The Los Angeles Clippers entered Draft Day yesterday with 0 picks in hand. With Jerry West alongside Doc Rivers, they changed that fact.
The Clippers ended up buying the Philadelphia 76ers’ 39th pick and the Milwaukee Bucks’ 48th pick to select Jawun Evans and Sindarius Thornwell. Both of thse talented young men had a chance to go in the 1st Round and the Clippers did a great job of strategically acquiring both of them in the 2nd.
Jawun Evans, a point guard from Oklahoma State, was particularly a good pick given the fact that the Clippers are unsure of Chris Paul’s future. Evans at times last year was receieving comparisons of Chris Paul so even if CP3 sticks around, there would be no one better to learn from. Jawun is a talented point who is great with the ball in his hands. He can defend very well and showed us that he can come up big in key situations.
To get a sense of how good he is on both ends, check out these two plays below:
Jawun Evans steal and then PHIL FORTE CLUTCHHHHH!!!!! pic.twitter.com/BhOPEsByAk
— Basketball Society (@BBallSociety_) January 31, 2017
[https://www.clippituser.tv/c/lkkvl]
Sindarius Thornwell, as mentioned, was the other pick the Clippers made. He’s one of the great veterans of this class. Proved to us all year that he can produce on both sides of the ball. If you saw on our Twitter, we found that Thornwell was the first college player since Victor Oladipo who had above a 9 OBPM and a 6 DBPM.
Thornwell had a career high 44 points and 21 rebounds against Alabama in the middle of this past season. He mainly had those high numbers because of the multiple overtimes, but there is still no doubting his abilities.
While some question his athleticism, he proved at times last year that he can make some NBA caliber plays:
[https://www.clippituser.tv/c/vwxqw]
We don’t know how free agency will turn out for the Los Angeles Clippers. Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan are either free agents this summer or have been involved in trade talk and their fates are up in the air at this point.
If the Los Angeles Clippers don’t have a good free agency, they will at least be happy knowing that they got two great young kids in a Draft where their fans had no expectations for them.
