9. Chris Wilcox (#8, 2002) - A fine young high schooler named Amar'e Stoudamire was sitting on the board, but Chris Wilcox proved too tempting. The Suns, wisely snatched Amar'e up with the following pick and the rest is back-up power forward/center history. Caron Butler was also sitting on the board after a stellar career at UConn, where he was named Big East player of the year.
8. Danny Ferry (#2, 1989) - I think Danny knew what he was in for when the Clippers took him with the 2nd overall pick in 1989. So much so, that he refused to play for them. One could say that Danny Ferry paved the way for Eric Lindros and Eli Manning to be big whiny cry babies and refuse to play for the team that drafted them. (Yeah...that;s him. The bald guy taking it from Shaq.)
7. Bo Kimble (#8, 1990) - A stellar college talent that as soon as he donned the red and white, stunk up every joint he played in.
6. Darius Miles (#3, 2000) - Granted the 2000 draft wasn't the deepest, Darius Miles was essentially a bust. After 2 marginal seasons with the Clip Show, he went on to have a mediocre, injury riddled career filled with controversy. He basically established himself as a suspect individual who never lived up to the hype. He gets bonus points for a cameo in National Lampoons: Van Wilder, as you guessed it, a basketball player.
5. Reggie Williams (#4, 1987) - Why do you draft these guys if you're just gonna ship 'em out after 2 years? Reggie Williams was progressing nicely each year with the Clips, but they shipped him out along with crybaby #1, Danny Ferry. Williams did end up having a decent slew of seasons, with the Nuggets, where he went by "Silk"...How're u gonna get rid of a guy named Silk?!!!!?. Scottie Pippen and Reggie Miller were also on the board when the Clips took Silk.
4. Yaroslav Korolev (#12, 2005) - When the Clippers' pick came up in 2005, Danny Granger, was still available, seemingly left there as a gift to the Clippers. "Here. Draft me. Everyone else has passed on me so far for some unknown reason, but you guys really need a player of my caliber, so they left me there for you." But did the Clippers take Granger and the 18.8 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.1 steals, 2.0 blocks and .524 fg% that he had in his senior season in New Mexico? Nope, Mike Dunleavy fulfilled some promise he made to Korolev's dad or some other dude he met in Eastern Europe and took Korolev. It was well understood that Korolev was a "project", who was at least 2 years away from producing at the NBA level. We're not talking the San Antonio Spurs here, we're talking the LA Clippers, a team that in no way, shape or form has been in a position to have the luxury of drafting a "project". Korolev, of course, is out of the league now after scoring a couple of baskets in practice that one time with the Clippers and went back to Russia. The Clippers didn't need the "project" that was Yaroslav Korolev. They needed Danny Granger.
3. Shaun Livingston (#4, 2004) - Wow...this just gets worse. In 2004, The Clippers wanted a point guard. Devin Harris was on the board after completing an illustrious 3-year career at Wisconsin and being named the Big Ten Player of the year. But they chose another "project" type player in Shaun Livingston. I remember my buddy Ben and I used to argue about the merits of Livingston over Harris. Ben contended that Livingston was the right pick, because of his tremendous upside. I on the other hand, said that just by looking at Livingston's gangly, skinny body, you could tell that he wasn't physically ready for the NBA. On February 26, 2007, Ben finally conceded that I was right when Livingston gave us one of sports most gruesome injuries (here's a link): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1VLN2dlbV0.
2. Benoit Benjamin (#3, 1985) - As heard in the 1985 Clippers war room: "Alright guys, Ewing's off the board...Should we take this Chris Mullin guy from St.John's? Nah. What about this kid Karl Malone? Nah, he'll never amount to anything (Malone went on to become the 2nd all-time scorer in NBA history). How about Joe Dumars? He did just crack the top 10 all-time NCAA scoring list? Well..Benoit Benjamin's a seven footer. Where'd he go to college? Creighton....Ok...let's get him!" To the Clippers, passing up a 7-footer is about as hard for Al Davis and the Raiders to pass up a guy with 4.25 forty time, regardless of how poor his basic skills of the sport are....
1. Michael Olowokandi (#1, 1998) - Finally! The first overall pick for the Clippers! In probably the deepest draft of all-time, the Clippers chose Michael Olowakandi from University of the Pacific in the Powerhouse Big West conference. "The Kandi Man" had only played a few years of organized basketball, so he too had HUGE upside, that the Clippers just couldn't pass up. They could've taken...are you ready for this list? Dirk Nowitzki, Paul Pierce, Vince Carter, Mike Bibby, Antawn Jamison and even "Tractor" Traylor. Instead, they went with The Kandi Man, who just like to Clippers reverted to the party line of mediocrity and usual shitiness.
The Candy Man Can
The Kandi Man Kan'tWelp....That't it. The Clippers look like they're a a year or two away from being a good team, as usual. While I did have fun going to some of their playoff games with my Clipper fan roommates that one time when they actually made it to the playoffs, they have no idea what to do when it comes to drafting players. In the meantime, all the Clipper fans and Clipper nation can do is hope:
Very interesting Spinelli. But this top nine begs the question, "who the fuck cares?"
ReplyDeleteAbout the clippers I mean.
Danny Ferry was a genius. No on can tell you that you can only work for one employer. You can work for any one you want provided you can get hired. Why should it be ok for the NBA and the Clippers to tell him where and for whom he should work?
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