(Rich Pedroncelli/AP Photo)
The Los Angeles Clippers now have two guys named Glen who refuse to go by their forenames.
Led by Glenn “Doc” Rivers, the Clippers have announced the signing of Glen “Big Baby” Davis. The terms of the deal are yet to be disclosed.
The Clippers say Davis will be available to play in Monday night’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans. After so much heated debate (not actually), he’ll wear No. 12 in his first game, but will likely switch to his collegiate No. 0 once the Clippers return home, as Clippers.com’s Eric Patten reported earlier.
The 28-year-old LSU alum is currently in the midst of his seventh NBA season. Over the weekend, he and the Orlando Magic agreed to a buyout, which would eventually send him into free agency after clearing waivers Sunday evening. Before his time with the Magic, he spent his first four NBA seasons with the Boston Celtics, playing for Rivers.
There has been much made of Davis’ past connection with Rivers. He understands his system. He knows expectations. He knows how to fit in when he walks into a Doc-run locker room. It would be reasonable to assume that a transition to the Clippers may go a little smoother for him than it might go for someone else, who isn’t as familiar with playing for Doc.
Playing all of this season in Orlando, Davis has averaged 12.1 points and 6.3 rebounds in 30.1 minutes a night. He’s a mid-range heavy player who can be effective out of a pick-and-pop sets, but he likely isn’t the first or second or even third option the Magic expected him to be for the past three seasons. Because of that, we saw Big Baby take some unwarranted shots when he was playing for Jacque Vaughn.
With the Clippers, though, “Large Infant” will be far from a top offensive option. He will, however, slot nicely into that third big man spot that has been a major void for LA all season. The mix-and-match combination of Ryan Hollins, Byron Mullens, Antawn Jamison, Hedo Turkoglu and Fill in the Small-Ball Four hasn’t worked well for the Clippers. Davis may not be a needle changer completely on his own, but he is someone who can fill in the backup big cavity that has plagued the Clips all season.
Big Baby can play both center and power forward on the defensive end, and though he isn’t fleet of foot, he’s an intelligent and physical defender who can help his team in more aspects of the game than any other backup power forward or center currently on the roster. He’s going to get time. It won’t be the 30 minutes a game he got in Orlando. 15 to 22 minutes on any given night seems like a more realistic scenario. But those are an important 15 to 22 minutes.
The Clippers now have 13 players on the roster, meeting the required league minimum and leaving them with two more open spots to sign additional players.
UPDATE: After initially announcing that Davis would play Monday against the Pelicans, the Clippers have released that Big Baby will not be available against New Orleans. He is scheduled to undergo his physical Tuesday, and the Clippers say he “should” play Wednesday against the Houston Rockets.
Fred Katz
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