• AJ Dybantsa: He’s 6’9″ Kobe. 41″ vertical leap at the combine. More than that, his attitude and demeanor reminds me of Kobe or Lebron: he believes he’s going to tear up this league. You see it in his eyes and body language.

• Darryn Peterson: He’s like a SG version of Kawhi to me. He’s a supremely skilled shooter off the bounce, off screens. He has a strong handle. Can score from anywhere. Also has length and active hands to disrupt plays and grab loose balls. But, like Kawhi, he’s enigmatic, tacitrun, a bit socially awkward, and doesn’t have great explanations for his odd absences. He had some issues at Kansas, both physical and mental, but that might help the Clippers as his draft stock might drop to where LAC can pick him up. He projects as a shooting guard, a bucket, but thinks he’s a point guard at the NBA level. He does have combo guard skills and would move the ball to teammates he respects. I think balancing the need to be a good teammate, protect his health, and get stats was a bit confusing and overwhelming for him. I feel the NBA environment will be simpler for him, and I think he’s become almost underrated.

• Cameron Boozer: I don’t have a good feel for him. His best comp is Al Horford, but would you draft Big Al with a top 5 pick? The real Al Horford was a #3 pick after winning back to back chips in college in a pretty weak draft. He’s a very smart player, is very strong, and will fit into any offense, and is a high level passer, but he has no bag, a limited handle, no lift, a bit undersized for a #5 (maybe even as a #4). He looks like 3&D and intangibles to me. I just envision him as a 10-20 pick rather than a top 5-10 pick in this particular draft.The other thing about Boozer that bugs me a little is that he’s so smart that it almost obscures his weaknesses, which I think But, then again, Al Horford is a 5x all star so who knows?

• Caleb Wilson: before he got hurt, I thought he was the #2 behind Dybantsa, and his talent jumps off the page. Projects to me like Bernard King or Kevin Garnett. 3 pt shooting form will improve, but this guy has post moves, a mid range game, an attacking handle, euro step, a great finisher, great rebounder, and a plus athlete. He’s 6’10”. Man, if we could get this guy, he’d be the franchise.

• Darius Acuff: A better version of Ja, a motor like AI or Derrick Rose, but with much more durability than Rose b/c he’s got a better jump shot, mid range shot and doesn’t sacrifice his body on every drive. LAC won’t go wrong with him.

• Keaton Wagler: I like this kid a lot. His physique and style remind me of Kobe Sanders, but he has the mentality of a point guard who can also play off the ball. Excellent confident shooter who also gets to the rim and finishes. Doesn’t turn the ball a lot. Very crafty (some Brunson/Halliburton like qualities), gets to the line. Plays at his pace. Not a great athlete. Led that Illinois team to the final four and put them on his back. He has a great sense of when to shoot and look for his shot and was willing to shoulder the shot volume and create off the bounce. He’s good at the game of basketball and has NBA size. I think if you’re looking for a guy who will fit any system but also have the ability to create and get his own shot, I’d rank Wagler well above a player like Boozer. This kid is a winner.

• Mikel Brown Jr- About the same size as Wagler, better athlete, not as good a shooter, had back issues, likes 3s and dunks. Didn’t play enough games due to injury. Seems to need the ball in his hands to be effective. I know he’s ranked high, but I might stay away.

If you told me you can turn back time to 2020 and get a do-over with Kawhi and PG and a top 2 seed in the west.

OR

Be in the Cavs position with the remnants of the Lebron era, and the 5th pick in the draft.

I think clearly you try it again with Kawhi and PG, over the crazy unknown of having a 5th pick and rebuilding from scratch. Obviously in retrospect, neither has resulted in a championship. I guess 6 years later the Cavs are in a slightly better position, but also took them having not only 5th pick in 2019, but also the 5th pick in 2020, and 3rd in 2021. Clippers don’t have that luxury.

I’m very much in camp that wants to start by trading Kawhi and moving on.

But the Clippers have legit assets now, so I do think that it’s worth quickly kicking the tires on the Giannis world, but I wouldn’t get hung up on it. I like the idea, noted above, that Garland might be a viable piece in a trade for Giannis, attractive to MIL (kind of like how he is attractive to the Clippers). But the whole thing is too complicated and fraught and an unlikely waste of time.

That gets you to the Kawhi trade. His value is great right now, especially to a team that is highly competitive and maybe one solid piece away. A team that wouldn’t be relying on him being perfectly healthy and part of their regular season essentials, but wants him for the playoffs, the later rounds, and the Finals, to put them over the top. He has something like the status that Durant had last year–but then HOU had injuries and had to play Durant crazy minutes in the regular season and KD broke down.

It’s not just GSW, ATL, & MIA, I don’t think. Any rising or competitive team should be looking at him, and there are a lot of those. Include the teams that are going to be going after Giannis.

On top of that, the Clippers don’t need to be doing Kawhi any favors, worried about his feelings. If some bad team wants to overpay for Kawhi, we’ll take it.

He’s quite good and I have enjoyed seeing his game a lot. I’m fine with building the next version of the team with him as a key piece. The trick is that he’s probably best as your third best player, and he’s always going to have defensive and size limitations.

His value is high, and he already gets paid a lot of money. When you look at the guards that are suddenly possible options for the Clippers, all the 5 to 8 guys, you have to ask whether they fit with Garland, or if they could be as good or better than Garland. But that changes if you start to look at Garland as a possible trade piece. Garland is good and firmly established right now, and if he can get his toes figured out and stay healthy (not an especially big if), he’s about to enter his prime and he’s a solid asset.