Mobley Is Target for the Clippers

The Clippers will need a late rally to salvage their summer.

Recapping so far:

* They used the 12th pick in last month’s NBA draft to take a teenage Russian small forward who might not even be on their roster next season, passing on several shooting guards who might have filled their most pressing need.

* They lost out Friday in the bidding for free agent Bobby Simmons, who bolted for the Milwaukee Bucks, accepting a five-year, $47-million offer.

Their focus now is on landing free-agent guard Cuttino Mobley, who would meet their need for a long-distance shooting threat and whose addition would ease the sting of losing Simmons, their third-leading scorer last season.

Mobley, who made 43.9% of his three-point shots last season to rank third in the NBA, might be a better fit with the Clippers’ other projected starters -- Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Chris Kaman and Shaun Livingston -- and would enable Maggette to move back to small forward, his more natural position. The Clippers last season ranked last in the NBA in three-point shots made and attempted.

Mobley, who made $5.9 million last season, might also require a lesser financial commitment than Simmons, whose open-market value was higher than the Clippers had imagined. But he might cost them a player if he comes to them as part of a sign-and-trade deal with the Sacramento Kings.

Of course, he also could shun the Clippers and sign elsewhere.

The Clippers said last month that they were confident they could land a veteran shooting guard in free agency. That was after they’d passed on a number of available guards, among them Rashad McCants, Antoine Wright, Francisco Garcia and Gerald Green, to draft Muscovite teen Yaroslav Korolev -- and before the top free-agent shooting guards started agreeing to deals with other teams.

Of course, the Clippers would love to have added a veteran guard and re-signed Simmons, but that was before Simmons’ price shot through the roof.

If they’d met Simmons’ demands, they probably would have been out of the running for any of the better shooting guards, based on the club’s available cap space of about $16 million. Simmons’ defection may mean they’ll have little choice but to accede to Mobley’s contract demands and could mean that the chances are greater that they’ll retain point guard Marko Jaric, a restricted free agent.

They’ll have the chance to match any offer made to Jaric. But even that could be problematic. Would Jaric, primarily a starter the last two seasons, be an agreeable backup to Livingston and whoever might be the other backcourt starter?