Two newcomers arrive at opposite ends of the NBA height chart.
The Los Angeles Clippers went looking for depth this month, and they found it at both ends of the height chart.
On Friday, the team signed 7-foot-5 center Jamarion Sharp to a two-way contract, making him the tallest active player in the NBA.
Two days later, on Sunday, the Clippers added 5-foot-7 point guard Yuki Kawamura on an Exhibit 10 training camp deal.
Neither signing guarantees a regular-season roster spot, but together the two moves say a lot about how a team like the Clippers fills out a camp roster this time of year.
The Two Ends of the Floor
Sharp is the safer bet of the two.
He went undrafted out of Ole Miss in 2024 after stops at Western Kentucky and John A. Logan College, then spent last season with the Texas Legends in the G League, where he averaged 7.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.8 blocks a game and won G League Defensive Player of the Year.
He backed that up in the NBA Summer League with the Toronto Raptors, blocking 2.8 shots a night.
A two-way contract with the Clippers lets Sharp spend time with the NBA roster this season while he keeps developing in the G League, and at his size, he does not need much more than that shot-blocking to be useful.
Kawamura is the tougher case.
He is 5-foot-7 and averaged 3.4 points and 2.6 assists per game with the Chicago Bulls last season after an earlier stint with Memphis.
The Clippers already have Darius Garland, who averaged 19.9 points a game with the Clippers last season, running the point, plus rookie Keaton Wagler and newly signed Jalen Pickett, so an Exhibit 10 deal gets Kawamura a training camp look rather than any real promise.
The Clippers even waived Sean Pedulla the same week to open a two-way spot for Pickett, which says enough about how crowded this backcourt already is.
Why the Clippers Keep Filling Out the Roster This Way
None of this is about competing for a title right away.
The Clippers are still waiting on the league's investigation into the team and Kawhi Leonard's stalled trade to sort itself out, and camp bodies like Sharp and Kawamura cost almost nothing against the cap while the front office watches how the rest of the roster shakes out.
That's the whole point of two-way and Exhibit 10 deals.
A team gets a real look at a player without committing money or a full roster spot, and if either one shows enough, the Clippers can make room.
Sharp already has the tools teams want at his position, a real shot-blocker who can protect the rim without needing the ball in his hands.
Kawamura is more of a wait-and-see case, taking the same two-way path Jalen Pickett just walked after arriving from a similar spot.
Even long shots like Kawamura serve a purpose in August, since a camp full of players fighting for jobs tends to push everyone, veterans included, to play harder in practice than they would with a settled roster.
