Clippers Mock Draft Roundup: One Month Before NBA Draft

The NBA Draft is just a month away, which means NBA teams have started inviting prospects to do workouts, and true guesswork can begin to start on which teams are interested in which players. The Clippers only have two late second rounds picks in the 2019 draft, the 48^th and 56^th picks, so they won’t be covered very much, but here’s a roundup of who they’re getting slated for right now. So far, these are the only mock drafts I could see that went into the second round as well, though more will come closer to the draft.

Sports Illustrated (Jeremy Woo), May 20^th:

48^th – Darius Bazley, a forward who never played college ball

56^th – Charles Bassey, center from Western Kentucky

The Athletic (Sam Vecenie), May 14^th:

48^th – Miye Oni, wing from Yale

“Oni had a terrible NCAA Tournament game against LSU, but don’t let that overshadow what is a remarkably interesting prospect due to his size, length, shooting ability, and defensive potential. With a 6-11 wingspan, Oni has the frame NBA teams look for, and is a smart kid with high feel for the game. A good organization will take him at some point in this draft, and have a good chance at a steal.”

56^th – Justin Wright-Foreman, guard from Hofstra

“Wright-Foreman is an electric scorer. He gets to his spots all over the place due to his terrific handle, and can pull-up from anywhere within 25 feet — and make shots efficiently. There are defensive concerns, as coaches in the CAA seemed to think he wasn’t particularly interested on that side of the floor. He’s also definitely just a pure scorer versus someone you can count on to facilitate right now. But Wright-Foreman is the exception as a scorer in that he has a legit chance to stick. There is also a thought around the league that the Clippers would have some interest in Brian Bowen.”

ESPN (Jonathan Givony and Mike Schmitz), May 13^th:

48^th – Tremont Waters, guard from LSU

56^th – Brian Bowen, wing from Sydney

None of these players are mentioned more than once in regards to the Clippers except Brian Bowen, who the Clippers also had interest in last year. Waters and Wright-Foreman are both small, jitterbug-type point guards, though Wright-Foreman is a born scorer while Waters is more a point guard. Bazley is interesting in that he was a top-tier recruit, but he never ended up playing for Syracuse, so the last real tape on him is from high school. He’s more of a big forward, while Oni and Bowen are truer wings. Bassey is the lone big man, a freshman who might fall to the 2^nd round. Of the six players, the only senior is Wright-Foreman. Oni is a junior, Waters a sophomore, Bowen is the age of a sophomore, though he too never played in college (going overseas instead), and Bassey and Bazley are freshman aged.

Normally, teams like the Clippers who are trying to contend go for more “sure things” in the 2^nd round, but they just had young rookies contribute significantly this past season, and could be confident that the guys they like will contribute next year as well, regardless of experience. Bowen is certainly a name to keep an eye on, but for right now, it’s mostly a wait and see approach for the rest.