Our player preview series for the 2027 Clippers continues with rookie forward Baba Miller.
Basic Information
Height: 6’11
Weight: 208 pounds
Position: Power Forward/Center
Age: 22
Years in NBA: Rookie
College Stats: 13.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 0.7 steals in 31.9 minutes per game across 31 games played on 52.9/19.2/65.8 shooting splits (1.7 3PA, 4.8 FTA) with 60.2% TS
Contract Status: In the first year of a 4 year, $9.6M deal, making $1.7M this season
Expectations
I’ll repeat myself from the Martinelli preview and say that second round rookies shouldn’t really have expectations. Miller is a bit different, of course – he was drafted much higher in the second round than Martinelli and is on a fairly large contract for a second rounder while Martinelli is on a two-way – but in general the same principle applies. I do think the path is clearer for Baba to get minutes this season than Nick, largely because of the Clippers’ positional weakness at center and power forward. Still, if he does get rotation minutes and is at all positive in them, it would be a real win. I’d expect a lot of Miller being out of position and looking raw, but with flashes of his defensive potential shining through.
Strengths
For someone his size, Baba moves extremely quickly and fluidly. He’s not quite a Thompson twin level athlete, but even by NBA standards he’s a very good one. His physical and athletic measurements indicate a lot of potential upside on the defensive end of the court – he could be someone both capable of switching out onto smaller players on the perimeter as well as offering protection around the rim. Baba has a way to go regarding positioning and strength, but he should be able to be a defensive playmaker right away.
Baba was also a monster rebounder his senior season at Cincy. He was a bit less impressive there earlier in his collegiate career, but again, with his size and leaping ability, he should be able to be a plus rebounder. For a relatively raw player, Baba also showed a lot of playmaking ability; 3.7 assists is a lot in college, especially for a non point guard. Thus, if some of this stuff translates to the NBA, Baba should be able to impact the game in a lot of ways outside of just scoring, which is always hugely important for role players.
Weaknesses
For a player who is either going to be a forward or small-ball center, Baba has not displayed much of an ability to shoot, with dreadful three-point shooting percentages and pretty bad free throw numbers his senior year. The touch certainly isn’t DeAndre Jordan level bad, but an ability to make NBA threes seems unlikely early on (his shot looked good in Summer League, but it’s Summer League). Now, if Baba is playing with a center who can shoot, like Brook Lopez, that might not matter as much, and if he’s able to bulk up and play center in the future it won’t matter as much either, but it does seem to be a weakness now.
Summary
Baba Miller is a raw rookie that doesn’t have a ton of expectations this season, but I think his combination of size and athleticism plus his defensive potential will give him a shot in the rotation. He’s very raw, so I don’t know how much he’ll play or how good he’ll be, but I’m excited to watch him in an NBA context, and think he will be fun regardless. If he does pop at all, it could be a really, really big deal for the Clippers, because Baba’s high-end outcomes are quite high indeed.