Is Caron Butler right for the Clippers?

Caron Butler agreed to a three-year, $24 million deal with the Clippers. (AP)

Small forward for the Clippers is like third base for the Mets, pre-David Wright. A turnstile of players — Corey Maggette, Al Thornton, Rasual Butler, Ryan Gomes, others — have tried and failed to stabilize the position over the last half-decade. And so on Thursday, the Clippers agreed to sign 31-year-old Caron Butler, fresh off a devastating knee injury, to a three-year, $24 million deal to play on the wing alongside Blake Griffin, Eric Gordon, DeAndre Jordan (assuming he re-signs) and their point guards.

The deal is not offensive or anything. Butler is a productive two-way player, and last season in Dallas he looked like a guy ready to chuck his bad habits and embrace the ones that will work well as he ages. He still took a ton of jumpers, both long twos and threes, but he made more of them, and many more came via teammate assists than in previous years, according to Hoopdata. That is a good sign.

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There is not going to be much room for an aging player to jab-step his way to fadeaway 18-footers while playing alongside two monsters in Griffin and Gordon. If Butler embraces his role as a complementary piece and plays hard on defense, the Clippers will be a better team — especially if Butler can approach last season’s 43 percent mark from three-point range, a career outlier. If all goes right, the Clippers could fight for the last playoff spot in the Western Conference.

But the money is interesting. By paying Butler $8 million per season, the Clips now have about $32.5 million in committed salary for 2012-13. Toss in a conservative $20 million combined for extensions to Jordan (coming in the next few days) and Gordon (a restricted free agent next summer), and the Clips could have more than $52 million on the books in July — the moment Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Deron Williams could hit the open market. If the cap for 2012-13 comes in just south of $60 million, the Clips would not have enough cap room to get in that race. They could get there, perhaps, by using the amnesty provision on Mo Williams between now and then, but even that might not quite get them room for a max deal.

The Butler deal also throws a crimp into their trade flexibility now, as salary-cap expert Larry Coon pointed out on Twitter. Deals for Butler and Jordan will take the Clips over the cap, meaning it will be harder for them to take back much more salary then they send out in a mammoth trade. As mentioned earlier this week, the Clippers have the assets to chase Paul and Howard now — Chris Kaman’s expiring deal, two interesting young guys (Eric Bledsoe and Al-Farouq Aminu), Minnesota’s unprotected first-round pick and Gordon, the trump card they (understandably) refuse to play. They still have those assets, but they no longer have the cap flexibility they once did. Then again, no one has ever had much of a problem moving an $8 million contract tied to a productive veteran player.

You have to wonder, though, if the Clippers could have found a decent fit at small forward without spending so much. While Butler morphed into a bit of a different player last season, he still used up 25 percent of Dallas’ possessions when on the court — a number you’d associate with an All-Star — and has one of the lowest assist rates in the entire league. He is not used to being a fourth option who swings the ball or stands in the corner, waiting for a kickout pass and an open three. With Gordon and Griffin to dominate the ball, perhaps the Clippers need that kind of player more than they need a score-first guy like Butler. Perhaps they could have found it in Richard Jefferson, set to enter the amnesty market, or even in Gomes, bound to have a better season than last year.

These are legitimate gripes, but gripe enough, and you forget Butler is a quality player who can help you on both ends. For all their highlight-reel firepower, the Clippers ranked 22nd in points per possession last season, and adding another guy who can create when the shot clock is running down should help. Even better if Butler can work as a go-to scorer with some second-unit guys while Griffin and/or Gordon rest.

Butler worked on defense last season, too, and he was part of some of the most devastating five-man units in the league before hurting his knee. Many forget now, but lots of people wrote off Dallas when Butler got hurt, thinking it had lost a key secondary scorer and wondering if the Mavs could butt their way into the Carmelo Anthony trade talks. Butler looked to be a great fit in Dallas.

About those Mavs: The potential loss of Tyson Chandler to the Knicks is far more devastating to their repeat hopes than the loss of Butler. It probably torpedoes them altogether, unless Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson can pull some magic on the trade market. It’s easy to suggest Butler’s departure means little, since Dallas won without him, but remember how much Oklahoma City and Miami tested the Mavs’ thin wing rotation. Peja Stojakovic couldn’t stay on the court, Shawn Marion couldn’t play 45 minutes per game and the Mavs had to call on Brian Cardinal to finally seal the gaps that had opened. The dam held, barely, and it actually sprung a few massive leaks when Dirk Nowitzki had to sit and Rick Carlisle just didn’t have the personnel to keep elite teams at bay.

The Mavs rightfully hope they can fill the gaps internally, with Rudy Fernandez, Corey Brewer and even Dominique Jones worthy of a bit more time. But all those guys carry question marks. Butler does too, coming off knee surgery, but he’s still a more certain commodity.

No huge winners here, on either side of the deal.