Clippers Invite Soviet to Camp

The Clippers have invited Igor Miglinieks, a member of the Soviet national team, to their rookie/free-agent camp and summer league.

Team officials are awaiting confirmation, but the 6-foot-4, 190-pound guard is expected to accept. His play in the summer league at Loyola Marymount will determine if he is signed to attend training camp in the fall.

Miglinieks, who plays for club team VEF Riga in his native Latvia, was a reserve on the Soviet Union’s 1988 Olympic team that included current NBA players Alexander Volkov and Sarunas Marciulionis. The Clippers became interested after scout Jim Mitchell saw Miglinieks, recently a starter on the Soviet team, play during a U.S. tour.

“I don’t think he’s as good a shooter as Marciulionis, but he is a nice all-around player,” said Barry Hecker, the Clippers’ director of scouting. “He’s a strong, hard-nosed type. For one thing, Jim recommended him, and I have confidence in what Jim says. And, anyone who starts for the Soviets isn’t going to be bad.”