Byron Mullens to the Clippers? How do we feel about this?

According to the omnipresent Adrian Wojnarowski, the Clippers are close to signing Byron Mullens for two seasons. Mullens is a former first round pick of the Mavericks who was traded to the Thunder on draft day (by the way, Sam Presti was declared a savant for picks like Durant, Westbrook, Ibaka and Harden, but he's had a LOT of bad misses since). He was a key member and part time starter on the Bobcats since going there in 2011 -- that is to say, he was a key member and part-time starter on one of the worst teams of all time.

Mullens is one of those players that looks very tempting on the surface. He's a legitimate seven feet, reasonably athletic, and can shoot from the perimeter. He made 66 three pointers for the Bobcats last season -- but unfortunately he took 208 to make those 66, around 32%. Still, that's an effective shooting percentage over 47%, which is bad, but better than his career shooting percentage. In other words, he's no worse from three than he is from anywhere else. He's equally inefficient everywhere.

Still, getting a 24 year old seven footer with skills for the NBA minimum is not something you can do every day, and when you have the chance, you take it. Mullens never got an opportunity to play with the Thunder as a raw rookie and a second year player, and he was part of a historically bad team in Charlotte. He'll be a role player on a good Clippers team, in a role they need him to play. It's a calculated risk, but a good one in my opinion. He's not a terrible rebounder (much better than Ryan Hollins, for what it's worth), not a bad shot blocker (one per 36 minutes on his career).

In three seasons that Blake Griffin has been in L.A. the Clippers have only had Chris Kaman who was capable of hitting a ten footer, let alone a 20 footer, and Kaman has been gone for two seasons and only played 32 games with Griffin when he was in L.A. The fact is that the Clippers want to have a big -- any big -- playing with Griffin who can open up the floor for him a bit. Lamar Odom was supposed to do that last season, but unfortunately he had completely forgotten how to shoot. If Mullens can hit some face up jumpers from 17 feet and out, keeping the second big honest on defense, and providing more space inside for Griffin to operate, it will be a very good thing.

Does he know the difference between a good shot and a bad shot? He took a lot of terrible shots in Charlotte, but he almost never got good ones because that was a bad team that didn't create a lot of open looks. Maybe he actually knows the difference -- we'll see. He will get plenty of good shots with the Clippers; the question is can he learn to pass up the bad ones.