Clippers expecting to send Travis Leslie to D-League

Post #1 » by **mkwest** » Thu Mar 1, 2012 11:37 pm

Reporting from Sacramento—

The Clippers plan on sending rookie Travis Leslie to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League so he can get some playing time.

Leslie is expected to play for the Jam at Reno on Saturday.

Leslie, a 6-4 guard out of Georgia who was drafted in the second round, has appeared in just eight games for the Clippers.

He has averaged just 4.9 minutes and 1.5 points on 38.5% shooting.

The Clippers consider him an athletic player who needs more playing time to further his development.

Leslie was not with the Clippers when they started their six-game trip Thursday night in Sacramento.

Brad Turner, LA Times

WinningCuresAll · Post #2 » by **WinningCuresAll** » Fri Mar 2, 2012 12:46 am

Reporting from Sacramento—
The Clippers plan on sending rookie Travis Leslie to the Bakersfield Jam of the NBA Development League so he can get some playing time.

Leslie is expected to play for the Jam at Reno on Saturday.

Leslie, a 6-4 guard out of Georgia who was drafted in the second round, has appeared in just eight games for the Clippers.

He has averaged just 4.9 minutes and 1.5 points on 38.5% shooting.

The Clippers consider him an athletic player who needs more playing time to further his development.

Leslie was not with the Clippers when they started their six-game trip Thursday night in Sacramento.

Source: LA Times

WinningCuresAll · Post #3 » by **WinningCuresAll** » Fri Mar 2, 2012 12:50 am

My bad. Didn't know you already hit this thread up. YO but just a heads up, y'all can stream the games on the D league site. So hit that up and watch TL bang on them fools. One

krazyclipperfan · Post #4 » by **krazyclipperfan** » Fri Mar 2, 2012 12:55 am

He should have been sent down at the start of the season.

WinningCuresAll · Post #5 » by **WinningCuresAll** » Fri Mar 2, 2012 1:05 am

krazyclipperfan wrote:He should have been sent down at the start of the season.

Exactly

RiversideClips · Post #6 » by **RiversideClips** » Fri Mar 2, 2012 1:21 am

Why isn't Trey Thompkins w/ him?? They have been on the same team that past 4 years & it makes sense for them to keep playing together; they could eat the D- League!
I agree w/ all of you who thought this should have been done at the beginning of the season.

Post #7 » by **og15** » Fri Mar 2, 2012 1:47 am

Unless there are plans for Thompkins to get minutes, he should be with him. It might be for practice player reasons, or the team is specifically working on some developmental areas with Trey.

Post #8 » by **thanumba2clippersfan** » Fri Mar 2, 2012 4:11 am

Seems like the D League is a good place for Leslie to be right now. He can get playing time and work on his game.

Post #9 » by **mkwest** » Fri Mar 2, 2012 4:22 am

Thompkins has a better chance at getting into a game right now than Leslie and he is further along. Leslie needs the floor time. He was hurt during training camp and has not really played at all (39 mins through 8 games). It wouldn't hurt Thompkins to play a couple of games in the d-league, but he'll be needed if one of our bigs goes down on the roadtrip.

TheNewEra · Post #10 » by **TheNewEra** » Fri Mar 2, 2012 10:21 am

mkwest wrote:Thompkins has a better chance at getting into a game right now than Leslie and he is further along. Leslie needs the floor time. He was hurt during training camp and has not really played at all (39 mins through 8 games). It wouldn't hurt Thompkins to play a couple of games in the d-league, but he'll be needed if one of our bigs goes down on the roadtrip.

Agreed

WinningCuresAll · Post #11 » by **WinningCuresAll** » Fri Mar 2, 2012 8:52 pm

Travis Leslie ‏
@FlightLeslie23

How can u prove something when u don't get a chance

Not really feelin TL's attitude. Not sure if he tweeted this because he was sent to the D league or for other reasons. But dude should have a better understanding on his situation.

Hopefully he takes his frustration out on the D league and actually make some noise.

Post #12 » by **mkwest** » Fri Mar 2, 2012 10:50 pm

WinningCuresAll wrote:
Travis Leslie ‏
@FlightLeslie23

How can u prove something when u don't get a chance

Not really feelin TL's attitude. Not sure if he tweeted this because he was sent to the D league or for other reasons. But dude should have a better understanding on his situation.

Hopefully he takes his frustration out on the D league and actually make some noise.

Willie Warren took going down to the D-League hard as well. Leslie has had issues before. Draft Express compared him to Tony Allen and he took offense saying he thought he was better than Allen because he brings more on the offensive end (in addition to defense). The thing is that he has to pay his dues. The only way for rookies to play on a playoff team is to actually be a good player that is able to contribute right away, hustle hard on the defensive end or out of necessity (injuries, lack of depth, etc.).

This is his chance to prove something. I would love to see him and Trey get more mins as well, but we can't afford to let them be baptized by fire when we're fighting for a playoff seed.

Cracka2Hi · Post #13 » by **Cracka2Hi** » Fri Mar 2, 2012 10:50 pm

^ Yea I don't like Leslie's response to that either. 2nd rounders are a dime a dozen. I'd like to see Thompkins get some run in the D-League but like someone mentioned earlier we need him for practice and we could easily need his services if God forbid someone get injured. However it would probably do his development some good if we could spend 3-5 games in the D-League and lite up the scoreboard a bit.