The NBA Draft is just 10 days away, and the Clippers have both a first and second round pick heading into the draft for the first time in years. They’ll be on the hunt for a championship in 2024, but considering how old their roster felt last year, I wouldn’t be shocked if they made both selections in this draft. The biggest area of weakness for the Clippers was on the wing and forward, as they had no true wings on their roster outside of Paul George and Terance Mann, the rest being smaller guards, and their three non-Kawhi forwards are all well into their 30s. Thus, I think it’s safe to assume the Clippers will be bolstering those parts of the roster this summer, and might well do that through the draft. Here’s a look at 2023 draft prospects encompassing guards, wings, and forwards.
The following explanation is more or less a copy paste explanation of the stats and methodology from previous years. The numbers I compile for this are for college players only (no international, OTE, or G-League players included), and are per game, not per possession. In the NBA, per possession is a more useful stat, but when looking at college players, I feel like playing time is a bigger component – if you can’t play in college, you probably won’t play in the NBA. I also stopped at around number 70 on ESPN’s prospect list, as guys below that won’t get drafted at 30 and are unlikely to get picked even at 48. Finally, the numbers are averaged between the last two college seasons the players played, which can hurt some guys but can balance out outlier seasons.
| Players | Age | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TOPG | 3PG | TS |
| Brandon Miller | 20.6 | 18.8 | 8.2 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 2.2 | 2.9 | 0.583 |
| Cam Whitmore | 18.9 | 12.5 | 5.3 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 0.571 |
| Jarace Walker | 19.8 | 11.2 | 6.8 | 1.8 | 1 | 1.3 | 1.5 | 1 | 0.534 |
| Anthony Black | 19.5 | 12.8 | 5.1 | 3.9 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 3 | 0.8 | 0.549 |
| Taylor Hendricks | 19.6 | 15.1 | 7 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.8 | 0.589 |
| Gradey Dick | 19.6 | 14.1 | 5.1 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 2.3 | 0.581 |
| Jordan Hawkins | 21.2 | 11 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 2 | 0.541 |
| Keyonte George | 19.6 | 15.3 | 4.2 | 2.8 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 2.9 | 2.3 | 0.524 |
| Jett Howard | 19.8 | 14.2 | 2.8 | 2 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 0.562 |
| Kobe Bufkin | 19.8 | 8.5 | 2.8 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 0.527 |
| Brice Sensabaugh | 19.7 | 16.3 | 5.4 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 2 | 1.8 | 0.587 |
| Kris Murray | 22.9 | 15 | 6.1 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 0.574 |
| Dariq Whitehead | 18.9 | 8.3 | 2.4 | 1 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 0.548 |
| Brandin Podziemski | 20.4 | 10.7 | 4.9 | 2 | 1 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.564 |
| Colby Jones | 21.1 | 13.3 | 6.5 | 3.8 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 1 | 0.568 |
| Olivier Maxence-Prosper | 21 | 9.6 | 4 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 0.59 |
| Jaime Jaquez | 22.4 | 15.9 | 7 | 2.4 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.544 |
| Maxwell Lewis | 20.9 | 14.1 | 4.5 | 2 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 1.5 | 0.555 |
| Andre Jackson | 21.6 | 6.8 | 6.5 | 3.9 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 2 | 0.7 | 0.517 |
| Gregory Jackson II | 18.5 | 15.4 | 5.9 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 1.7 | 0.474 |
| Julian Phillips | 19.7 | 8.3 | 4.7 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.536 |
| Ben Sheppard | 21.9 | 17.5 | 4.6 | 2.3 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 2.4 | 0.596 |
| Jordan Walsh | 19.3 | 7.1 | 3.9 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 1 | 0.6 | 0.513 |
| Terquavion Smith | 20.5 | 17.1 | 3.8 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 2 | 2.8 | 0.508 |
| Jalen Wilson | 22.7 | 16.1 | 7.9 | 2 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 0.542 |
| Kobe Brown | 23.5 | 14.2 | 7 | 2.5 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 2 | 1 | 0.608 |
| Keyontae Johnson | 23.1 | 15.7 | 6.9 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.2 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 0.607 |
| Seth Lundy | 23.2 | 13.1 | 5.6 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 1.5 | 2.3 | 0.572 |
| Bobi Klintman | 20.3 | 5.3 | 4.5 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1 | 0.8 | 0.528 |
| Julian Strawther | 21.2 | 13.5 | 5.8 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 2 | 0.608 |
| Hunter Tyson | 23 | 12.7 | 7.6 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 1 | 1.7 | 0.6 |
| Emoni Bates | 19.5 | 14.5 | 4.6 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 2 | 0.512 |
| Ricky Council IV | 21.9 | 14.1 | 4.5 | 2 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.549 |
| Toumani Camara | 23.2 | 12.4 | 7.8 | 1.7 | 1 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.584 |
| Jaylen Clark | 21.7 | 9.9 | 4.9 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 0.3 | 1 | 0.6 | 0.542 |
| Chris Livingston | 19.7 | 6.3 | 4.2 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.513 |
| Jordan Miller | 23.5 | 12.7 | 6.1 | 1.9 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 0.615 |
| Omari Moore | 22.8 | 15.3 | 5.1 | 4.7 | 0.9 | 0.9 | 3.2 | 1.5 | 0.539 |
| Adam Flagler | 23.6 | 14.7 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 0.561 |
For wings, there are more important stats than with point guards. However, the stats that consistently carry the most value are age, turnovers (better to be lower/younger), rebounds, assists, steals, and true shooting. Compared to point guards, three-point volume and shooting is not nearly as important, with more emphasis on do-it-all performance. Plenty of wings can score, but those who bring value in other ways are the ones more likely to stick in the NBA, especially lower down in the draft. Take a look at players like Bruce Brown, Terance Mann, and Austin Reaves for some examples.
Best Prospects in Clippers’ Range
Brandin Podziemski – Podz is one of the players most impacted by my decision to balance multiple college seasons in the stats above, as his quiet, 16 game stint at Illinois as a freshman weighs down his preposterous sophomore season at Santa Clara. A 6’5 guard, Podziemski posted ridiculous numbers last year, with 20 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 1.8 steals on 60% True Shooting. The WCC isn’t the best competition in the NCAA, but it’s not a joke either, and Podziemski’s sweet shooting combined with his ancillary stats is pretty awesome. Do the Clippers need another guard? Probably not. But Brandin is 6’5, which helps, and I think his talent would be very hard to pass up at 30.
Colby Jones – Colby is a 6’5 guard from Xavier who is being projected anywhere from the late 20s to the early 30s, or right in the Clippers’ range. He’s everything my stats model loves – great rebounding, a strong assist to turnover ratio for an off-ball player, solid steals numbers, and excellent scoring efficiency. The swing for Colby will be his three-point shot: he shot very well from deep his junior season at a decent clip, but was not a capable shooter his first two seasons and has pretty poor free throw percentages. If he can hit threes at the NBA level, he will be one of those do-it-all bigger guards that is so valuable in today’s game. If not, I still think he can have an NBA career as a deeper bench player.
Jaylen Clark – The Clippers have had bad luck with prospects with foot injuries of late (Jason Preston, Jay Scrubb), so Clark is tricky from that perspective (he had surgery in late March and has an 8-10 month recovery tag). However, his junior season at UCLA was phenomenal, as he’s the type of do-it-all wing that my draft model loves. The shooting will be the swing factor for Clark, who attempted just 116 threes across three seasons at UCLA and shot just 66% from the line for his college career. However, he’s a phenomenal defender (Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in 2023) and can do enough on offense to be useful. Would love him at 48 on a two-way deal, and think he’d be a good pick at 30 as well.
Andre Jackson Jr. – Andre Jackson Jr. was a low-volume, inefficient scorer at UConn, which doesn’t sound great. But everything else statistically is pretty awesome – great rebounding, excellent playmaking for a bigger guard at 6’6 210, and fantastic defense. Jackson was a huge factor in UConn’s National Championship run in the NCAA tournament, and is someone I could absolutely see making a difference in a playoff game off the bench. He played point at UConn, but his lack of scoring punch means I think he’d be better in a secondary playmaking off-ball role in the NBA, which is why he’s grouped here.
Terquavion Smith – At a slender 6’4, Terq is more of a “combo” guard, but he has just enough size to slot into an off-guard role. A Second-Team All-ACC selection in his sophomore season, Terq has a combination of high-volume three-point shooting, good playmaking, and solid enough rebounding and steal rates with fairly low turnovers considering his usage. His efficiency in college was not great, but he launched over 8 threes per game in each of his two seasons with some very high difficulty looks. I think there’s some duplicative-ness with Bones Hyland, but I just like him as a prospect at 48.
Jordan Miller – Miller is a 6’6 guard who played five college seasons between George Mason and University of Miami (FL). He had multiple good seasons for both colleges before breaking out in a big way in his last season as the best overall player on a Miami team that won the ACC and made it to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. Miller is a highly efficient scorer from two, is a solid-enough defender, and has some tertiary playmaking chops. His age and questionable three-point shooting are drawbacks, but he’s someone I’d be a big fan of at 48 or as an undrafted free agent on a two-way deal.
Prospects to Trade Up For
None that are realistic – I like Gradey Dick and Anthony Black a ton, but both of those guys will be gone by pick 15 (probably), and I don’t see a way for the Clippers to trade up that high. In fact, the only real rumored trade up for the Clippers would be to 3 in a Paul George to the Blazers trade, and if they do that it would be for Brandon Miller, Scoot Henderson, or a Thompson twin. Of the wings and forwards in the late teens to early 20s, which is a range that would be viable for the Clippers to trade up to, I don’t really love any of the wings that might be there – Jordan Hawkins, Jett Howard, Kobe Bufkin, and Kris Murray are some of the names there. Hawkins looks really bad in my stats model due to his lack of anything outside of threes, but none of those guys are awful prospects. Still, I can’t really say I see it.
Prospects to Avoid
Chris Livingston – Livingston is a 6’6 freshman wing who played at Kentucky and saw around 22 minutes per game. A top high school prospect, Livingston had an underwhelming freshman season, with fairly low production across the board outside of rebounding. His age and pedigree would make him a not-awful gamble at 48, but he’s been rumored to have received a 1st round promise, and that’s way too high for him. Hopefully it wasn’t the Clippers who promised him.
Gregory Jackson II – Gregory “GG” Jackson is a 6’9 freshman forward from South Carolina. His raw scoring as a youngster in the SEC was impressive, but his efficiency was horrendous, and he possessed an assist to turnover ratio of less than 1:3. He did have solid rebounding numbers, but his statistical profile outside of that is very rough.
Bobi Klintman – Bobi is a 6’10 forward who plays more like a wing (think Lauri Markkanen) than a big man. He played 20.5 minutes per game at Wake Forest as a freshman, and his production was fairly underwhelming with low, inefficient scoring and not much else. His three-point shooting was decent, albeit on low volume, and his free throw percentages also indicate some touch. There could be something there, but he seems like a more long-term development guy.
International Prospects of Note
Rayan Rupert – Rayan Rupert is a 6’6 wing who played for the New Zealand Breakers in, you guessed it, the New Zealand basketball league (the NBL). Rupert played a bench role (17 minutes per game), and his stats are thoroughly unimpressive. He was an 18 year old (just turned 19 in late May) playing against grown men, but there’s nothing in the numbers that jumps out. Meh.
Bilal Coulibaly – Coulibaly is another real youngster, as he doesn’t turn 19 until late July, and has been playing big minutes for one of the best teams in France, one of the best leagues in the world. He hasn’t produced a ton in aggregate, but he’s had some big games, and his efficiency scoring is a whole lot better than Rupert’s. He had been projected around 30, but his team’s surge to the French league championship has raised his draft stock significantly, and now he seems likely to go somewhere in the teens. At that range, pass, but if he were to fall I’d be very interested.
This is a draft that’s heavy on wings and light on point guards and big men. Because of that, and because of who they have on their roster, I’d expect at least one of the Clippers’ picks will be a SG, SF, or PF. Is there anyone you’d like at 30 or 48 that counts as a wing or forward?
