Summer League: LA Clippers Add Two More to Summer League Roster
By Noah Shatzer
The LA Clippers add another point guard and a D-League wing player to Las Vegas Summer League roster.
Two of the remaining five spots on the LA Clippers’ Summer League roster were filled on Tuesday as the team reportedly added Rio Grande Valley Vipers wing Jaron Johnson and former SMU point guard Nic Moore.
Per EastTexasMatters.com, Johnson will be playing in the NBA Summer League for the third year in a row, this year for the Los Angeles Clippers. The former Louisiana Tech star went undrafted in the 2014 NBA Draft but went on to play for the Rockets in the 2015 Las Vegas Summer League and the Pacers in the 2015 Orlando Summer League. Johnson failed to make either team’s roster but did participate in the Wizards’ 2015 Training Camp. The wing player instead spent the ’14-’15 and ’15-’16 seasons playing with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the D-League and played for the D-League Select team in last year’s Las Vegas Summer League.
Johnson spent part of the ’16-’17 season playing with the Vipers but also played 14 games over in the Austrailian NBL with the Perth Wildcats. In his 113 games with the Rio Grande Vipers, Johnson averaged 16.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists while shooting 45 percent from the floor and 37 percent from three. In his 14 games with the Wildcats, Johnson put up similar averages of 13.1 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists while shooting 46 percent from the floor and 38 percent from three. The 6’6 wing player may be a long shot at making the Clippers’ opening day roster, but a D-League veteran like Johnson could be valuable for a brand new G-League team.
Reportedly joining Johnson on the LA Summer League per SMU Report Patrick Engel, will be former SMU point guard Nic Moore, who went undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft. Moore spent the last year playing for Enel Brindisi in the LBA’s (Lega Basket Serie A) first division located in Italy. In 23 games with Enel Brindisi, 22 of which he started, Moore averaged 12.7 points, 4.2 assists, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.7 steals while shooting 45 percent from the floor and a scorching 47 percent from three. The league does follow FIBA rules meaning the three point line is slightly closer than NBA range, but 47 percent on 5.8 attempts per game is an impressive clip.
Like Juwan Evans, one of the LA Clippers’ 2017 draftees, Moore is an undersized point guard at only 5’9 which has limited the interest from NBA teams. The guard, who was the AAC Player of the Year during his junior and seniors seasons at SMU, played for the Heat’s Summer League team in both the 2016 Las Vegas and Orlando leagues last year but failed to generate significant interest from the team.
Johnson and Moore’s addition to the team brings the roster to nine strong with four points guards, two wings, two power forwards, and one center. Four point guards should be more than enough so expect the last three spots to be used on additional wing players or big men. Johnson and Moore join a Clipper’s Summer League team full of young talent with players such as Brice Johnson, Diamond Stone, and this year’s draft picks Juwan Evans and Sindarius Thornwell.
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