Reggie Bullock on Saturday became the latest Clippers player to go down with what could be a significant injury, and that has Doc Rivers believing the team will sign a free agent reinforcement, as Arash Markazi of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports. Trainers told Bullock that he probably has a high ankle sprain, an injury that usually keeps a player out of action for about a month, according to Markazi.
“We would have to look somewhere,” Rivers said about the possibility of a signing. “Let’s hope not, but my guess is yes. I don’t know where we’re going to go. If you guys have any names, call me and let me know. I’ll be on the phone tonight with (Clippers executives) Gary (Sacks) and Gerald (Madkins) and Dave Wohl, and I’m praying they know somebody. We’ll see. You never know.”
Rivers, in addition to his role as Clippers coach, has the final say on personnel matters, and he must decide what to do now that so many players are on the shelf. Matt Barnes could miss another two weeks after having a second surgery on a torn retina in his left eye and J.J. Redick is a week into a six-to-eight-week timetable for recovery from a broken hand and torn ulnar collateral ligament. Maalik Wayns hasn’t played after suffering a torn meniscus in his left knee in the preseason.
The Clippers have been monitoring Lamar Odom for months, and while Markazi believes it’s possible the team will sign him soon, he notes that it’s a move the Clippers had hoped to put off for a while longer (Twitter link). Odom reportedly won’t be ready to play until mid-January, at the earliest.
Markazi mentions Shannon Brown as a possible candidate to fill the Clippers’ open roster spot. Brown played for Clippers assistant coach Alvin Gentry on the Suns. Brown has drawn interest from several teams in the weeks since the Wizards released him following the Marcin Gortat trade shortly before opening night.