At the trade deadline and on the buyout market, the Clippers were looking for some more depth at center. They have Montrezl Harrell, who scores 18.7 points per game and is in the running to win Sixth Man of the Year but is considered a bit undersized at 6'7". They start seven-footer Ivica Zubac and he has been a good defender for them, but is he the starting center on a championship team?
After looking around, the Clippers have turned to Joakim Noah, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.
The Clippers are signing free agent center Joakim Noah, league sources tell ESPN. Noah, a two-time All-Star, is expected to join the team next week.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 6, 2020
This will start as a 10-day contract and could be extended from there, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
This is a low-risk signing by the Clippers, someone to provide depth and eat some minutes down the stretch to keep their key guys fresh. Noah had a solid second half of last season with Memphis, coming off the bench and providing good defense plus 7.1 points per game. He was moving reasonably well and fit in as a role player at 16.5 minutes a night.
If the Clippers get that kind of production out of the former Defensive Player of the Year, they will be ecstatic. If not, they will just move on.
Noah has not played in the NBA this season (meaning he would be playoff eligible for the Clippers if they want). The Lakers worked Noah out before the season but decided to go with Dwight Howard. Dallas had talks with Noah but those never came to fruition.
