According to new reports, Brandon Bass has joined the Los Angeles Clippers. Although the San Antonio Spurs also made an offer to sign him, Bass may have joined the LA team because of coach Doc Rivers.
Bass served as the power forward for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2015-2016 NBA season. During his time with the team, he averaged 7.2 points per game with 4.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists.
After becoming a free agent during the offseason, Bass was immediately approached by the Spurs with a very tempting offer. But despite the good deal, which is ideal for a veteran NBA player, Bass still decided to join the Clippers.
According to The Vertical, Bass may have been swayed to join the LA franchise primarily because of Rivers. These two spent time together when they were with the Boston Celtics. Rivers coached the Boston team from 2004 to 2013 while Bass played for the Celtics from 2011 to 2015.
Within the overlapping two years, these two were able to get to know each other's playing and coaching styles. Their familiarity with one another might have been the deciding factor that persuaded Bass to join the Clippers.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Bass has agreed to play for the Clippers for one year. As part of the deal, he will receive $1.55 million.
Like his role in the previous teams he was with, Bass will most likely be used as a rotation player for the Clippers. He will be joining the Los Angeles' team revamped lineup including Jamal Crawford, Austin Rivers, Marreese Speights and Wesley Johnson.
As pointed out by CBS Sports, joining the Clippers will be good for Bass' overall career. Although he only got a one-year contract, that's acceptable especially since he is already 31 years old. Also, with the Clippers, Bass will most likely get more playing time than with the Spurs. After all, the San Antonio team just signed Davis Bertans, the Latvian player from the Spanish club Laboral Kutxa Baskonia.
Although he'll still have competition in the Clippers due to Speights, Rivers already knows how Bass plays and will probably utilize him more during games.
