Knight’s slow at the start

SANTA BARBARA -- Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy said he was disappointed in the initial physical shape of veteran point guard Brevin Knight but added he showed improvement in Thursday’s practice.

Knight, who played with the Charlotte Bobcats last season and is regularly among the league leaders in assists, was relegated to the sideline for most full-court drills in the first two days of training camp here.

“He came in and we started running and he wasn’t ready for it,” Dunleavy said. “I’m disappointed in his conditioning. A veteran player, you’d think he’d come into camp ready to go.

“I hit him pretty hard yesterday and I think he knows I wasn’t happy with it.”

Knight, 5 feet 10 and 170 pounds, signed a two-year deal with the Clippers this summer.

He is expected to provide valuable backup minutes to starter Sam Cassell, who turns 38 next month, and guide an up-tempo-styled second unit.

Knight, who attended Stanford, went through a full practice Thursday. He said he had personal matters to attend to in the days leading to camp and also has hamstring tightness.

“I’m not concerned,” he said. “I worked hard and had some things I had to take care of the last week and didn’t do as much as I would have liked.

“When it’s time to play, if I’m not ready to play, then we’ll have a problem,” Knight said.

Players aren’t expected to be at the highest level of conditioning entering camp but should be on par with the rest of the team, Dunleavy said.

“I like the things he can do, but he needs to be ready to play in order to do it,” Dunleavy said.

Point guard Dan Dickau can already relate to one of his new teammates.

Unfortunately for him, it’s because of a familiar injury.

Dickau, a five-year veteran signed after being waived by the New York Knicks, ruptured his Achilles’ tendon two years ago -- similar to the injury suffered by Elton Brand. It took Dickau about 10 months to completely recover.

“I talked to him for a quick second right before practice and said, ‘Hey, I went through the same thing and I feel great now,’ ” Dickau said. “I’m sure as the season gets on and we get a chance to sit down and talk, I’ll probably share the experiences I had with him. The one thing is, you don’t want to push it too fast, but there’s no reason you can’t come back 100% from it.”

Hall of Famer and former Lakers general manager Jerry West visited the Clippers’ training camp. West is recuperating from a recent incident in which his golf cart tipped over and he was pinned underneath for about 15 minutes. . . . Cassell (sore left knee) did not practice. . . . Chris Kaman (lower back) is still listed as day to day.

jonathan.abrams@latimes.com