Former Draft Picks and What Happened to Them - 2006

In continuation of the series that Citizen peterghost started with the 2007 NBA Draft, I’ve been tasked with breaking down the 2006 Draft.  (I apologize in advance for the monster post.)

To start, here is a table showing all of the picks and the team that ultimately received them:

2006 Draft Picks

1st round – 22nd pick – Marcus Williams 

(traded to Orlando in 2000 for K.Dooling, C.Maggette, and D.Strong , eventually found its way to NJ)

2nd round – 34th pick – Paul Davis PF/C

2nd round – 52nd pick – Guillermo Diaz G

Undrafted rookie – Will Conroy G

Undrafted rookie –Dawan Robinson G

(I included the first round pick if only to illustrate that had we not traded it, we could have also potentially drafted anyone from 22 to 33 as well.)

"Missed" picks 

Kyle Lowry (24th) – Starts in houston
Shannon Brown  (25th) – 7th or 8th man for the Lakers
Jordan Farmar (26th) – Off the bench behind D.Will
Craig Smith (36th) – RHINO 

Daniel Gibson (42nd) – Lots of minutes in Cleveland
Paul Millsap (47th) – Biggest steal of this draft
Leon Powe (49th) – Really doesn’t play much anymore, but he was pretty productive in Boston

First, the missed picks.  Out of the first 3, which we could have potentially drafted had we not traded for Maggette (and Dooling) in 2000, I really don’t think any of them are worth giving up what we had from 2000 to 2006.  Those were some fun years, and Lowry really didn’t come into his own until recently.  Now, how sweet it would have been to get Craig Smith to back up FElton?  Or Daniel Gibson to get minutes over Daniel "the Unsteady Hand" Ewing?  Or even imagine the ridiculousness of a bigs-rotation of Millsap-FElton-Kaman?  Leon Powe would have been awesome too, assuming he could put up his Boston numbers.  

Onto our actual Clipper picks… 

Paul Davis

As a Clipper
As I recall, Paul Davis was a big guy with good footwork, a nice fade-away, but he was extremely slow and had whatever the antonym of "having a nose for the ball" is.  In his best game as a pro, he once scored 15 points in 22 minutes in a blowout loss against the San Antonio Spurs, playing much of his minutes against the great Tim Duncan.  His highest scoring game was against Sacramento in his final year with the Clippers where he scored 18 points in a whopping 38 minutes, earned only because of injuries and Brian Skinner being the next best alternative.  Though, the decision to bench B-Skinnz in favor of Paul Davis is mind bottling.  (Like when things are so crazy, your thoughts get trapped, like in a bottle.) 

Statistically, he was always posting below average numbers, with PER of 10 (15 being average) and WS/48 of 0.035 (0.100 being average).  His TS% of 44.5% is horrible for anyone, but it’s otherworldly for a 6’11" big man.  Davis never had a ton of potential, but there was hope he could become a charge-taking big with a smooth shot and the size to guard guys like Dwight Howard respectably.  Unfortunately, he never really showed any progress, despite getting quite a few minutes as Kaman and Brand took turns being injured.

Where is he now?

These days, Paul Davis can be seen playing basketball in the Eurocup Basketball League for the Spanish team Cajasol Seville on a one-year contract with an optional year.  He seems to be playing well over there, which is fantastic.  And according to draftexpress.com, his TS% and PER have both skyrocketed since going overseas.  Way to go, Paul.

Guillermo Diaz

As a Clipper
I posted on the other thread that from what I remember from some Summer League games and from watching him a couple times at Staples, Guillermo Diaz was a small, athletic combo-guard who reminded me of a young combo-guard from UCLA named Russell Westbrook.  He was great at getting to the rim and very inventive once he got there.  After we drafted him, we didn’t actually sign him to a contract and he ended up playing in the D-League for the Anaheim Arsenal for a bit.  In January 2008, he was called-up for a couple 10-day contracts with the Clippers, but he only got a handful of garbage minutes in 6 games.  Advanced statistics are pretty meaningless with a sample size of 6, but he played quite a few more games after his stint in the NBA.

Where is he now?
Earlier in the year, Guillermo was playing in the Eurobasket League for the Italian team Scavolini Siviglia Pesaro, where he most recently averaged 28.4 minutes, shooting 55% on 2-pointers and 37% on 3-pointers, scoring 12.5 ppg.  Guillermo is currently playing in the Latinbasket League for the Puerto Rican team Arecibo, where he is averaging 28.5 minutes, shooting 58.3% on 2-pointers and 35% on 3-pointers.  He also plays on the Puerto Rico’s national team in the World Championships.  

Will Conroy

As a Clipper
From memory, Will Conroy was pretty undersized, and he was signed to a couple 10-day contracts with the Clippers from the D-League (Tulsa 66ers) after Shaun Livingston’s horrific knee-injury.  He only ended up playing in a small handful of games, a total of 4 for the Clippers, and I remember not liking his body language or tendency to over-dribble whenever he got the ball.  He was no Shaun Livingston.  His call-up was understandable, though, as he had done quite well in Tulsa.  In the DLeague, he had a PER of 17, a TS% of 55%, was scoring 15 ppg on 11.5 shots per game, shooting a respectable 35% from downtown, and dishing about 8.5 apg in 89 games.  Still, his talents unfortunately didn’t translate to any meaningful minutes in the NBA.

Where is he now?
After some brief attempts to play overseas, Conroy found himself bouncing between the Rockets and the D-League’s Rio Grande Valley Vipers until January 2011 when he signed with Oyak Renault to play in Turkey.  There, he averaged 36.3 minutes, shooting a dismal 43.5% on 2-pointers and 23.9% on 3-pointers, scoring 12.6 ppg on 12.4 shots, dishing 5.9 apg and grabbing 4.1 rpg.  Not surprisingly, his team only won 1 of 16 games last season.  I’m not sure how long his contract is for, but if he doesn’t pick it up soon, he might find himself out of work.

Dawan Robinson

As a Clipper
Last but not least, Dawan Robinson.  Dawan was a 6’3” combo guard (seeing a trend?) who only played in the 2006 preseason with the Clippers, before being cut from the roster.  Let’s just move on then. 

Where is he now?
Mr. Robinson most recently for Societa Veroli Basket in Italy before playing 18 games for the Erie Bayhawks in the NBA D-League in the 2010-11 season.  There, he averaged a very respectable 22.2 minutes with a TS% of 55%, PER of 16.9, WS/48 of 0.120, scoring 12.1 ppg and 3.9 apg.  He’s probably not going to get called up with those numbers, at his size, but he could certainly have a fruitful career overseas.

That’s all I’ve got for this draft.  Please feel free to add anything I missed!