LA Clippers: Evaluating players with 2020 expiring contracts
Joakim Noah
The 35-year-old former Defensive Player of the Year signed a 10-day contract for $144,901 with the Los Angeles on March 9. A few days later the league shut things down before Noah could even see any on-court action with the Clippers.
It would be hard to argue in favor of the Clippers re-signing Noah this offseason. He hasn’t played at all this season and has seen severely limited action due to injuries since the 2015-16 campaign. Signing Noah to a 10-day contract was taking a nice flyer on the former defensive specialist, but it was no guarantee he’d even be there for the stretch run should this season return.
There should be plenty of other options in the offseason (and possibly in next year’s buyout market) should the Clippers need cheap bench depth at center and absolutely no reason to extend themselves any further to re-sign Noah.
Rookie Mfiondu Kabengele hasn’t seen much action at all for the Clippers but is another big body the team already has control of through 2023. Any extra opportunities for playing time to let the six-foot-nine-inch nephew of Hall-of-Famer Dikembe Mutombo develop would do wonders for him. He’s already talking about wanting to be the next great G-league success story.
Next. LA Clippers Release ‘Monsta Trezz’ Player Profile Film on Montrezl Harrell. dark
With superstars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George under team control for next season along with high-quality role players like Patrick Beverley and Lou Williams, the Clippers will be in a good place for the 2020-21 season already. Making sure they bring back Montrezl Harrell is a vital step to ensure they remain a top-end championship contender. The team should also consider keeping Marcus Morris and Patrick Patterson, should the price be right.