From NBA.com:
The Los Angeles Clippers today re-signed unrestricted free agent forward Brian Skinner. Per team policy terms of the contract were not released.
In 51 games played with the Clippers last season, Skinner averaged 4.2 points, 4.0 rebounds and 16.5 minutes per game. Over his 11 year NBA career, Skinner has tallied 4.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 18.3 minutes per game.
On June 30th, the Clippers announced that Skinner had decided not to exercise his player contract option for the 2009-10 NBA season, making him an unrestricted free agent.
Skinner was originally drafted by the Clippers in the first round (22nd overall) of the 1998 NBA Draft.
Earlier this summer, Skinner declined his player option to become an unrestricted free agent in the open market, but likely found that his services weren’t in high demand.
The minimum salary for a veteran free agent with ten years of service or greater is $1,306,455, so it’s hard to imagine Skinner’s cap number being much more than that. Skinner originally declining his option was a bit of a calculated risk on his part- he was penned to make 1.3 million if he stayed with the Clippers in the first place, so testing the waters cost him no money as long as he could find a home back with Los Angeles. Skinner presumably sweated out the Ramon Sessions race with the rest of us, but once that was finalized and Novak was brought back, there was an open spot to welcome Skinner (yet again) back to the Clippers.
Skinner is a marginal role player, and barring injuries probably wont see the floor much for the Clippers. Last year, especially late in the season, Skinner played extensively over the raw yet extremely talented DeAndre Jordan, much to the frustration of fans and analysts alike. Jordan has now likely leapfrogged Skinner on the depth chart, but the 33 year old still adds some needed insurance to a Clippers front line that is either habitually injured or in foul trouble.
Using the 14th roster spot on another big opposed to a backup point guard is a bit of a surprise, but the move may signal the faith Dunleavy has in Sebastian Telfair, and to some extent Mardy Collins. It’s still possible that Dunleavy brings in another guard as a 15th man, but at this point that seems somewhat unlikely. The roster appears to be set at 14, and this should be the last noteworthy transaction until training camp starts in just a few short weeks.