Kenyon Martin to Sign with Clippers for $2.5M

Free agent power forward Kenyon Martin has reportedly agreed to a one-year, $2.5 million deal to play for the Los Angeles Clippers.

Kenyon Martin, an 11-year NBA veteran who had been hotly pursued by many NBA teams, will join All-Star forward Blake Griffin and center DeAndre Jordan to create a powerful front-court trio for the Clippers, who had long been one of the worst teams in the league before Griffin came to the team last year, Yahoo! Sports reported Friday.

Martin, 34, is still embroiled in a dispute with Chinese Basketball Association officials over an agreement he signed to play this season in China for the Xinjiang Guanghui Flying Tigers before the lockout ended in December. He played part of this season in China, and he may still be tied to the CBA, which is petitioning the NBA and FIBA to honor his agreement with the CBA after the FIBA issued a letter allowing him to return to the NBA this week, Yahoo! Sports reported. The Flying Tigers have six games left and the team's last regular-season game is Feb. 16.

Because of the China situation and the fact that he would have to work out for a week to begin playing, it is expected that Kenyon Martin will not play for the Clippers for at least the next two weeks.

The Clippers are probably the best place for [Martin] to showcase himself for his next deal, one rival front-office executive told Yahoo! Sports. He's clearly the third-best [big man] without competition from anyone on their roster.

The 6'9 power forward averaged 13.5 points and 7.2 rebounds in his 11 seasons with the New Jersey Nets and Denver Nuggets, and last season he averaged 8.6 points and 6.2 rebounds for Denver.

Other teams that had been pursuing Martin include the L.A. Lakers, New York Knicks, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, and Atlanta Hawks.