On the day that the Los Angeles Clippers ended the failed experiment with Josh Smith by trading him back to the Houston Rockets, they’ve gone after some championship winning pedigree to add to their bench. Yes, “championship winning pedigree” may be overselling it a bit, but the Clippers have now signed former San Antonio Spurs center Jeff Ayres (a title winner in 2014) to a 10-day contract.
It’s almost startling to see the Clippers making multiple moves (albeit non franchise-changing ones) on one day almost a month before the deadline on February 18. That being said, Smith was almost guaranteed to depart sooner rather than later after Doc Rivers sent him to the bottom of the rotation with 10 DNPs in the last 14 games.