Clippers 2010 Draft Thread - Aminu, Bledsoe & Warren

[madmaxmedia]

You know what, im excited for this up-coming season. All these guys look extremely exciting to watch, then theres Griffin hopefully playing his first full season. I'm looking forward to it, we've got an exciting team so far.

I agree, even if we do suck again this team looks like it'll still be fun to watch with all the athleticism. Hopefully our next coach really does play at a faster pace.

If they play hard, they will be fun to watch.

I am less concerned about the offensive pace they try to set (though I would like them to run), than I am about the effort they create at the defensive end. If they run and hustle on defense, it will create transition opportunities regardless of the offensive X's and 0's.

[Paper Clip]

When will there be a press conference to introduce the players? Or has it occurred already...

Not yet. Aminu is in Georgia, Bledsoe is in Kentucky & Warren is in Oklahoma. Warren is supposed to be leaving Oklahoma on Wednesday, and I'm assuming he's headed to LA after that. Thursday is day that free-agency kicks off and Olshey, Roeser & Sterling will be in Ohio either sometime between Thursday and Saturday. I have no idea when they'll be introduced.

So excited about going to the team I hoped drafted me..it's honestly the best situation for me especially being bk with The big fella again Blake Griffin

Willie Warren via Twitter

Thanks, mkwest.

In fact, the Clips had a presser introducing Aminu and Bledsoe today, but no mention of Wee Willie.

The gaffe of the press conference came from Bledsoe when he was asked what he admired about Baron Davis. "I like Baron's toughness. He goes out and competes every night, even though he's getting old." Oooops. It's possible that Boom Dizzle might bring a little something extra into his first head to head practice with the rookie. Then again, as one scribe quipped, "Anything that will motivate Baron is a good thing."

[mkwest]

Clippers introduce first-round draft picks



The roster looks much better after this draft, where they took Aminu eighth overall, got Bledsoe (18th overall) in a trade with Oklahoma City and also drafted Oklahoma guard Willie Warren in the second round.

Aminu should combine with forward Blake Griffin to provide one of the league's most athletic backcourts, should each stay healthy.

"It'll be a great combo," Aminu said. "I kind of had that combo my first year at Wake Forest with James Johnson. It was fun to play with. I can see the same thing happening here."

Bledsoe should give them an athletic guard who can keep up, offensively and defensively, with the NBA's young squadron of breakneck point guards, such as Milwaukee's Brandon Jennings, Minnesota's Jonny Flynn, Oklahoma City's Russell Westbrook and so on.

"That's what the league is based on these days — point guards," Bledsoe said.

Bledsoe is a point guard but got shooting guard experience at Kentucky last season as No. 1 overall pick John Wall ran the show.

"Playing off the ball, it was a big adjustment, but it helped me a lot," he said.

Warren proved to be a dynamic scoring guard his freshman season at Oklahoma, where he played with Griffin, but he dropped off the map his sophomore season with Griffin gone. The Clippers hope the reunification of the two will bring out Warren's best.

Lisa Dillman, LA Times

Also, Aminu will be #3 and Bledsoe will be #12.

[mkwest]

Clippers Introduce Rookies

Credit to Devin112 for the pics & video.

[mike3]

Both of them seem pretty pleased to be a Clipper which is obviously good.

And no sign of Warren?

[mike3]

Whered you get all the photos? i was hoping there would be more.

[mkwest]

Warren was not there, because he's not officially a Clipper yet. The other two players are 1st round draft picks, so they are guaranteed even if they haven't been formally signed to contracts yet. Warren as a 2nd rounder is not guaranteed to make the team. So he'll have to wait until he is signed to a contract. That won't be until the team has determined what will be done in free-agency so that the cap space is optimized and maximized.

Warren is flying out on Wednesday to join the team and to begin working out with them.

[mike3]

Oh alright, that makes sense then. Im hoping Warren gets signed, so did you have a link to all those photos?

[Benzo36]

I believe we had a great draft. Now we can add two more contributers such as Prince and Redick, R. Butler, or Rudy Gay w/Butler. Plus a vet big man= Playoffs barring injuries

[illastrate]

http://www.nba.com/clippers/photogaller ... hotos.html

[mkwest]

Mike that was all of them that I had at the time.

The Clippers have updated their site and you can find more pics here.









A few quotes from the press conference:

Al-Farouq Aminu
“I’m happy to be here and happy to be in this city. I look forward to starting working out and I’m happy that the Clippers gave me the opportunity to play basketball at the highest level.”

Eric Bledsoe
“I’m glad to be here. I’ve played on a team with five first round draft picks. Being here feels great and I want to thank everyone who made the trade possible to bring me here. I’m looking forward to coming here and putting this practice facility to good use.”

Neil Olshey
Al-Farouq’s rebounding ability
“Anyone that has followed us for the past few years knows that (rebounding) was one of the weaker parts of our game. It kept us out of the open floor because we didn’t have the three’s to take it off the glass and push the ball. We’ve been disguising two’s as three’s the past few years but now we have a prototypical three to stretch the floor. His length and motor and his ability to get the ball off the glass, especially on the offensive end is big for us. He averaged almost four and a half offensive rebounds a game which makes the ability to get easy buckets off of energy type points huge for us. His activity level and ability to fill the lane and finish above the rim is a huge asset for us. We now have a prototypical three man and at some point we’re going to have one of the most athletic front courts in the league with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.”

Neil Olshey
Thoughts behind drafting Willie Warren
“We wanted to get Willie because we had him on our board as a lottery pick back in October. We know what kind of player Willie was when he played with Blake Griffin. It had nothing to do with Blake being on our roster, we thought we took the best player available. He can knock down shots, handle the ball and he can get to the free throw line. If we get the Willie Warren we want, the Willie Warren from his freshman year, we got a hell of a steal at 54.

Clippers.com

[mike3]

ok thanks guys.

[madmaxmedia]

We now have a prototypical three man and at some point we’re going to have one of the most athletic front courts in the league with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.

I like that. Maybe with some progress this year, we could pencil him in as starter the year after that.

[TheNewEra]

Best thing to do with Aminu is let him develop at a steady pace no need to rush him but don't let him slack. I say we put the Lamar Odom pressure on him tell him if we lose a game because the bench didn't produce it's on him we have high expectations for him coming off the bench as the sixth man.

[Forte IV]

Was there any statment saying what year the 1st round pick we gave OKC is?

[mkwest]

Was there any statment saying what year the 1st round pick we gave OKC is?

Nothing other than it's complicated.

Speculation has been going on that it could be the lesser pick between ours and Minnesota's pick whenever we receive it.

[thanumba2clippersfan]

I was chatting with my cousin today and he said that Bledsoe could be a Russell Westbrook type of PG with better shooting. I really hope that Westbrook turns out to be a stud for us.

[mkwest]

I was chatting with my cousin today and he said that Bledsoe could be a Russell Westbrook type of PG with better shooting. I really hope that Westbrook turns out to be a stud for us.

The Bledsoe trade really excited me. You have to love his athleticism and potential on the defensive side. He has some things to work on at the point, but thankfully he doesn't have to be thrown into the fire right away.