One of the Clippers‘ unsung heroes this season has been combo forward Luc Mbah a Moute, whose contract became fully guaranteed when he remained on the team’s roster past Thursday’s leaguewide deadline, Dan Woike of The Orange County Register writes. “Luc is the most under-appreciated person on our team, in all honesty,” point guard Chris Paul told Woike. “We used to talk about DJ [DeAndre Jordan] all the time, but everyone sees what DJ does on a nightly basis. But Luc is the guy. He does everything. He defends. He cuts. He does everything a coach would appreciate but a fan has no idea that he’s doing.”
Coach/executive Doc Rivers is also a big fan of Mbah a Moute’s game, Woike notes. “What I love about Luc also is Luc can play a lot of minutes in a game or he can play very little minutes in a game, there’s still no body language change or anything like that,” Rivers said. “He understands there are nights we need offensive guys on the floor, we need floor-spacers. There are nights where we need a stop, and Luc does it. I’ve always thought it’s easier for guys who are defensive-minded to accept their roles, because that’s what they do. I think Luc does that well.”
Here’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Despite the reports that their relationship is strained, Lakers coach Byron Scott insists that he and power forward Julius Randle are on the same page, Mark Medina of The Los Angeles Daily News writes. “If you want to believe all the reports out there, we have a terrible relationship,” Scott said. “But if you want to know the truth, we have a great relationship. Without all the popular demands on me being not a great communicator with my young guys, him and I have a great relationship. I care so much about him as a basketball player and a person, I’m going to be hard on him. I expect him to be disappointed in certain things. But I expect him to be a great player.“
- Suns 10-day signee Lorenzo Brown is thrilled to be joining former college teammate T.J. Warren in Phoenix and noted that the two had dreamed of playing together in the NBA during their time spent at North Carolina State, Matt Petersen of NBA.com writes. When asked what impact he hopes to make for the Suns, Brown told Petersen, “Just to win. Get defensive stops and score when I have the opportunity. I’ll do whatever I can to help us win.“