Jo Lual-Acil's defensive presence will help anchor the center spot
The Clippers continued their complete reconstruction yesterday by adding 30-year old big man Jo Lual-Acil in another trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder for cap space, followed by by the subsequent announcement of Malik Beasley signing a 3 year, $21 million contract (last year Team Option) in free agency. One is expected to come off the bench, the other a presumed starter.
Lual-Acil is highlighted as a defensive presence with an exceptional ability to draw contact inside and is instantly the team's best defensive rebounder on a roster that has a considerable number of noted players on the defensive glass. At 7', 230 pounds, he keeps a 7-footer in the paint at all times for the Red and White and allows the Clippers to shift Marcus Derrickson to a third-string role, with Harry Giles the presumed second-unit scorer at the backup 4 slot.
"We had a couple of teams interested acquiring Jo right from the jump, which as a rebuilding team we're always pleased to see," GM Jestor said. So it remains uncertain as to if the South Sudanese native will stay with the franchise, or if he'll be flipped at some point during the season. But he joins Frank Jackson of the recent pickups that have attracted acquisition interest from other CSL franchises.
Malik Beasley finally joins a Jestor franchise and finally gets his chance to shine
29-year old Malik Beasley has been a player Jestor has wanted ever since his draft class - a legitimate scorer who is deadly from 3 point range and a strong defensive rebounder for a wing. He spurned the Cavaliers' offer for a bigger payday for the opportunity to step into the Clippers' starting lineup and becoming the team's leading scorer.
"We're going a bit smallball with Malik at SF, but I think it will be fun to watch," said lame duck head coach Erik Spoelstra.
With 9 players now under contract...
PG Frank Jackson
SG De'Anthony Melton
SF Malik Beasley
PF Santi Aldama
CE James Wiseman
Harry Giles/Jo-Lual Acil as the second-string PF/CE respectively.
Still on the hunt for backup PG and SF, and still open to a SG that will allow the Clippers to move Melton to a PG/SG 6th man 32 MPG role for the remaining three spots to be roster-legal, the lesser Los Angeles team will doubtless prove a fascinating experiment in what happens when you put together an entirely new team on the fly.