Clippers Select Kobe Brown at #30

[TrueLAfan]

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https://www.nbadraft.net/players/kobe-brown/

[MartinToVaught]

Leave it to this front office to massively reach for the oldest player in the draft when we already have the oldest team in the NBA - even though Frank acknowledged the need for youth and athleticism after the season. Unserious franchise.

[Wammy Giveaway]

Brown was mocked as a 2nd round pick. See this article from The Columbia Tribune. But for a recap:

ESPN — Sacramento Kings, No. 38 overall

Yahoo — San Antonio Spurs, No. 45 overall

Bleacher Report — Portland Trail Blazers, No. 43 overall

USA Today For the Win — Denver Nuggets, No. 40 overall

CBS Sports — Charlotte Hornets, No. 34 overall

[KL2]

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[Wammy Giveaway]

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[TrueLAfan]

Well.

I live in Columbia, so I've seen (a lot) more about Kobe Brown than most anyone on here. Here's what I know:

Very smart, well spoken guy. Character guy/locker room favorite. This is clearly still a priority.
Coachable, practice warrior. Improved every year. Last thing he added was the three--and he was very solid with that last year.
Good wingspan, can play at the 4--maybe even small ball 5. He's physically almost identical to Jarace Walker.
Definitely a high floor guy. He is not likely to ever be an all-star. But he could slot in immediately and be adequate--And is smart enough to get better.

[Wammy Giveaway]

Courtesy of Box And One:

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TrueLA, would you say Brown is an athletic Boris Diaw? His biggest strength and perhaps defining skill is his passing. Has a highlight reel flavor to it.

[esqtvd]

Well.

I live in Columbia, so I've seen (a lot) more about Kobe Brown than most anyone on here. Here's what I know:

Very smart, well spoken guy. Character guy/locker room favorite. This is clearly still a priority.
Coachable, practice warrior. Improved every year. Last thing he added was the three--and he was very solid with that last year.
Good wingspan, can play at the 4--maybe even small ball 5. He's physically almost identical to Jarace Walker.
Definitely a high floor guy. He is not likely to ever be an all-star. But he could slot in immediately and be adequate--And is smart enough to get better.

Yes, a 20ish% 3-ball shooter his first 3 years and 45% this past year. Remember, Brogdon was old, too, which is why he slipped to #36. Won ROY. Character guy, too.

Clips need length and size and Brown is listed at 6-7 or 6-8 and between 220 and 240. They zagged where everybody else zigged. Everybody's looking for 20-year olds with All-Star potential. I don't follow college ball at all but conceptually this makes a lot of sense.

And Brown was a team captain. The Clippers could use some of that too. BIGTIME.

[TrueLAfan]

Good breakdown here. Pay attention to his ball handling and perimeter shooting. That's almost certainly what we saw in him.

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[TrueLAfan]

Courtesy of Box And One:

Watch on YouTube

TrueLA, would you say Brown is an athletic Boris Diaw? His biggest strength and perhaps defining skill is his passing. Has a highlight reel flavor to it.

He's got some the "smart passing" of Diaw. He's not as quick as Diaw was, though. The guy he really looks/plays like is Thaddeus Young. Brown is a little bigger, and is more of a ballhandker and less of a scorer. All if those guys have what I call "quick hands"--a lot of which is just instinct, and a big part is basketball IQ. Put it this way--Diaw had close to a 1100 game career. Young has played more/longer. High floor players = long careers.

[KL2]

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[wakelaunch1]

Not impressed.

[Sofia]

Good breakdown here. Pay attention to his ball handling and perimeter shooting. That's almost certainly what we saw in him.

Watch on YouTube

Looks like not really having an explosive first step is what stopped him going higher. A lot of the reel is either bullying guys off the dribble or getting open with fakes, which at NBA level guys are either strong enough not to get pushed around, or less likely to bite on the fakes. Played against some pretty weak D in some of those clips.

[KL2]

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[esqtvd]

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Clippers have been built on opportunity, not design--as long as I have known them. We had the #1 pick and went for no-brainer Blake, then got CP3 dumped in our laps, and paid 2nd-rounder DeAndre Jordan far more than he was ever worth to avoid losing him to GSW and then later Mark Cuban.

That combo, eating up 2/3 of our salary cap, never jelled. As Chris has intimated, Blake and DJ were never serious about winning. They partied and enjoyed the ride and Blake made $250 million in salary alone and ONCE All-Star DJ will walk away from the game with over $150 million.

What a joke.

Then Ballmer went all in on Kawhi, who put a gun to Ballmer's head to trade away the Clippers future draft picks AND salary cap flexibility for one Pandemic P. But that was not an organizational plan either. It was, frankly, greed and laziness. Ballmer thought he could but himself a title.

And now the NBA--fellow owners and the Players Association alike, has put the kibosh on that little strategy. They're sick of a handful of players building a superteam in the few franchises that can afford paying luxury tax up the wazoo and not even feel it. [GSW and Ballmer in particular.]

So yeah, it's back to the drawing board. Ballmer can't buy his way out of this. Might as well come up with an organizational philosophy. Starting with CHARACTER and BASKETBALL IQ might even work!!

God knows we've tried everything else...

[Captain Ballmer]

Our FO wanted to be cute huh?

[og15]

Good breakdown here. Pay attention to his ball handling and perimeter shooting. That's almost certainly what we saw in him.

Watch on YouTube

Looks like not really having an explosive first step is what stopped him going higher. A lot of the reel is either bullying guys off the dribble or getting open with fakes, which at NBA level guys are either strong enough not to get pushed around, or less likely to bite on the fakes. Played against some pretty weak D in some of those clips.

If the Clippers will use him at PF, then his spot up shooting if that holds up will be helpful, then it will be important to see how he passes out of the pick and roll and from the high post, and lastly, his ability to be versatile on defense. How he drives and attacks actually reminds me of Ron Artest lol

Definitely not drafted on his athletic ability, but more on physical profile and skills (a little handling, passing and shooting).

[madmaxmedia]

If his 3 point shooting last year is not a fluke, he seems absolutely fine in a vacuum at spot #30 (I don't know enough about the late 1st prospects to argue we else we should have picked.) I think he's strong and big enough to actually play the PF spot in the NBA, and I really like (probably too much so) guys with long wingspans. He has good awareness at his position, looking at his passing. His catch and shoot looks fine if his percentage holds up going forward.

He checks off zero boxes in terms of being any kind of prominent big time player, but seems to check off a lot of boxes for possible quality role player/ 4th or 5th best starter at some point (I mean that in a good way.)

We've drafted some raw prospects lately that are still baking in the oven (Boston, Moussa) and traded for another one in Bones, Brown is more like a Terance Mann pick. We'll see.

[Palma Dutch]

I don't really mind the pick. If we're doing a meme late first round reach sort of pick, my guy would've been Vukčević. Interesting how fate works too, name your son Kobe, and he becomes a natural passer. Drafted by an L.A team...and it's the Clippers. I like where this is going.

[Ballings7]

I really like the pick.. adds versatility and size bias to the front-court with a primary spot at PF. Looking forward to see what he can do on both ends. Also, brings a unique dynamic the team has not had at PF in some time.

Overall after doing some basic checks on him -- he should be a semi-rotation player to start, at least; ideally, regular backup.. by the end of next season. Otherwise the team doesn't get better this season, without more moves to address the front-court issues.

I don't really care about his age because this team needs young-er talent that can contribute now.. not in 2 years or a year from now; and going into the playoffs.

I think the FO looks at this as getting younger by not depending on veteran FAs (who are younger vets as well, or older ones).