The Lakers locker room was not exactly the most mature, professional place in the NBA last season. To put it kindly. But in the middle of that were a few veterans who were good role models to any young players paying attention. Brandon Bass was one of those. He also remained a solid vet on the court — he struggled defensively early being asked to play the five off the bench, but by the end of the season he had settled into that role. He remains a solid pick-and-pop big who can score, the Lakers just gave him far fewer chances than he was used to.
Maybe the Clippers will give him more touches next season.
Bass is moving down the hall at Staples Center, reports Shams Charania of The Vertical at Yahoo Sports.
Despite a strong pursuit from the San Antonio Spurs, free agent Brandon Bass reached agreement on a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday, league sources told The Vertical.
Bass had been deciding between veteran-minimum offers from the Spurs and Clippers, but the recruitment by Clippers coach Doc Rivers – who coached him in Boston – and several Los Angeles players swayed him. Bass resides in Los Angeles and is expected to be a trusted rotation player for Rivers.
Bass is someone Rivers can trust and will lean on off the bench. He shot 61.9 percent true shooting percentage last season and had a PER of 17.4, both comfortably above the league average. He can score from the post or pop out to the midrange.
Bass will likely come in off the bench behind Blake Griffin, getting a fair amount of minutes with g Marreese Speights at the five. Can those two, plus Jamal Crawford and Austin Rivers, start to shore up a bench that has been a Clippers weakness for a few seasons now?
The Clippers and the Spurs will be battling to be the second best team in the West during next regular season. Bass is going to help.