With the 30th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, the Clippers selected Kobe Brown, a senior forward from Missouri.
Kobe Brown averaged 15.8 points, 6.4 Rebounds, 2.5 Assists, and 1.5 steals on 55.3/45.5/79.2 shooting splits last year at Missouri. Brown’s three-point shooting looks great, but he took just 3.3 per game, and shot under 30% in his first three college seasons – so shooting is a big swing factor. With Kobe in general, whether you believe in his senior season is the dealbreaker, as his first few seasons in college were thoroughly unremarkable.
Kobe Brown is a fit positionally, as he’s a 6’8, 250 pound forward who could theoretically play either big man position, though he’d be a bit short for a center. He is skilled for a guy his size, with good assist rates and an over 1:1 assist to turnover ratio. He’s extremely built for a guy his size, as well, though older (23.5), and does have some nice off-ball skills. Sadly, like many Clippers’ small-ball forwards of recent years, Brown is not a particularly good rebounder.
This isn’t an awful pick – a lot of people like Brown quite a bit – but there were better players on the board, in my opinion – Leonard Miller, Trayce Jackson-Davis, James Nnaji, and Colby Jones most especially. Brown is not ultra athletic, and he’s really only going to be a player if his senior shooting is legitimate. Still, he’s an intriguing stretch big man prospect as a massive guy with some shooting and playmaking skills. There’s not much upside here, but if the Clippers trade away multiple of their veteran power forwards he could be usable in the next year or two.
Welcome to the Clippers, Kobe Brown! We will keep going for the rest of the draft and the Clippers’ pick at 48.