Clips Nation

According to a tweet by Brad Turner at the LA Times the Los Angeles Clippers waived Solomon Jones this morning, bringing their roster down to fourteen.

It's somewhat ironic, but as we wait for news of the Chauncey Billups' injury, today, Tuesday, February 7th, is the last day a non-guaranteed contract player can be waived. Until Solomon Jones was cut this morning, the Clippers had fifeen players on their roster with the recent addition of Kenyon Martin. With the injury to Chauncey Billups and the continued assertion that the front office might be chasing J.R. Smith or other players, it seemed certain that the Clippers would trim the roster today. (More after the break.)

The question remains, will the Clippers make any further moves today? We still don't know the extent of Billups injury or whether that injury might result in his removal from the roster. That's not something any of us would want to see, but, if Billups contract is insured, the Clippers MIGHT be required to remove him in order for make a claim against that policy.

I'm on soft ground here, I've no idea what the realities are. If Billups contract IS insured, it's possible that the Clippers might not be the beneficiaries (or might only be partial beneficiaries) of a claim. It might in fact, be the New York Knicks who would insist that Billups be removed from the roster. (Note: There is also a possibilty that Billups might be declared "disabled". Normally that would provide a team with a "Disabled Player Exception". But who would get the exception on an Amnestied player?) Of course Billups contract is guaranteed, and the Clippers have no need to act on his roster spot today, but, if they know they need another player to replace Billups, they might want to make another move on a non-guaranteed player before the end of the day.

The only other non-guaranteed contracts on the team are the rookies, Trey Thompkins or Travis Leslie. We haven't seen much of either player, though there's been more enthusiasm for Thompkins than Leslie. If any of these guys is waived and not selected by another team, they could always return to the Clippers via ten day contracts.

Of course the team could also just hold onto the two players and pay their salaries through the year, but most teams don't do that, and the last man I can remember the Clippers waiving outright was Sam Cassell at the trade deadline, at his request, so he could try and hook on with a contender.

There's also a possibility that the Clippers might be buyers and pick up a player off the waiver wire. Stick with your twitter and see who's let go. I'm thinking it's unlikely there will be much of value out there, a few unproven rookies, a couple of emergency-only or bandaid vets will be all we see.