Joakim Noah is making his return to the NBA just in time for the playoff push, despite the fact that he has not played in nearly a year. As first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Noah is signing with the Los Angeles Clippers and he is expected to join the team next week. The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports that the deal will start out as a 10-day contract.

The 35-year old center has not played since March 23rd of last year when he was a member of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Noah had worked out for the Los Angeles Lakers prior to the start of the season before they signed Dwight Howard and he had also received some interest from the Dallas Mavericks when they were hampered by injuries. Now, he’ll get an opportunity to provide valuable minutes off the bench as a defensive presence in the paint for a Clippers team that has reportedly been concerned about their lack of depth up front.

The two-time All Star is far removed from his days as a premiere rim protector but, , he still has that fire and desire to compete. Or, as his former Grizzlies coach J.B. Bickerstaff put it, “Joakim is fucking crazy.”

Whether or not he’s still capable of filling that void for the Clippers – we’ll find out soon enough.