Free agent center Ekpe Udoh is visiting the Clippers today, USA Today’s Sam Amick reports (on Twitter). The timing is curious, since the team’s trade agreement with the Bucks leaves the Clippers without the ability to sign him, thanks to the hard cap the club triggered this summer, as Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders points out (Twitter links). L.A. could afford to sign Udoh during the season to a prorated deal, as I noted earlier, or it could create additional space with another trade, or by waiving a player and using the stretch provision.
Udoh was close to a deal with the Clippers earlier this summer before the team signed Glen Davis, as Amick reported last month, though Udoh wasn’t among a group of big men the team was apparently set to work out earlier this month. The Heat have also reportedly held interest.
The Bucks decided against tendering a qualifying offer this summer to Udoh, the former sixth overall pick whom they acquired in 2012 as part of the Andrew Bogut trade. Milwaukee also renounced its rights to him, and while that doesn’t preclude him from re-signing with the team, it signals that it’s highly unlikely, especially in light of a lack of reports connecting the Bucks to the Chris Luchey client.