With the 25th Pick, the Clippers Select Brice Johnson

[mkwest]

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[mkwest]

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[thanumba2clippersfan]

We could have picked someone with more potential at 25

[nickhx2]

i was actually hoping we'd get brice johnson. just not at 25 and not over some of the players still left in the pool.

[og15]

Most of the mocks had us taking Johnson. The SF's I would have liked (Prince and Bembry) were gone, Prince way before our pick. Seems like the Clippers really liked Johnson. Doesn't seem like a bad pick, can't really say, and it's hard to know anyways.

Athletic, efficient, some mentioned Taj Gibson like, which is good. I saw some Marion in him with that quick jumping ability. If he can finish efficiently at the basket right away, that's good for him, but of course he quite small. Sort of like a young Brandan Wright maybe?

[mkwest]

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[mkwest]

Clippers select North Carolina forward Brice Johnson with 25th pick

“I’m really thankful for it,” Johnson said. “A lot of guys don’t get the opportunity to be in the NBA, so I’m really thankful for it. I really fit in well with this team, with the style of play and the way I played in college. I really think I can come in there and be effective from the jump.”

The 6-foot-10, 230-pound Johnson, one of the most productive players in college basketball last season, shot 61.4 percent while averaging 17 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. He was a consensus First-Team All-American and the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA East Regional.

Johnson had the fifth-highest player efficiency rating in Division I last season (33.04), a kind of catch-all metric, and the highest of any player selected in the first round Thursday.

There’s optimism he can become part of the Clippers’ rotation next season.

Dan Woike, OC Register

[madmaxmedia]

He is an interesting prospect, most of the time I watch my few evaluation videos on Youtube and get a quick hunch on how a guy will do in the NBA, yay or nay. I think mainly I look to see if a guy has any attribute or skill that will possibly stand out in the NBA, otherwise you are looking at a role player or worse. With him I see a mixed bag of physical attributes which is good and bad, but again if you can at least stand out in some aspect then you can develop some leverage in your NBA game.

I see 2 different views on Brice. One is a undersized big who seems like a hard worker, also an older player. A good athlete for his size but certainly no freak of nature type. Defense seems only okay, but probably can be worked on. In some of the videos it looks like literally no one taught him how to make the most of his physical attributes on defense, and how to minimize his deficiencies. So there you basically get a role player who hopefully can be very solid and give you good minutes and effort when he's on the floor.

The other view is I see a guy who improved a lot over 4 years, which means he is a hard worker who has the coordination/physical talent to continue to expand his game in the NBA. He shoots very well from the FT line, and looks like he should be able to extend out to the 3 over time. He has some definite ball/scoring skills which imply good hand-eye coordination and maybe develop a face-up game (so some handles), and at least has the base quickness to develop into a tall 3. He has the quickness, but don't know if he has the lateral quickness. In any case, there seems to be potential to develop into a really good 3 but it will take time and hard work every offseason on his part.

In the next year or so, he might be a good role player, a good glue guy. In 4/5 years, maybe he can actually be much more- maybe.

[Quake Griffin]

I hope this kid finds some way to defend the wing position because Blake and DeAndre are going to continue eating minutes for breakfast. This kid has enough athleticism to be a real benefit to us on the floor blocking shots and cleaning up the glass.


My goodness.
Doc, I'm giving you one last shot at this ****.
Play this kid and develop him. If he's not a fit, who cares, you've built some value and you can trade him.

#playbrice

[Worm122]

just praying

[pageC4]

Solid pick. My only concern is that Doc will not give him an opportunity to play. Doc hasn't given Dawson or Wilcox any time to develop, so I think this may be Brice's fate as well.

[nickhx2]

well, dawson was super raw while wilcox was pants on head awful as a pick. so i can see brice playing, especially since cole will probably go.

[mkwest]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwA6lh44YzQ[/youtube]

[og15]

As many things as the are to get in Doc about, it's hard to get in him about Wilcox and Dawson's minutes.

Wilcox is an offensive minded SG behind Redick and Crawford and Stephenson was even around earlier, and Rivers plays SG too. He can't play PG or SF. He's 2 years older and not as good as Austin, so playing Austin over him is the clear choice both in terms of who is currently better and who has more potential. Where would the minutes come from? It's not like he was a potential rookie either, he's already in his prime next season as he'll be 26 in December.

Dawson was a late second round pick rookie and a project, those guys usually don't play on good teams unless their development fast tracks. Let's look around the league and see how many minutes the average guy in his position gets in their rookie year on a good team. The team early in the year could barely even find minutes for guys like Josh Smith and Lance Stephenson.

Dawson is a PF/SF, the team had these players at F, excluding Blake even: Luc Mbah, Wesley Johnson, Paul Pierce, Jeff Green/Lance Stephenson (technically Josh Smith early despite playing C). When Blake was healthy we couldn't even figure out how our rotations would work to get all these guys minutes (hence Smith at C), let alone the late second round pick rookie who was super raw and in between positions.

Neither of these players were in situations where you could just spoon feed them any meaningful minutes. Teams practice, coaches see the players and even with a coach like Doc, if a guy really stands out they will get the minutes.

We now have 4 young guys, Johnson as one who seems like he can contribute soon, so if in the next two seasons, not one of them can get any decent minutes or opportunities then there's a problem. Right now with the rookies we've had, there's no issue. With Wilcox a 23 year old rookie and Dawson just after his rookie season as a project, we can't be complaining about their opportunities. There was no room for spoon fed minutes unless they earned it by being better than someone ahead of them or providing something different.

Wilcox is basically a poor man's version of both Redick and Jamal, he doesn't do anything different (not a playmaking SG, not a defensive guy, isn't a rebounding force as a guard or something) and doesn't do anything they can do better (shooting, off ball shot creation, isolation scoring, ball handling etc). Maybe he'll surprise and explode in ability after drastically improving this off season, but so far he's not anywhere as good as the guys ahead of him and has little to no potential to be more than he is right now, so what would we be force feeding him minutes to accomplish?

[mkwest]

Los Angeles Clippers

Brought In: Brice Johnson (No. 25), David Michineau (No. 39), Diamond Stone (No. 40)

Sent Out: No. 33 (Cheick Diallo)

I'm a big fan of the Johnson pickup here for the Clippers. I think he comes in and plays an immediate role off the bench for Los Angeles next season, helping a contending team with their depth at a bargain basement price. Really solid value to get him at No. 25. I'm not a huge fan of either of the other two players the team picked up. Stone to me wreaks of a 15-minute per game player at best, especially if he can't figure out Doc Rivers defensive schemes. Michineau is an athletic point guard, but it seems unlikely to me that he ever quite makes the leap over to the NBA unless he can learn to both shoot and limit turnovers. Still, the Johnson pick was the important one, and they nailed it with flying colors.

Grade: B

Sam Vecenie, CBS Sports

Los Angeles Clippers
Round 1: Brice Johnson, PF, North Carolina (25)
Round 2: David Michineau, PG, France (39) (*via New Orleans); Diamond Stone, C, Maryland (40) (*via New Orleans)
Grade: A-

While all the pre-draft talk focused on adding perimeter scoring (with the possibility that Jamal Crawford leaves in free agency), one of the bigger factors that wasn't discussed was adding front-court depth behind DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin.

Well, the Clippers did that in spades, and the pick of Johnson is especially impressive. He's a grinder who doesn't care how many points he scores, the exact kind of player the Clippers need.

As for Stone, he's a first-round talent with a second-round attitude. But if the Clippers can keep him in line, he could be a solid rotation player for years to come.

GM Doc Rivers helped out Coach Doc Rivers big-time Thursday night.

Aaron Torres, Fox Sports

25. Los Angeles Clippers

Pick: Brice Johnson, forward, North Carolina

Grade: B

Analysis: Johnson has excellent athleticism and significant potential, but he relied more on his length and leaping ability than an all-around skill set, and he didn't take a single three-pointer during his four years with the Tar Heels. He also needs to to bulk up as Blake Griffin's backup, but he has solid value taken this late in the first round.

AJ Neuharth-Keusch and Michael Singer, USA Sports

Los Angeles Clippers

The Haul: Brice Johnson (North Carolina) at 25, David Michineau (France) at 39, Diamond Stone (Maryland) at 40.

The Clippers, as is seemingly always the case, badly need end-of-bench help from the draft to play right away, and Johnson seems to fit that mold. As is also always the case, though, he’ll only go as far as Clipper GM/coach Doc Rivers will let him, as Doc isn’t always a big fan of handing what he sees as important minutes to rookies that need confidence. Still, good value this low – especially if Stone can make the team. Despite underwhelming skills outside the paint, his rebounding numbers should hopefully transition well.

Grade: A-

Kelly Dwyer, Yahoo! Sports

25. Los Angeles Clippers
Brice Johnson, UNC
Grade: B
F | 6'9", 228 | SR.

This isn’t a big roll of the dice from the Clippers, but they could use immediate contributors given their situation, and Johnson should be able to do that. He’s athletic and can finish on the inside. If he commits to being a high-energy role player, he’ll help them. There were players with greater upside available, but it’s logical given their needs.

Jeremy Woo, Sports Illustrated

[mkwest]

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[og15]

That's pretty cool that the player he most wanted to play with is Chris Paul and now he gets to

[Ranma]

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[mkwest]

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[Ranma]

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