Clippers sign forward Jeff Ayres to a 10-day contract

Clippers Sign Jeff Ayres To 10-day

Jeff Ayres/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

Forward Jeff Ayres, who played his high-school ball at Etiwanda in Rancho Cucamonga, has signed a 10-day contract with the L.A. Clippers.

Ayres, who is 6-foot-9, had played 23 games this season for the Idaho Stampede of the NBA Development League. He averaged 16.3 points and 9.5 rebounds.

Ayres, 28, has played in 220 career NBA games with Portland, Indiana and San Antonio and was part of the Spurs’ 2014 championship team. His career scoring and rebounding averages are 3.0 and 2.8, respectively.

Ayres for now will take the roster spot left open by Josh Smith, who on Friday was traded back to the Houston Rockets.

Doc Rivers talks about trading Josh Smith back to the Rockets

Josh Smith traded from Clippers to Rockets

Josh Smith gets a rebound for the Clippers during a Nov. 7 game against the Houston Rockets as the Rockets’ Dwight Howard looks on at Staples Center/AP photo by Jae C. Hong

 

Doc Rivers, head coach and president of basketball operations for the Clippers, on Friday traded Josh Smith back to the Houston Rockets for the draft rights to Maarty Leunen, a 6-foot-9 forward who currently plays for Scandone Avellino of the Italian Serie A.

The Rockets also received the draft rights to forward  Sergei Lishouck and cash considerations. Lishouck currently plays for UCAM Murcia in Spain.

Perhaps the handwriting was on the wall when Smith played in just four of the previous 14 games before the Clippers defeated the host New York Knicks 116-88 on Friday. Smith this season had a shouting match with assistant coach Mike Woodson after one game and an in-game verbal row with Rivers during another.

Rivers talked about his decision to trade Smith before the Clippers took on the Knicks.

“Obviously, I wanted Josh to work out, it just didn’t for us,” Rivers said. “Like I said earlier, he was very good, a good teammate and all that, but it just doesn’t work and so we wanted to go in another direction.”

Rivers said Smith took the news well..

“He was great,” Rivers said. “I thought he was great throughout. We decided to go in another direction with Cole (Aldrich).  Cole played well and we started winning games and Josh was great in the locker room, great in practices, so he was a professional.”

The Clippers signed Smith during the off-season to a veteran’s minimum one-year contract.

Smith is 30. He averaged 5.7 points and 3.9 rebounds in 32 games with the Clippers; he started one. He has career scoring and rebounding averages of 16.2 and 8.3, respectively, but that’s at an average of 32.9 minutes. He averaged only 14.3 minutes with the Clippers.

 

Josh Smith’s stormy stay with Clippers over as he’s traded back to the Houston Rockets

Josh Smith traded from Clippers to Rockets

Josh Smith gets a rebound for the Clippers during a Nov. 7 game against the Houston Rockets as the Rockets’ Dwight Howard looks on at Staples Center/AP photo by Jae C. Hong

 

Josh Smith’s short and stormy stay with the L.A. Clippers is over. Smith was traded back to the Houston Rockets on Friday for the draft rights to Maarty Leunen, a 6-foot-9 forward who currently plays for Scandone Avellino of the Italian Serie A.

The Rockets also received the draft rights to forward  Sergei Lishouck and cash considerations. Lishouck currently plays for UCAM Murcia in Spain.

The Clippers acquired Smith – a forward who also played center for the team – during the off-season, signing him to the veterans’ minimum of $1,499,187. But Smith fell into disfavor when he didn’t play the way coach Doc Rivers wanted him to play. Smith also had a shouting match with assistant coach Mike Woodson after a game as well as an in-game verbal row with Rivers.

Through Thursday’s loss at Cleveland, Smith had not played in 10 of the past 14 games. He played 20 minutes in a Jan. 13 win over Miami and 19 in a loss to Sacramento this past Saturday, but that was because DeAndre Jordan missed those two games with pneumonia.

Smith spent the 2014-15 season playing first for Detroit and then with Houston. He scored 14 of his 19 points during the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals, helping the Rockets overcome a 19-point third-quarter deficit to beat the Clippers 119-107 on May 14 at Staples Center. That sent the series back to Houston, where the Rockets defeated the Clippers 113-100 in Game 7 to advance to the conference finals, at the same time denying the Clippers their first trip to the conference finals in franchise history.

Smith is 30. He averaged 5.7 points and 3.9 rebounds in 32 games with the Clippers; he started one. He has career scoring and rebounding averages of 16.2 and 8.3, respectively, but that’s at an average of 32.9 minutes. He averaged only 14.3 minutes with the Clippers.

Jamal Crawford likes the ‘character’ Clippers are showing

Jamal Crawford

Jamal Crawford/:Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

 

Clippers sixth-man Jamal Crawford is in his 16th season. He’s played for six teams, so he’s seen a lot. He really likes what this team is doing without Blake Griffin, and now DeAndre Jordan. Griffin on Wednesday missed his ninth consecutive game with a partially torn quad tendon Jordan missed his first with pneumonia after playing in 360 consecutive games. Still, the Clippers defeated the Miami Heat 104-90 and have now won 10 games in a row.

“It is the next man up; that is the great thing about having so much depth,” Crawford said. “Josh (Smith) was ready, Cole (Aldrich) was ready to step in the starting lineup. Guys are always ready and that is the character of our team.

“When we get everyone back, we will be ready to take off. Right now, we will just continue to hold down the fort until we have our two bigs back.”

Smith, who has not played much over the past three-plus weeks, played 20 minutes off the bench and scored nine points; he also had three rebounds, an assist and three steals. Aldrich started for Jordan and scored a team-high 19 points while grabbing seven rebounds, doling out three assists and making one steal.

 

‘DNP’ not next to Josh Smith’s name in Clippers’ latest box score

Josh Smith

Josh Smith/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers

When Cole Aldrich entered the rotation on Dec. 19, Josh Smith exited it. Prior to Wednesday, Smith had DNP next to his name in eight of the previous 10 games. With DeAndre Jordan out with pneumonia, Smith got a chance and played 20 minutes off the bench in the Clippers’ 104-90 victory over the Miami Heat at Staples Center.

Aldrich started for Jordan, Smith backed up Aldrich.

Smith scored nine points on 4 of 11 shooting and had three rebounds, an assist, a block and three steals.

Teammate Chris Paul complimented Smith for his effort and preparedness.

“I think Josh is one of those guys who has been in this league for a while and he understands that any time, his number could be called,” Paul said. “Playing without DJ (Wednesday) was probably the weirdest thing ever; my first game in a Clippers uniform without him.

“So Josh just was ready and he made some big plays for us.”

Five things to take from Clippers’ 104-90 victory over Miami

Cole Aldrich, right, of the Clippers dunks as Miami’s Justise Winslow tries to defend/Staff photo by David Crane

 

– This victory was the Clippers’ 10th in a row, ninth without the services of Blake Griffin (partially torn quad tendon) and first without DeAndre Jordan (pneumonia). That snapped Jordan’s 360 consecutive games streak, which had been the longest current streak. Griffin figures to still be out when the Clippers host Sacramento on Saturday. Jordan is listed as questionable.

Cole Aldrich is getting better and better. Starting for the first time this season because of Jordan’s absence, he scored a team-high 19 points on 7 of 14 shooting. Aldrich also pulled down seven rebounds, doled out three assists and made a steal in 24 minutes, his longest stint of the season.

Paul Pierce rebounded from two horrible shooting games to score 15 points on 6 of 10 from the field, 3 of 7 from 3-point range. Pierce had shot a combined 3 of 16 his previous two games, 1 of 12 from beyond the arc.

Josh Smith had a DNP next to his name in eight of the previous 10 games. With Jordan out, he played 20 minutes off the bench and scored nine points on 4 of 11 shooting. He also grabbed three rebounds, had one assist and made three steals.

– The Clippers had just eight total turnovers – seven individual, one team. The Heat had 24. Some of that was Miami’s own sloppiness, some of it was the solid defense now being played on a more consistent basis by the Clippers.