Jan. 14--REPORTING FROM PORTLAND, Ore. -- Dahntay Jones went from the Fort Wayne Mad Ants into a mad scramble Wednesday, trying to join the Clippers in Portland after they signed the veteran swingman to a 10-day contract.
Clippers Coach Doc Rivers said he expected Jones to arrive before his team played the Portland Trail Blazers at the Moda Center on Wednesday night.
Rivers said Jones, a 10-year NBA veteran who was playing this season for the Mad Ants in the NBA Development League, would provide the Clippers with a needed defensive presence on the wing.
"He can guard points, he can guards twos and threes," Rivers said. "We'll give him a try and see if he has anything and if he doesn't, we'll go another route."
Jones, 34, averaged 14.4 points and 3.4 rebounds while shooting 53.7% in 19 games with the Mad Ants.
The Clippers had considered signing forward Darius Miller but decided he was not in sufficient game shape after staging a workout for him Tuesday. Miller had been working out at home in Kentucky after being released by the New Orleans Pelicans last month.
"If he had come in great [shape], we probably still would have waited just to try to get him in basketball shape," Rivers said. "I'm sure that's what he's going to do."
Rivers said the Clippers would consider signing Miller to a 10-day contract later this season.
Meanwhile, the Clippers' efforts to acquire guard Austin Rivers from the Boston Celtics appeared to be progressing, with one league source saying a trade could be completed Thursday.
The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss player movement, said the trade would likely involve some combination of Clippers guard Jordan Farmar and/or forwards Chris Douglas-Roberts and Reggie Bullock. The Clippers need to relinquish at least $1.8 million in player salary to acquire Rivers.
