2015 NBA Draft: Breaking down the Clippers’ top targets

Center/Power forward Brad Waldow of St Mary’s

Waldow, similarly to White, is mainly valued as an offensive weapon. He’s more than capable as a rebounder, but lacks the kind of agility and length to be effective when protecting the rim and only recorded 0.7 blocks per game this season. However, he may still be a possible option if other big men aren’t available — simply because he’s too skilled to be completely overlooked.

Here’s an extract from my breakdown (that you can read here) of Waldow, discussing his skill as a scorer:

“Other than the fact he has a great name (hopefully “where’s Waldow?” “He’s getting buckets” will catch on if he makes the NBA) he has a skill set that could certainly help the Clippers. Waldow was the main man with St Mary’s and even finished this year at 5th in the West Coast Conference in usage percentage (29.5). And as a result of his large playing time (1st in the WCC with 34.5 minutes per game) and importance to his offense, Waldow has developed as a talented big man.

More than anything, that talent comes as a scorer.

Before even addressing his excellent efficiency, the sheer volume of Waldow’s scoring this year separates him from so many other rookie prospects. Especially those not considered to be first-round-worthy. His 19 points per game this season were good enough for 2nd in the WCC, and combined with his Conference leading field goal percentage of 55.8, he was able to finish ranked 8th in offensive rating with 118.2.

Waldow can also get to the free throw line when opponents fail to guard him in the post and end up fouling (he had 5.9 attempts from the charity stripe last year) and, from time to time, he’s surprisingly quick at breaking out in transition. Yet the main source of his offensive impact comes through his low-post moves and reliable hook shot.”

Yet, regardless of how good Waldow may be offensively, the Clippers must prioritize selecting a defensive big man instead if they can enter the 2015 NBA draft.