Report: Simmons to sign with Clippers

Ben Simmons plans to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers once he clears waivers with the Brooklyn Nets, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania.

Simmons, who reportedly finalized a buyout with the Nets on Saturday, will clear waivers at 5 p.m. ET Monday, according to ESPN's Bobby Marks.

The 28-year-old point guard averaged 6.2 points, 6.9 assists, and 5.2 rebounds in 33 games with Brooklyn this season, 24 of which were starts. However, he made just four appearances in the Nets' past 12 games because of illness and back soreness, the latter of which has plagued the three-time All-Star's career in recent seasons.

Simmons gives the Clippers another capable ball-handler with experience behind James Harden. Nine-year vet Kris Dunn has been Tyronn Lue's primary point guard off the bench, though the 30-year-old has also started 27 games alongside Harden as Lue shuffled the lineup amid multiple injuries earlier this season. Los Angeles' backcourt depth also now includes 36-year-old Patty Mills, who was acquired in a Feb. 1 trade with the Utah Jazz.

Though no longer the Defensive Player of the Year candidate he was prior to his lingering back issues, Simmons' 6-foot-10 frame gives Lue another big body to utilize in certain defensive schemes.

The Clippers' wing-heavy roster currently contains just three players who are 6-foot-10 or taller - Ivica Zubac, Kai Jones, and Drew Eubanks, who was acquired alongside Mills from the Jazz. Zubac, however, has been the only consistent member of the rotation all season. Jones did not feature in the Clippers' last seven games, while Eubanks played just seven and 13 minutes in the two games since being acquired.