A Look at Recent 56th Picks in the NBA Draft

After possessing two potentially franchise-changing lottery picks last season, the Clippers are once more in position to make a couple selections in the NBA Draft. This time, however, rather than picks 12 and 13, the Clippers have two late second round picks – the 48^th and 56^th to be precise. These obviously aren’t nearly as valuable or as likely to produce true NBA talent, but there’s still some value to be had even this late in the draft. Here’s a brief look at some recent 56^th overall picks, and what impact they made in the NBA>

The 56^th pick in the NBA draft over the past decade has not exactly been a home to many great NBA players. In fact, of the nine players drafted at 56 since 2010, none have cracked the 500 minute mark in the NBA. While it’s still too early to rule a few of the more recent draftees out, it appears the guy with the best career of that group thus far will be Roy Devyn Marble. Yep, that’s right. Here’s the full list:

2010 – Hamady N’Diaye

2011 – Chukwudiebere Maduabum

2012 – Tomislav Zubcic

2013 – Peyton Siva

2014 – Roy Devyn Marble

2015 – Branden Dawson (Clippers legend!!)

2016 – Daniel Hamilton

2017 – Jabari Bird

2018 – Ray Spalding

Of these guys, seven played minutes in the NBA, including the last six. Only three of them, however, appeared in more than one NBA season. And N’Diaye alone played in more than two seasons, getting games across three seasons. The closest thing to a rotation player of the bunch was Marble, and he only got minutes for extremely bad Orlando Magic teams. Not a great sign for the Clippers’ pick this year.

However, the picture gets quite a bit brighter if the scope is expanded to include the 2000’s as well. In that decade, three players were picked at 56 within a six year span who all had legitimate, significant NBA careers. One of them is even playing today! Those guys are Luis Scola (2002), Amir Johnson (2005), and Ramon Sessions (2007). Now, none of those guys were ever stars, but all of them were solid starters or key bench players for a number of years, with each playing over a decade in the NBA. So, real players can be found that late.

Whoever the Clippers pick at 56 is highly unlikely to be a key piece of their franchise. If they’re lucky, they can find someone who can fill a role on the team for a few years at cheap cost. All things considered, that would be a huge win.