Los Angeles Clippers: 2017 NBA Draft Grades
The Clippers spent their money smartly and managed to nab two excellent under-the-radar picks.
Though the Clippers went into the 2017 NBA draft without a pick, they were able to leverage their cash reserves to purchase two picks. One, the 48th pick which they acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks, was acquired with the cash they had available for purchases this year. The other pick purchase (the 38 from Philadelphia) can’t be completed until July 6, after the league’s next fiscal year begins.
Make no mistake, buying in was a smart move for a Clippers team that’s struggled with depth, and they nabbed 2 contributors that should be able to hit the ground running. Is Jerry West already making his mark? We’ll see. Let’s take a look.
Jawun Evans (39th pick) / Point Guard / Oklahoma State
Grade: A
Stats: 19.2 points / 3.4 rebounds / 6.4 assists / 1.8 steals / .1 blocks
Analysis:
Basically the only reason Evans was available here in the 2nd round is because of his size.
That’s it.
Evans measures out at 5’11” in socks, and despite an incredible wingspan for his size at over 6’5”, it’s rare that small guards of his mold stick in the NBA. There are a plethora of college guards that do well against smaller competition but stall out against bigger, stronger competition. But Evans is built sturdily enough that he should be able to cope.
He projects to be just a serviceable outside shooter, and he doesn’t work well off the ball, but what Evans does well he does really well: he’s a pick-and-roll savant, capable of getting both himself and his teammates open off the most common play in basketball. As the only sure thing pro player on Oklahoma State’s roster, he constantly put his teammates in good positions all year, anchoring an offense that would have stalled without him. Over half of Oklahoma State’s offensive possessions had Evans as the pick-and-roll ball handler.
Evans struggles scoring inside because of his size, and at the next level much of his upside will be determined by his ability to add strength and work on his floater game and foul drawing ability to create more scoring opportunities. But if he can do that, his high IQ will take care of the rest.
Fit:
Evans has been called by some a “Chris Paul-lite”. He has the same kind of heady floor general game, and is undersized just like CP3. The Clippers are already very comfortable with the kind of game he plays. After Eric Bledsoe, the Clippers have had very up-and-down backup guard play, and Evans could stabilize that. With so much of their roster a question mark now that Paul and Griffin have opted out, though, the Clippers could wind up with an offense built around Evans/Jordan pick-and-roll. Trial by fire indeed.
He seems happy to catch up with Diamond Stone, though, so there’s that.
Sindarius Thornwell (48th pick) / Shooting Guard / South Carolina
Grade: A
Stats: 21.4 points / 7.2 rebounds / 2.8 assists / 2.1 steals / 1.0 blocks
Analysis:
Thornwell made his mark on the NCAA tournament with something that’s become his calling card: defense. Rugged, hounding, dogged defense. With his 6’5” height, 6’10” wingspan and 212-pound frame, Sindarius Thornwell is already physically ready for the rigors of the NBA. He’s versatile enough on defense to thrive in the kind of switch-everything schemes that teams are being forced to employ because of the increased drive towards pace-and-space basketball.
As a senior, Thornwell has shown improvement throughout his whole time in school, honing both his skills and his body to the point where he was one of the key contributors in his team’s March Madness run. He’s not that fast, and lacks the explosiveness that most higher-level prospects have, but what he lacks in speed he makes up for in smarts.
Scoring-wise, Thornwell showed improvement on his catch-and-shoot jumper, but has to continue to work on it at the next level. He’s not much of an offensive creator, working better off the ball, but has enough juice to attack closeouts if needed and enough strength and footwork to create buckets in the post against guards of similar size. He also runs the floor well in transition and rebounds well for a guard of his size, creating second chance points for his team.
To thrive at the next level, he’ll have to continue to work on his capability as an off-ball threat, especially from outside the arc. But the foundation is laid, and he should be able to contribute as a defender from day one.
Fit:
Any team in the NBA could use a versatile defender like Thornwell, but he fits particularly well for Los Angeles, who have lacked a stable of defensive players to fall back on. If his shot develops well, his fit as a 3&D shooting guard would make him an ideal backcourt partner to the cerebral Chris Paul.
Thornwell is ready for his next challenge.
The Clippers did great work in this draft, using their money wisely to buy in and get two contributors who can help their team right away. Evans and Thornwell are smart players who can help shore up a shaky Clipper bench and put their team in a better position to win, just as they did at the college level.
