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Diaz expected back after Frahm waived

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Times Staff Writer

The Clippers are expected to sign former second-round draft pick Guillermo Diaz to a 10-day contract today after waiving guard Richie Frahm on Monday.

Diaz’s signing followed the announcement that point guard Brevin Knight will be limited because of a stress reaction in his left fibula.

Knight, who has 43 assists and one turnover the last 10 games, said he became sore a couple of weeks ago and had an MRI exam Monday.

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“It’s been sore,” he said. “You just play through a little bit of soreness, but sometimes you do something for too long and you’ve got to go and rest and relax it a little bit.

“In this game, you get bumps and bruises, but if you are able to play, you don’t worry about it. But in the past couple of days, it’s flared up a little bit.”

Knight will not practice for a while and his average of 23 minutes of playing time per game is expected to drop.

Diaz, the team’s second-round draft pick in 2006, was waived shortly before the season started.

At 6 feet 2 and 185 pounds, Diaz is more of a shooting guard in a point guard’s body. He spent this season with the Anaheim Arsenal, the Clippers’ Development League affiliate, but was not under contract with the Clippers.

In 14 games and seven starts with the Arsenal, he scored 16.6 points in 33.1 minutes while splitting time between shooting guard and point guard.

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Until Knight’s injury was announced, the Clippers were expected to wait for Frahm to clear waivers in a 48-hour window before offering him the 10-day contract.

Frahm averaged 4.7 points in 10 games since being signed Dec. 14 after the Clippers waived forward Ruben Patterson. Frahm started two games, with his best performance coming in his first home start when he went five for 10 from the field for 13 points against the Toronto Raptors.

Frahm’s contract would have become guaranteed Thursday. When the team signed him, the Clippers also expressed a need to maintain roster flexibility to stay under the maximum of 15 signed players in case a point guard became injured.

“I know they have to remain flexible because there are injuries on this team,” Frahm said. “I understand that point of view.”

As the decision loomed, Frahm said the situation weighed heavy on his mind.

“I think I’ve thought about it the last couple of games and it’s affected the way I’ve played,” he said before Sunday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.

Frahm, 30, has played for five NBA teams in parts of four seasons. He spent this year’s training camp with the Phoenix Suns before being waived shortly before the season started.

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Before signing with the Clippers, Frahm contemplated signing overseas.

“We signed him as a guy we felt that could shoot the ball from the outside,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “Between practice and games, we know that he can make shots -- everybody knows that he can make shots.

“In his case, he would probably stay in the games, he hasn’t shot the ball as well as he can shoot it.”

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jonathan.abrams@latimes.com

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