Luc Mbah a Moute Reportedly Waived by Clippers After Brief Return to Team

Forward Luc Mbah a Moute's time with the Los Angeles Clippers is reportedly over.

On Sunday, Marc Stein of the New York Times reported the Western Conference team waived him with just two games remaining in the regular season. Mbah a Moute played a mere four games this season—all in October—and has dealt with injuries after he signed a one-year deal with Los Angeles in July.

Mbah a Moute, who also played for the Clippers in two seasons from 2015 through 2017, underwent knee surgery in March.

Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN explained the rationale from the Clippers' perspective:

The team's announcement on the surgery noted Mbah a Moute was out for the season and expected to return to basketball activities in eight weeks.

While he was unable to build on it in 2018-19, the UCLA product was an important part of last season's Houston Rockets team that won the most regular-season games in the league and reached Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. He averaged 7.5 points and 3.0 rebounds a night while helping anchor its defense.

He possesses the length and versatility to stay in front of ball-handlers and bother perimeter shooters or defend forwards who play closer to the basket.

According to NBA.com, opponents shot 1.2 percent worse from the field and 2.1 percent worse from three-point range than their normal averages when Mbah a Moute defended them last season.

Mbah a Moute can be a valuable role player for a team next season with that defense even though expectations shouldn't be particularly high after he turns 33 years old in September with injury concerns.