Jeff Ayres Looks To Make The Most Out Of His Opportunity With Clippers

After dealing offseason free agent signing Josh Smith to the Houston Rockets, the Los Angeles Clippers announced that they have signed Idaho Stampede forward Jeff Ayres to a 10 day contract.

Ayres was recently the number one overall pick in the D-League Draft by the Idaho Stampede, and averaged 16.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game. After being a member of the 2014 NBA champion San Antonio Spurs, Ayres has recently been attempt to make it back in the league through the D-League.

This move comes after the Clippers gave up on their Josh Smith experiment, and now the team will be looking to Ayres to do similar things, supporting Luc Mbah a Moute while Blake Griffin recovers from injury.

At the max, Ayres has twenty days (assuming he's eventually granted a second ten-day pact) to prove his worth to the Clippers. Without their star big man Blake Griffin for a long stretch, the Los Angeles is looking for a short term replacement to keep their squad competitive. If Ayres is the answer, it is quite possible they take a gamble with him long term, in order to bolster their struggling bench.

With the current circumstances, it seems like Ayres will be the first power forward off the bench in Doc Rivers' rotation, so quite a few minutes will be available to the young forward. Given this opportunity, it will be interesting to see if Ayres can make a name for himself in the NBA, or if he will continue to play in the D-League after his ten days are up.