JULY 16TH, 7:58am: The Clippers officially waived Hudson, the team announced via press release before the guarantee deadline Wednesday night. He’s reportedly expected to sign in China.
JULY 15TH, 11:13pm: The Clippers will waive Lester Hudson today, a league executive tells Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Bolch reported Tuesday that the move was likely. Hudson’s non-guaranteed minimum salary, worth $1,015,421, would become fully guaranteed if he remains on the roster through today.
The 30-year-old joined the Clippers this spring on a 10-day contract, and he later beat out Nate Robinson, who was still recovering from a left knee injury, for a deal that covered the rest of the season. The Clips and Hudson tacked an extra year onto the contract, but the team is poised to let him go, clearing more roster flexibility to add other minimum-salary signees. No. 56 overall pick Branden Dawson just officially signed to a contract that runs two years at the minimum with the first year guaranteed, according to Dan Woike of the Orange County Register (on Twitter).
Hudson averaged 11.2 minutes per game in five regular season games and made cameo appearances in seven playoff contests, his first NBA action since the 2011/12 season. He had been playing in China, where he was a major scoring force, pouring in 31.2 points per game for Liaoning this past season before joining the Clippers.