Clippings: Terance Mann is re-upping for two more years in Los Angeles

A year ago, Terance Mann was getting spot minutes in the 2020 postseason, mostly seeing the court on defensive possessions to end quarters.

Fast forward nine months, and Mann had shifted from point guard to the wing — and even center — during the postseason, supercharged the Clippers with his energy off the bench, and then dropped 39 points in a closeout game to help the Clippers advance to their first conference finals.

And now, Mann is Dirk-ing during the preseason.

The sky is the limit for the third-year Clipper, and on Tuesday, Mann committed to continue realizing that potential in Los Angeles, agreeing to a two-year, $22 million extension that will keep him with the team through the 2024-25 season. Those two seasons are tacked on the end of Mann’s current four-year deal, which he signed after being drafted in the second round are 2019 and is now fully guaranteed.

“This is the team that drafted me, so they believed in me from the beginning,” Mann said Tuesday. “And then the run we had last year, we didn’t go where we wanted to go, so it left a bitter taste. So just wanting to keep that up, making deep runs in the playoffs, trying to get a ring, staying with these guys. These guys helped me out.... So just being around these guys for a longer period of time, I couldn’t turn that down.”

The Clippers have high hopes for Mann this year as he helps to fill the hole left by Kawhi Leonard, at least for the start of the season. The coaching staff will let him stretch his wings, adding in some playmaking opportunities in addition to his responsibilities as a scorer. Mann will have to continue to improve on the defensive end as well — perhaps fulfilling the comparison assistant coach Dahntay Jones has made to Jimmy Butler.

Having come into the league as a 48th pick with an uncertain role, Mann is already a success story. The way the Clippers see it, though, the best is yet to come.

“He’s a good player and he just figures it out,” Ty Lue said about Mann. “We play him in all different positions on the floor and he just figures it out, you know, he makes things happen. But like I always say, when you play hard and you compete, good things are gonna happen anyway, and that’s what he does.”

More news for Wednesday:

• Andrew Greif caught up with Patrick Beverley after his new team faced off against his old one Monday.
• Zach Lowe has his annual League Pass rankings. See where he slotted the Clippers.
• The NBA will reveal its 75th anniversary team, the 75 best players in NBA history, in three segments on Oct. 19, 20, and 21.
• Game 2 of the WNBA Finals is tonight, with former L.A. superstar Candace Parker and the Chicago Sky looking for a 2-0 lead.
• Athletes Unlimited is expanding into basketball, which will give the United States a pro women’s league during the WNBA offseason.