Clippers Sign Grant and Contact Aguirre : Pro basketball: The backup guard gets two-year contract. Former Piston forward might be the next to join the team.

The Clippers signed free-agent guard Gary Grant to a two-year contract that will pay him slightly more than $1 million per season, and they are close to an agreement with forward Mark Aguirre, who was waived by the Detroit Pistons.

“Hopefully within the next 24 hours we’ll get things totally done,” Aguirre, 33, said Sunday night from his home in Dallas. “I just like the fact that they want me to play and I’ve played for Coach (Bob) Weiss before (when Weiss was an assistant with the Dallas Mavericks). I just want to enjoy playing.”

Grant became an unrestricted free agent when the Clippers failed to make him a qualifying offer of $1.47 million on July 1, and the Clippers had offered him $650,000 for this season and $800,000 for next season.

However, Grant, who had been in contact with the Indiana Pacers regarding a contract, began negotiating with Golden State after Tim Hardaway injured his knee last week.

Grant is expected to join the Clippers today and will accompany them on a four-game trip that will begin Tuesday at Indiana.

“I was a little anxious,” Grant said. “But I’ve been working out all summer and now I can go out and do the things I’ve been working on out on a real court.

“I’m in great shape. The biggest thing is going to be getting used to playing with the players again. That shouldn’t take long. It should take maybe about an hour.

“I’m glad to be anywhere in the NBA, but I’m happy I’m here because I don’t have to move my family anywhere.”

Grant, a five-year veteran who averaged 6.6 points, 4.8 assists and 1.4 steals as a reserve last season, is expected to back up Clipper point guard Mark Jackson this season.

“It’s important (to have a capable backup) because anything can happen,” Jackson said, “and secondly, when you bring in somebody off the bench at any position, you want them to be able to sustain the game or take it to another level--and Gary is certainly capable of doing that.”

Aguirre, a 12-year veteran with a career average of 20.4 points, was waived by the Pistons on Oct. 7. Detroit is obligated to pay him $3 million over the next two years, but the Clippers could sign him for the NBA minimum salary of $150,000 per year because he has cleared waivers. A Clipper source said there’s a “50-50 chance” they will sign Aguirre.

Aguirre who helped the Pistons win back-to-back NBA titles in 1989-90, played in a career-low 51 games last season because of several minor injuries averaging and averaged a career-low 9.9 points.

Listed at 6 feet 6 and 232 pounds, Aguiree struggled to keep his weight in check last season, ballooning to 265. However, he was said to be in good shape during a pickup game in Detroit before the Pistons opened camp last month.

“I felt that I’d get to another team,” Aguirre said. “I think the Pistons were just trying to do something different and I understood that. I was just waiting, but it wasn’t a pressed issue.”

Although Aguirre, who had several well-publicized disputes with then-Dallas Coach Dick Motta before being traded to Detroit for Adrian Dantley in 1989, has a reputation for being a troublemaker, the Clippers apparently don’t think he would be a disruptive influence.

“He’s a great player who could add a lot to this team,” Jackson said. “He can flat-out score.”