NBA Draft -- Notes for the Clippers

Gary Sacks and Doc Rivers spoke to the media after the draft. The message was more or less what you would expect -- they liked Reggie Bullock all along; they think he has a chance to help this season at least with his shooting; he has the potential to be a good defender as well. Bullock was among the high-value targets the Clippers had brought in on Day 7 of their workouts last Friday, but as it happens, he also worked out for Doc in Boston. According to Sacks and Rivers, there was a clear consensus in the war room when it came time to pick. Furthermore, Doc relayed that while he mostly allowed Sacks and his team to set the agenda, it worked out that all of the players they had targeted happened to be guys that he had seen a lot of and guys that he liked.

Rivers, as the father of a Duke basketball player from a couple of seasons ago, had actually seen Bullock play live twice -- a rarity for an NBA head coach, who would rarely take the time to take in an NCAA game other than in the capacity of a father. He likes the idea that Bullock comes from a big time program, that he played for a big time coach in Roy Williams, and especially that he understood his role at North Carolina. Playing on some very talented teams, Bullock was never the first option for the Tar Heels, but he played his role well, and he improved every year in was in college.

Yesterday's Doc Rivers Clippers history trivia time involved the draft pick the Clippers sent to Atlanta to acquire Rivers in 1991 (answer the nith pick, which became Stacey Augmon). Tonight we found out that this was not the first time that Doc Rivers has been in the war room with the Clippers on draft day. In 1998, Rivers was an on-site reporter for TNT's coverage of the draft. The Clippers had the first pick in the draft, and Donald Sterling invited Doc into the war room when they picked Michael Olowokandi. Hopefully this pick works out a little better.