agent guard Willie Green, according to Executive Vice President/General Manager Rick Sund. Per team policy, terms were not disclosed.

Green played in 77 games last season with the New Orleans Hornets, starting 13, and averaging 8.7 ppg, 2.1 rpg and 1.0 apg (.443 FG%, .348 3FG%, .780 FT%). He has played in 499 career regular season games, including 422 with Philadelphia, where he spent his first seven seasons before his one year with the Hornets. Green has averaged 9.3 ppg, 1.9 rpg and 1.6 apg (.425 FG%, .322 3FG%, .756 FT%) over his career, also seeing action in 23 postseason games.

The University of Detroit Mercy product was selected by Seattle in the second round (41st overall ) of the 2003 NBA Draft, and was acquired by Philadelphia in a draft-night trade for the rights to Paccelis Morlende and cash considerations.

The Hawks’ first regular season home game is Wednesday, December 28 against John Wall and the Washington Wizards (7:30 p.m.).

76ers re-sign center Tony Battie

The Philadelphia 76ers announced today that the team has re-signed free agent center Tony Battie. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. The Sixers training camp roster now stands at 18.

“We are happy to have Tony back with us,” Sixers President of Basketball Operations Rod Thorn said. “He will add depth to our frontcourt and his veteran savvy will be invaluable to our locker room.”

Battie (6-11, 240) originally signed as a free agent with the Sixers on July 21, 2010. In 38 games last season, he averaged 2.6 points and 2.6 rebounds in 9.9 minutes per game. Battie also saw action in all five games of Philadelphia’s First Round playoff series vs. Miami.

In 13 NBA seasons, Battie has appeared in 810 games with 418 starts, averaging 6.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 0.87 blocks in 21.4 minutes per game while shooting 49.0% from the floor. He was the fifth overall pick in the 1997 NBA Draft.

With the return of Battie, the Sixers now have 12 players returning from last season’s roster who accounted for 99.5% of the team’s scoring. The Sixers went 38-28 over the final 66 games in 2010-11.

76ers re-sign center Spencer Hawes

The Philadelphia 76ers announced today that restricted free agent center Spencer Hawes has accepted the team’s qualifying offer. Hawes is completing his physical at Main Line Health and will begin practicing with the Sixers today. Philadelphia’s training camp roster now stands at 17.

“With the signing of Spencer, we now have our core returning – a group that is very familiar with each other, their roles and Coach Collins’ system and philosophies,” Sixers President of Basketball Operations Rod Thorn said.

Hawes (7-1, 245) started all but one game for the Sixers last season, averaging 7.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 0.88 blocks in 21.2 minutes per game. Over the final 18 games, he averaged 27.1 mpg, up from 19.5 his first 63 games played. The Sixers were 14-6 when he scored in double-figures.

In four NBA seasons, Hawes has appeared in 301 games with 199 starts, averaging 8.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 0.95 blocks in 22.6 minutes per game. He was the 10th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by Sacramento and was acquired via trade by Philadelphia along with Andres Nocioni in exchange for Samuel Dalembert on June 17, 2010.

76ers will re-sign forward Thaddeus Young

The Philadelphia 76ers announced today that the team has reached a tentative agreement with free agent forward Thaddeus Young. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. The 23-year-old Young is entering his fifth NBA season.

“We are very happy to have reached a tentative agreement with Thaddeus, who we consider to be an integral part of our long-term plans,” Sixers President of Basketball Operations Rod Thorn said. “Thad has thrived in his role under Coach Collins and we are happy to have him back with the Sixers.”

Young (6-8, 220) was the 12th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Sixers. In 298 career games with 139 starts, he is averaging 12.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.15 steals in 28.2 minutes per game while shooting 50.8% from the floor, 33.8% from 3-point range and 71.6% from the line.

This past season, Young appeared in all 82 games, averaging 12.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in 23.3 minutes per game. He ranked ninth in the NBA in field goal percentage (54.1% FGs) and 16th in steals per turnover (0.91). For his career, Young has 344 steals to just 407 turnovers.

Young also finished third in voting for the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award last season and had the highest point/rebound/assist total of any reserve. The Sixers were 12-3 when he scored 20-plus points in 2010-11.

Jason Kapono has interest in Knicks

Wasserman Media Group’s Greg Lawrence confirmed with ESPNNewYork.com that his client Jason Kapono is interested in the Knicks.

Lawrence said Kapono, an unrestricted free agent who played for the 76ers last season, would be “a great fit in coach [Mike] Dantoni’s system.”

“Jason has interest from several teams and we are in the process of trying to figure out the best situation for him,” Lawrence said.

— Reported by Jared Zwerling of ESPNNewYork.com

76ers still limited by salary cap situation

The Sixers are over the cap with a current payroll of about $68 million. That figure includes what the league terms “holds” on the salaries of their two restricted free agents, Thaddeus Young and Spencer Hawes, who were given qualifying offers that will increase their salaries by about 200 percent.

If Young and Hawes receive offers from other teams, the Sixers can decline to match them. But that would only put their total payroll down to $56 million, only $2 million under the $58 million cap figure and they wouldn’t be able to sign a marquee free agent with that.

The money they may commit to Young and Hawes, however, will put them dangerously close to the luxury-tax limit of $70 million. The Sixers can add a player under what the agreement calls a “midlevel exception,” at a salary of $5 million. But that $5 million would put them into the luxury-tax bracket, and my sources, who are familiar with Sixers ownership’s thinking, tell me that new Sixers owner Joshua Harris (and his cast of thousands) doesn’t want to pay tax.

— Reported by Mike Missanelli of the Philadelphia Inquirer

Center Samuel Dalembert interested in Heat, Knicks, Rockets

The 6-foot-11 Dalembert is a free agent. And the Heat is high on his list for when the free agency signing period is expected to begin Dec. 9 following a five-month lockout.

“That would be fantastic,” Dalembert said in an interview Sunday night from Haiti with FOX Sports Florida about the possibility of joining Miami, which is where more than 50 of his relatives live and is about one hour south of his Boca Raton, Fla., home.

As for the volunteering part, it likely would require a big pay cut for Dalembert to join the Heat, which will be over the salary cap. Dalembert, who made $13.43 million last season for Sacramento, might have to sign for the $5 million mid-level exception…

Dalembert said he’s not going to “put my eggs all in one basket” regarding the Heat. So he also named New York and Houston as teams he will consider in free agency.

“It’s one of my options as well,” Dalembert said of New York, where he spent portions of the offseason working out with Elton Brand, once his teammate in Philadelphia. “It’s a building process. It can be similar to Miami when they get all the pieces together. It’s something that can work and they need a big (man)… (Amare Stoudemire) can go to a comfortable situation (if the Knicks get a quality center and Stoudemire can play less at center and more at his natural position of power forward).”

— Reported by Chris Tomasson of Fox Sports Florida

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76ers saying goodbye to mascot Hip Hop

Seeing as how there is no actual basketball to talk about during the NBA lockout, this qualifies as big Sixers news. After receiving hundreds of communications from fans, nearly all of them advocating the end of a symbol of a different era, the team’s new ownership will announce today that the never-beloved mascot has been put out to pasture, literally.

To spare the sensibilities of the one or two children who weren’t scared to death by the rabbit, the team will say that Hip Hop fell in love, married and moved away to start a family. Apparently, it either was that or announce that they were going to boil him in a pot on a really big stove in a remake of “Fatal Attraction.”

A decade ago, with Allen Iverson as the face of the franchise and Pat Croce rappelling the Walt Whitman Bridge as the out-there owner, Hip Hop arrived as a replacement for another mascot, Big Shot (whose demise wasn’t exactly mourned, either, if memory serves).

— Reported by Rich Hofmann of the Philadelphia Inquirer

InsideHoops.com editor Jeff Lenchiner says: No word on if mascot Hip Hop will now cross over and become R&B.

Julius Erving memorabilia auction nets $3.5 million

SCP Auctions says more than 140 items from Julius Erving’s personal collection sold for a record $3.5 million. The auction ran from October until Sunday.

Among the highlights: His 1974 New Jersey Nets ABA championship ring sold for $460,471; 1983 76ers championship rings sold for $244,240; 1983 All-Star game MVP trophy ($115,242); final game worn jersey from May 3, 1987 ($88,826); and 1974-75 ABA MVP trophy ($173,10).

SCP said the Nets championship ring set a record price for a sports ring.

Erving told The Associated Press last month he’s never been a “hoarder or collector,” and planned to donate a portion of the auction proceeds to the Salvation Army.

— Reported by the Associated Press