Our 2022-2023 player season preview series beings with Brandon Boston, Jr., an exciting young prospect who will be both searching for a way to contribute to this stellar roster and looking to dominate the G-League.

Basic Information

Height: 6’7″

Weight: 185 pounds

Position: Shooting Guard/Small Forward

Age: 20 (21 in late November)

Years in NBA: 1

Key Stats: 6.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 0.5 steals in 14.9 minutes per game across 51 games played with 38.5/30.6/81.9 shooting splits (48.1 TS%).

Contract Status: Guaranteed $1.56M deal for 2022-2023 and $1.84M for 2022-2024.

Expectations

Expectations for Brandon Boston, Jr. have come back down to earth after a few exciting moments last year in the G-League and on the main roster. With the Clippers roster as stacked—especially at the wing positions—as it currently is, there is not a sense of urgency around Boston. Instead of being a nightly contributor, Brandon’s expectations will largely come at the G-League level: said simply, he should dominate on both ends and grow as a playmaker.

An additional, though less pressing, expectation is that Brandon will be ready to step up as a three-and-D guy on the main roster when needed. Whether it is because of injury or rest, there will be opportunities for him to get a rotation or two. But these minutes won’t be like last year—even if Brandon is replacing someone in the rotation, he will still be surrounded by a much stronger team than last year. This means he won’t be able to jack up shots; he’ll be expected to catch-and-shoot, move the ball, and defend his man.

Strengths

Brandon Boston, Jr. is clearly an NBA scorer: he has a fairly strong handle, is quick, and can use his size and length to get to the rim (where he shot 63%). Not for nothing, he’s a good free throw shooter, hitting 81.9% last season. He is also a pretty good defender for someone who is so slight. Overall, his play last season basically restored his pre-college hype, but he still looks like a prospect, albeit a strong one.

Weaknesses

Brandon can be a bit of a black hole at times. Going forward, he needs to work on his passing, playmaking, and protection of the ball. Averaging just one assist and 0.6 turnovers per game is not good enough to earn consistent minutes on the Clippers roster. Moreover, his shooting efficiency is pretty poor. As noted above, he did not crack 40% shooting from the field and barely got over 30% on threes, which is not acceptable for almost any player barring extraordinary strengths in other areas.

Summary

In short, the expectations for Brandon Boston in 2023 have gone down from last year, which is not typically how things go from players’ rookie to sophomore seasons. But, as Robert Flom said, if Brandon is playing a lot this season, it likely means something has gone horribly wrong. Nonetheless, he will still be expected to dominate the G-League, improve his non-scoring skills, and show the Clippers that they can lean on him heavily in his third year next season.

To hear more about Brandon and the other Clippers shooting guards, check out the below podcast episode:

Clippers 2022-2023 Season Preview: Brandon Boston, Jr.
Kenneth Armstrong

The LA Clippers released their roster for the 2022 NBA Las Vegas Summer League today, as well as the schedule for their first four games in Vegas.

The Clippers’ Summer League roster is headlined by three players who will be on the roster next season: Jason Preston and Brandon Boston, the 33rd and 51st picks in the 2021 NBA Draft a year ago, and Moussa Diabate, the 43rd pick in last month’s 2022 NBA Draft. Preston and Boston have guaranteed contracts on the 15-man roster, while Diabate is expected to sign a two-way contract.

Preston, a 6’4″ point guard who was touted for his basketball IQ and passing coming into the league, grew into summer league as the week went on last year but missed the entire season with a foot injury. He’ll hope to take advantage of a fresh start this year as a “redshirt rookie” and should be the primary floor general for this summer league team. With the addition of John Wall, Preston will find regular minutes hard to come by next season, but he should still get sporadic depth minutes in addition to consistent G-League time in Agua Caliente. Already turning 23 in August, Jason’s challenge will be overcoming some of the question marks regarding his athleticism and defense coming out of college to prove his passing can translate to the NBA level. Showing well in Summer Leage won’t guarantee a positive answer to those questions, but a poor showing here would be concerning.

Boston was a high-upside gamble late in the draft for LAC that looks promising based on early returns, as he saw 760 NBA minutes as a rookie last season and flashed serious potential even if he lacked consistency and didn’t overall produce at a rotation player level. He’s still just 20 years old and played well in limited G-League chances last season (he spent most of the year with the big club), and my hopes are high that Brandon can be a standout of this year’s Summer League. The outlook for getting 760 NBA minutes again next year is grim, as Kawhi Leonard returning from injury pushes every wing one notch down the depth chart and Boston is currently probably on track to be the 14th man next year unless the Clippers make a trade. Still, he should be the favorite to lead the Summer Clippers in scoring before also spending a lot of time starring for Agua Caliente next season.

The Clippers nabbed Diabate in the second round last month with the understanding that he would accept a two-way contract, a necessity due to the team’s roster crunch for the upcoming season. They’re gambling on his athleticism, high motor, and work ethic to overcome concerns about his skill level offensively and defensive positioning. Moussa, like Boston, was a highly-touted high school prospect who LAC was able to get in the second round after a poor freshman season in college. He has the potential to be a pretty fun Summer League watch due to his high motor in the chaotic play style of this event, but don’t be surprised if he struggles with the strength of some of the centers he’ll be going up against.

Some other names of note on this roster are Xavier Moon, Jay Scrubb, Justin Bean, Michael DeVoe, and Lucas Williamson. Moon and Scrubb are both coming off of two-way contracts for the Clippers last season, but the team declined to tender a qualifying offer to either to make them restricted free agents. It’s likely that the Clippers are looking to move on from Moon as they don’t need another point guard, and Scrubb is reportedly looking to make a roster next year rather than play on a two-way deal again. They should both be able to help the Clippers win Summer League games while showcasing for their next deal, but at this point I would be surprised to see either on LAC’s opening night roster–they might have better career outlooks in Europe next season. Bean, DeVoe, and Williamson are a trio of undrafted free agents, but they stand out from the rest of the crop heading into Summer League because the Clippers have already signed them to Exhibit 10 contracts, which is essentially a training camp deal with the option to convert to a two-way. While LAC has no obligation to these three players and could easily opt to go another way to fill the second two-way spot alongside Diabate, they at least appear to be the three frontrunners fighting for that last spot. It’s worth noting, though, that the rest of the roster is replete with two-way eligible players who would love to put their names in that conversation as well.

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LA Clippers Summer League: Roster, Schedule, How to Watch
Lucas Hann