Patterson steps into the void

DENVER -- Think fast, Clipper nation.

The exhibition season started and the 15-man opening-game roster is nearly set.

Almost the entire roster has guaranteed contracts. The player expected to make the roster without one?

That would be veteran forward Ruben Patterson, on his second tour of Los Angeles and coming off a season in which he had career-high averages of 14.7 points and 5.4 rebounds for the Milwaukee Bucks.

Patterson, 32, pursued a long-term deal deep into the off-season without success. Instead, he signed a partially guaranteed contract with the Clippers hoping to fill a void at forward, while earning a larger offer after the season.

“I can’t let that bother me,” Patterson said Tuesday before the Clippers’ first exhibition game, a 119-107 loss to the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center.

“I’m going to come out and play like I did last year. Hopefully, I can get an extension and finish my career here.”

Patterson will be asked to head an aggressive second unit that will press on defense more than last year.

“We got the junkyard dog,” Coach Mike Dunleavy. “He plays with a lot of intensity and is stronger than dirt.”

The Lakers drafted Patterson out of Cincinnati with their second-round draft pick in 1998.

He was a Laker for only one season. Patterson then signed with the Seattle SuperSonics, playing two years there before going to the Portland Trail Blazers. He has also played in Denver.

He scores off hustle while playing well above his 6-foot-5 frame.

“There aren’t a lot of dominant big men,” Patterson said. “A lot of teams play small ball. I can bring energy, scoring, defense and hustle and hopefully, help this team win some games.”

Patterson also has a somewhat tumultuous history.

He entered a modified plea in Washington on an attempted rape charge in 2001 after he was accused of attacking his family’s nanny and was sentenced to one year in jail with all but 15 days suspended. Patterson also was convicted of misdemeanor assault in February 2001 for attacking a man outside a Cleveland nightclub the previous year

This summer an Ohio judge fined him $1,000 for failing to register as a sex offender as required by his plea in the Washington case when he moved to Indian Hill, a Cincinnati suburb.

And he once demanded to be played at least 25 minutes a game or be traded while with Portland.

Dunleavy said he wasn’t bothered by Patterson’s past.

“I really don’t think about that aspect,” he said. “He’s a veteran guy who’s been around and knows how to do his job.”

Tim Thomas scored a game-high 19 points and Guillermo Diaz had 16 in the loss. Carmelo Anthony had 17 points for the Nuggets and Marcus Camby grabbed 23 rebounds. Patterson, Brevin Knight, Corey Maggette, Al Thornton and Thomas started. “The first game is about trying to get as many guys’ feet wet as possible,” said Dunleavy, adding that he will use another starting lineup tonight in the second exhibition game at Portland. . . . Cuttino Mobley (strained calf) stayed in Los Angeles.

jonathan.abrams@latimes.com