Luc Mbah a Moute is making a big impact for Clippers

The last player to make the Clippers’ roster in training camp hasn’t exactly become a fringe contributor.

Luc Mbah a Moute made his fifth consecutive start Monday, an unlikely rise for a player who is technically the Clippers’ 15th man but has easily transcended that in importance over the first quarter of the season.

The small forward also made one of the plays that helped the Clippers rally for a 110-106 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center when he contested an inbounds pass from Zach LaVine with 24 seconds left and the ball deflected off Andrew Wiggins out of bounds.

Mbah a Moute said he knew the play was designed to go to Wiggins with the Timberwolves needing a basket down by one point.

“I saw the cross screen, just read it and went for it,” Mbah a Moute said. “I was trying to make him have a tough catch, so it worked out for us.”

Mbah a Moute finished the game with one point and three rebounds, but his impact continued to transcend his modest statistics. He’s become part of Coach Doc Rivers’ late-game defensive unit that has contributed to a handful of victories.

“He does all the different things that don’t show up on the stat sheet,” Clippers point guard Chris Paul said of Mbah a Moute. “He makes the cuts, he does the box outs, and that’s why he’s so valuable for us.”

Mbah a Moute’s spot as a starter might not be safe with Rivers saying he will continually rotate players at small forward, but his place on the team appears to be secure. His $1.3-million contract for this season officially becomes guaranteed on Jan. 10, which appears to be just a formality at this point.

Mbah a Moute, the former second-round draft pick out of UCLA, has become a bargain given the gritty defense and occasional three-pointer he provides as a floor spacer. The Clippers have won four of the five games he’s started.

“We’ve been playing much better,” Mbah a Moute said, “and that’s the main thing.”

Along for the ride

There was a surprise member of the Clippers’ traveling party: C.J. Wilcox.

The second-year shooting guard said he was supposed to go back to the Development League before the Clippers asked him to accompany them on their five-game trip to provide depth with Paul and J.J. Redick returning from injuries.

Wilcox had a somewhat prolific scoring run with the Bakersfield Jam, averaging 19.6 points per game while working on his shooting, footwork and ballhandling.

“I feel like I got better,” Wilcox said. “They were big on player development so they got us into the gym a few times a day, as much as possible.”

Wilcox, who has played one second this season with the Clippers after entering a game momentarily last week, said he’ll probably go back to the Jam later this month. He will apparently not be joined there by Clippers rookie forward Branden Dawson, who was assigned to Grand Rapids this week after having previously played with the Jam.

“Bakersfield just wasn’t a good fit for him,” Wilcox said of Dawson. “He wasn’t really playing very much toward the end of our time there, so they wanted to give him a better situation where he’s guaranteed minutes.”

ben.bolch@latimes.com

Twitter: @latbbolch