Feb. 18--The Clippers beat the trade deadline buzzer Thursday by sending Lance Stephenson and a lottery-protected first-round draft pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for Jeff Green in a move that bolsters their frontcourt.
Green can play both forward positions and could presumably fill in at power forward until Blake Griffin returns from a broken right hand and a four-game suspension that is expected to sideline him until next month.
Then Green, 29, could switch to small forward, one of the Clippers' biggest needs in recent seasons as it started Matt Barnes and Luc Mbah a Moute.
The 6-foot-9, 235-pound Green, who is in the final season of a contract that pays him $9.4 million, was averaging 12.2 points and 4.5 rebounds for the Grizzlies. Green spent two seasons playing for Clippers Coach Doc Rivers in Boston while also sitting out the 2011-12 season because of a heart condition.
Stephenson, 25, had an underwhelming four months with the Clippers. He was averaging 4.7 points and 2.5 points in 15.8 minutes per game and is in the final season of a contract that includes a team option for $9.4 million next season.
The Clippers' parting with Stephenson signaled an admission that two of their biggest summer acquisitions didn't work out. The team traded Josh Smith to the Houston Rockets last month and has used Stephenson only sporadically in recent weeks after an extended tryout over the season's first two months.
The Clippers also were expected to sign Alex Stepheson, a power forward with the Iowa Energy of the Development League who once played for USC and Harvard-Westlake High, to a 10-day contract either Thursday or Friday, according to a person close to the situation not authorized to publicly discuss the transaction.
Stepheson, who is 6-10 and 249 pounds, was the leading rebounder in the Development League, averaging 13.8 rebounds per game.
Signing Stepheson complicates the Clippers' ability to sign a backup guard over the next 10 days because it leaves them with no open roster spots. The team would need to wait until Stepheson's contract expired or waive another player to create a spot if it wanted to bring in a guard to help alleviate Chris Paul's recent surge in minutes with Austin Rivers sidelined by a broken hand.
ben.bolch@latimes.com
Twitter: @latbbolch
