The Clippers went out and found a young, relatively unproven backup at center last season and it went so well they weren’t able to retain Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency.
The 7-foot German lefty left for the New York Knicks, taking them up on a $16.7 million, two-year offer and leaving the Clippers in need of a Hart replacement. And so they’ve reportedly extended an invite to free-agent center Moses Brown, according to The Athletic.
Brown entered the market as an unrestricted free agent after the Cavaliers opted not to issue the former UCLA prospect a qualifying offer worth $2,076,674.
Like Hartenstein, who’d played on three teams in three seasons before joining the Clippers, Brown – who wasn’t drafted – has ricocheted around the league since his 2019 debut, playing for Portland, Oklahoma City, Dallas and Cleveland.
In 92 games, the 7-foot-2, 22-year-old center has career averaged 6 points and 5.8 rebounds.
Recall: He had a 24-point, 18-rebound, seven-block game against the Clippers in the 2020-21 regular-season finale, in which Daniel Oturu played 37 minutes in a loss that secured a fourth-seed matchup against Dallas in the playoffs.
The Clippers have an opening on their 15-man roster and need a backup behind starter Ivica Zubac, who they re-signed and gave a raise this offseason with a three-year, $33 million contract.
With their Summer League schedule opening today in Las Vegas against Memphis (6 p.m., NBA TV), they also have both of their two-way spots to fill, although second-round draft pick Moussa Diabate is slated to get one of them.
In his season at UCLA, Brown – a native New Yorker – was inconsistent, but he had some memorable moments in 2018-19, when UCLA coach Steve Alford suggested that Brown, then 7-1, might still be growing and had “his best basketball ahead of him.”
In his Bruins debut, he led them to a 96–71 win over Purdue Fort Wayne with 19 points on 9-of-10 shooting, 17 rebounds and a dunk so vicious his contact lens came loose. A few games later, Brown posted 23 points and 14 rebounds in a 95–58 win over Saint Francis, against whom he nearly had a triple-double with eight blocks in 29 minutes before checking out for the last time with six minutes left.
He also became half of a viral GIF when teammate Jaylen Hands physically lifted Brown’s chin up in the midst of an overtime comeback victory against Oregon.
Afterward Brown credited Hands for the assist: “Oh, he definitely is a very great person,” he told reporters at a practice soon after. “That’s my brother, my point guard, He does a good job of encouraging me.”
Never forget this Moses Brown moment at UCLA
pic.twitter.com/gyUYXdYGMc
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 28, 2021
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