What is going on with the other draft pick? James Robinson?

[Galloisdaman]

Is he healthy? Can he help as a rookie?

[QRich3]

Well we're not gonna be able to see if he can help unless he gets into the court, but he did look decent for a rookie in preseason and summer league. Problem is there's too many guys in the roster, Teodosic is out of the rotation right now, and he definitely is a better player than him as of today. Then you still have Thornwell and Ty Wallace who are also out of the rotation.

There's gonna be movement before the trade deadline though, and by the end of the season I bet there will be a bunch of minutes available for the guys who are getting none right now. Just gotta be patient and keep learning. Guys like Gary Harris, Terry Rozier or Malik Monk were struggling to get into the rotation at the start of their careers too, and they're solid players now. Just gotta wait it out, the goal is to be a good player 4 or 5 years from now, not the first week.

[Galloisdaman]

I understand but usually a lottery pick will get some looks if they are healthy. Is he 100% healthy and in good shape? The team has been in close games. I would expect him to get in to some minutes in games that are not as close.

[Ranma]

The thing is that the Clippers didn't even want to take him in the lottery as it was reported that the front office initially considered trading down in order to get him, which I agree with in terms of valuation. However, it also became apparent that multiple teams had their eyes on him and were waiting and even possibly contemplating moving up to draft him. Admittedly, to my chagrin at the time, the Clips selected Jerome Robinson because they liked him better than anyone else available at the time.

I think it's safe to say that he was not the consensus "BPA" (Best Player Available) and that he had late helium (rising momentum) on individual teams' draft boards. I don't recall him being a first-round consideration during the pre-draft process, but some teams--including our Clips--were apparently won over by his workouts and performance and measurements at the combine, especially after looking at what he accomplished during his time at Boston College.

The Clippers did the right thing by having and separating their big board from that of the general consensus in terms of trying to maximize asset management. The front office also had to weigh Jerome's potential against what would have possibly been available in a trade down and determined that the best course of action was selecting or reaching for him in the lottery.

Given that ESPN had him ranked on its big board as a late second-round selection, one has to think that he was initially considered a project or one-dimensional contributor, but from what I've seen and read so far, he's a fairly polished one at that with a multitude of skills. He's got good size and handles to go along with range, efficient shooting, and even playmaking abilities. His character and work ethic get high marks as he acknowledges that he'll need to play defense, which was noted as one of his shortcomings but there is talk that the team sees him eventually playing the J.J. Redick role. If that were to happen, he'd need serious work on his movement without the ball.

So while he was technically a late lottery pick, Robinson is probably more of a high-reward project with some already polished offensive abilities teams were hoping to snag under the radar. I don't even think "project" is really the right word to describe him as a prospect given his aforementioned polish, but it's also clear that the organization has more in mind for him than being a spot-up shooter in the mold of Kevin Martin. He, like fellow Clippers draftee Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, still needs to develop physically in order to handle the rigors of a long NBA season.

Come to think of it, Robinson's draft profile reads similarly to James Harden's aside from the mature body and game. Now I'm not saying that Jerome is the next coming of the Beard, but he seems to have a lot of the same skills, though probably not at the same elite level nor does he have the well-developed instincts. However, even Harden, had to develop his game further to be where he is today, so who knows? Don't forget players like Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both quickly exceeded expectations with continued development under NBA teams' training regimens.

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ESPN's draft analytics model believes the Clippers' selection of Jerome Robinson at No. 13 was a major reach. The model ranked the former Boston College Eagle as the 54th-best player in this class, with just a 17% chance to become a starting-caliber player or better.

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