Skinner’s Return Eagerly Awaited

At the start of training camp, second-year Clipper forward Brian Skinner was considered a question mark. After Skinner was injured for much of his rookie season, the Clippers didn’t know exactly what they would get from him.

But once the season began, Skinner quickly became one of the team’s strong points. He was a force inside and gave the Clippers a sense of toughness until he suffered an ankle injury Dec. 14 against the Lakers.

Since Skinner has been sidelined, the Clippers have struggled, and when veteran big man Pete Chilcutt was not re-signed after his 10-day contract expired, their lack of depth became more apparent.

With Skinner not expected to return for maybe two more weeks, Coach Chris Ford is back to an 11-man roster.

“Our rotation will change again,” Ford said. “I haven’t been presented with any names that are out there yet. I was hoping to keep Chilcutt.”

Chilcutt, though, believed that he would have a better chance of being signed for the rest of the season by another team.

The Clippers can only hope Skinner returns faster than predicted.

“I don’t know how long it is going to be,” Ford said of Skinner’s possible return from an injury that has sidelined him for 21 games. “We worked him out [on Friday] and today he said he felt sore.

“We’re going to try and accelerate his workouts and see what he can stand. He’s looking to get into some contact. . . . We will try and get him into some workouts where we can see him push off and play against people.”