While Antawn Jamison might not have been the preferred option for the Los Angeles Clippers to be a forward coming off the edge of the bench for them next season, it seems like the 15-year veteran will end up with them after a couple of months filled with speculations about their and his intentions.
Jamison has plenty of demand in the NBA, but he’s narrowed down his next team to someone who can deliver wins and a possible title contention. The Clippers seem to fall into that category, but until the recent news of drug abuse and family issues came up, Lamar Odom was their favorite player to sign and give them more depth off the bench.
While the Odom situation is getting more worrying, Jamison seems to be the one that will benefit from it. He might not bring the defense or the ability to play center like Odom can, but he’s probably a more capable scorer at this point of their careers, not to mention still being likely to have one.
Jamison played for the Lakers last season, averaging 9.4 points and 4.8 rebounds in what he thought will be a year in which he’ll be a big part of a team that makes a run for the NBA title. But Jamison wasn’t pleased with D’Antoni, not with his playing time, his role on the court some of the time and all of the losing, with the Lakers barely making it into the playoffs.
Jamison is only 42 points away from becoming the 39th player in NBA history to score 20000 points. If he does get about 20 minutes a night from the Clippers, he should be able to do it in the span of four or five games, unless next season will feature a steep decline in his ability.
In any case, there’s no mystery about the contract he’ll be getting – one year, minimum deal. With Byron Mullens, Ryan Hollins, Matt Barnes and Reggie Bullock coming off the bench in the frontcourt, Jamison has a good chance to be playing the same kind of minutes he did for the Lakers last season.