SATURDAY, 2:35pm: The Clippers have signed Jones to a second 10-day contract, the team has announced.
FRIDAY, 8:26am: The Clippers will re-sign Dahntay Jones to another 10-day contract after his first one expires at the end of today, coach/executive Doc Rivers told reporters last night, including Dan Woike of the Orange County Register and Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter links). It’s the last 10-day contract the Mark Bartelstein client is eligible to sign this year with the Clippers, who must decide whether to keep him for the rest of the season or leave him in free agency once the deal is up.
The 11th-year veteran has seen his first regular season NBA action since the 2012/13 season while on his initial 10-day contract with the Clips, though the swingman’s playing time has been sparce. He’s scored four points in 23 minutes total across four appearances, but it seems the Clippers are content to keep the 34-year-old around, with chemistry a key factor, as Jill Painter Lopez of Fox Sports West details. He was averaging 14.4 points in 29.3 minutes per game for the D-League Fort Wayne Mad Ants this season after the Jazz cut him prior to opening night.
Jones occupies the 13th spot on the Clippers roster. Teams can drop down to 12 players for two weeks at a time, but they’re otherwise obligated to carry at least 13 men. Jordan Farmar‘s buyout left the Clippers a little more than $1.638MM shy of their hard cap, enough to sign multiple players to prorated minimum-salary contracts that cover the rest of the season. However, Rivers has said he expects to sign a pair of veterans next month, so it appears he’d like to maintain flexibility for the time being. Whether or not that means Jones will stick around once his second 10-day contract is up remains to be seen.