The Clippers made a nice move in signing Ruben Patterson. Patterson is a really good basketball player who should be able to help replace some of Elton’s Brand’s points until he’s ready to return. Patterson played in 81 games (53 starts) last season for the Bucks and he averaged 31.0 minutes, 14.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.4 steals per game. He shot well from the floor hitting 54.8% of his shots, but he’s not a good three point shooter (15.8%) or a free throw shooter (64.1%).

Patterson has been a solid player his whole NBA career. He has now played in 629 games (240 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 24.8 minutes, 10.9 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He has shot 51.8% from the floor, 18% from the three point line and 64.3% from the free throw line over his NBA career.

The Clippers have signed forward Josh Powell to a 3-year contract as they needed another forward with Elton Brand out for a large chunk of the season. He played in 37 games (0 starts) last season for the Pacers and Warriors and he averaged 9.5 minutes, 3.1 points, 2.4 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. He also shot the ball pretty well as he hit 46.2% of his shots from the floor and 71.4% from the free throw line last season.

Powell has now played in 74 NBA games (2 starts) in his career and he has averaged 10.6 minutes, 3.1 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He has made 46% of his career shots from the floor and 75.9% of his free throws. Don’t expect Powell to perform miracles in LA this season.

The Clippers have signed point guard Brevin Knight to a 2-year contract. The signing of Knight signals that the Clippers think Sam Cassell is nearing the end of the line and Shaun Livingston’s knee must be rehabbing slowly. Knight played in 45 games (25 starts) last season for the Bobcats and he averaged 28.3 minutes, 9.1 points, 2.6 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He also shot 41.9% from the floor and 80.5% from the free throw line.

Knight has now played in 581 games (384 starts) in his NBA career and he has averaged 26.8 minutes, 8.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.8 steals per game. He is not much of an outside shooter as he has hit 41.6% from the floor, 15% from the three point line and 78.7% from the free throw line.

Reserve forward James Singleton has signed a 1-year deal to play in Spain. He played in 53 games for the Clippers last season and he averaged 7.1 minutes, 1.6 points, 2.0 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. He shot only 36.6% from the floor, 21.4% from three point range and 75.9% from the free throw line. The Clippers won’t miss Singleton too much in 2007.

Elton Brand ruptured his left Achilles’ tendon on Friday during a routine workout. He will miss at least the next six months which could put him out until February. This is a huge blow to the Clippers as Brand is far and away their best player on the team. The Clippers will need either first round pick Al Thornton or Tim Thomas to step up or the Clippers could be in for a very, very long season.