Clippers sign Fred Jones

Hey guys,

I’m on vacation for a couple days, but I wanted to pass this along from the Clippers, who announced they have signed guard Fred Jones.

A six-year NBA veteran, Jones played 70 games with the Knicks last season, averaging 7.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 25.1 minutes. The Clippers will be the fifth NBA team for Jones, who has appeared in 378 total games and is averaging 7.5 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists in his NBA career.

Contingency plans

The official prognosis isn’t in yet, but the general assumption is that rookie point guard Mike Taylor will miss approximately 4-6 weeks with a broken right hand. Where does that leave the Clippers, who were already thin in the backcourt?

The team has an extra roster spot, but according to a source familiar with the club’s thinking, the most likely course of action is to go with two point guards (Baron Davis and Jason Hart) until Taylor is ready to return or until teams can sign players to 10-day contracts in early January, whichever comes first.

The team is unlikely to bring a player in immediately, because they only have four games the rest of the month after tonight’s game in Milwaukee, and one game in the first week of January.

If the team needs extra help in the backcourt, Eric Gordon and Mardy Collins have experience at point guard.

Answers Part I

when is ricky davis coming back ? Have the Clippers talked to Jason Williams at all ? Is Baron Davis secretly injured ? hes shooting so horribly.

–I’ll take these one at a time. Ricky is expected back around Christmas, though that is not a firm date and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him out until after New Years. It’s the kind of injury you want to make sure is really healed before you come back, because that was the point of sitting out so long in the first place.

–To my knowledge, the Clippers have not spoken with Jason Williams since he retired before the start of training camp.

–I don’t think Baron is secretly injured, as you put it, but I do think his finger affected him in the early part of the year. I think it affected him more in terms of dribbling than shooting. But the last time I looked at it, the finger looked quite a bit better than before. I’ll ask Baron about it the next time I see him.

What is Baron’s relationship like with Dunleavy? Does Baron respect him? Do they have a friendly relationship like Dunleavy seemed to have with Cassell?

— That’s a hard question to answer because I don’t get to see them behind closed doors. I think coach is close with some players. Actually, I know he was very close with Cuttino Mobley, even after trading him. I don’t think he’s formed that bond with Baron yet, though from what I’ve seen he’s definitely tried.

Questions?

Hey,

Since the Clippers are out of town this week, I figured I’d open the floor up for some questions. Try and have them in by Friday afternoon, though I’ll try and answer them as they come in.

I noticed someone asked about Kaman’s return date…

Last time I asked Mike Dunleavy about it, he said Kaman would likely be out until Christmas. The Clips play Dec. 22 vs. Toronto, then have a long break until Dallas comes to town on December 28. The Clippers will take the 23-25 off, then reconvene the afternoon of the 26th, meaning all the guys will have a chance to go home for Xmas, though most likely they’d have to fly home the night of the 25th to be back in town for practice on the 26th.

All that said, my guess would be the soonest Kaman would be back is the game on the 28th, though it could be the 30th in Sacramento or the 31st against Philadelphia back at Staples. I can’t see him rushing back for the game on the 22nd when there is a six-day break after that. It would be a much better idea to sit out the 22nd and use the extra week to heal.