Aguirre Becomes a Clipper Reserve : Pro basketball: The forward says he is happy with new role. Weiss expects no problems.

Forward Mark Aguirre will sign a one-year contract today with the Clippers and is expected to make his Clipper debut in tonight’s exhibition against the Indiana Pacers at Indianapolis.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed, but Aguirre will earn $150,000 from the Clippers. Aguirre is also due $3 million over the next two years from the Detroit Pistons, who waived him on Oct. 7.

Aguirre, who has a career scoring average of 20.4 points, has been a starter for most of his 12-year NBA career, but Clipper Coach Bob Weiss will probably use him as Danny Manning’s backup at small forward.

“I think at this point in his career he’s perfect for what we need--a veteran who can come in off the bench and not only hold his own, but give us an edge and is capable of being in at the end of ballgames,” Weiss said.

Aguirre doesn’t mind being a reserve. “All I’ve ever wanted to do is win basketball games,” Aguirre said Monday from his home in Dallas. “I will sacrifice whatever it takes to win. If (being a reserve) is what it takes to make this basketball team win, that’s my bottom line.”

Manning says that Aguirre is a valuable addition.

“Mark’s played on two world championship teams and he’s also going to bring a lot of leadership,” Manning said. “The last few years in Detroit, he changed his mentality to more of a defensive player because that’s the type of system they use, but here I think he’s going to feel comfortable in our wide open game.”

Aguirre hopes to provide leadership. “One thing I know I can do is let them know the importance of being physically and mentally ready to play,” Aguirre said. “And I’m going to stick to Mr. (Stanley) Roberts (Clipper center) real closely and let him know how important it is to get into it. He’s incredibly talented. I think he can be one of the top two or three centers in the league and I hope I can tell him something to guide him that way.”

Aguirre had several well-publicized disputes with then-coach Dick Motta when Aguirre played for the Mavericks. However, Weiss, who was Motta’s chief assistant in Dallas, doesn’t foresee any problems.

“I by no means consider that I can cure anybody’s problems, but I have a pre-existing relationship with Mark and I think he’ll be fine here with us,” Weiss said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for his game.”

Aguirre maintains that he’s misunderstood.

“When you look at the things that happened, they were looked at as negative, but Coach Motta made me the player that I am today and that’s the way he had to do it,” Aguirre said. “Maybe it looked a little awkward to outside people, but it made me a better player.”

Clipper Notes

The Clippers waived free-agent guard A.J. Wynder to reduce their roster to 15. Guard Gary Grant, who signed a two-year contract with the Clippers Sunday, missed most of practice Monday after taking a physical exam. He said a nurse misinformed him that the Clippers were practicing at UCLA instead of Loyola Marymount.