The Los Angeles Clippers got one of the guys they wanted by taking Brice Johnson, but the Boston Celtics’ surprise pick, Guerschon Yabusele, was their other top target in the 2016 NBA Draft.
The Boston Celtics surprised everyone enough in the 2016 NBA Draft by taking Jaylen Brown with the 3rd overall pick, rather than opting for expected favorites such as Kris Dunn or possibly even Jamal Murray. That was just the beginning, though. Trade rumors caught fire and ultimately came to nothing, while their 16th pick was even more surprising. Rather than taking a more proven commodity or consensus top talent, they opted for Geurschon Yabusele from France. It’s a move no one was expecting. In fact, he’d still have been a surprise in the first round at all, and the Los Angeles Clippers would have been the team to make such a pick.
As top small forward prospects such as Taurean Prince and DeAndre Bembry were taken off the board (both by the Atlanta Hawks) at 12 and 21, popular targets for the Clippers slipped past.
That wasn’t an issue for Doc Rivers and Co., though. It turns out that Brice Johnson was one of their two main guys, and thankfully they were able to land him with the 25th pick as intended. At 21 and coming off one of the most explosive and productive seasons in college basketball, averaging 24.2 points, 14.8 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 2.1 blocks per 40 minutes with a PER of 33, he was a talented, experience acquisition.
However, there was another guy Doc and the Clippers really wanted to see alive on the board at 25, too: it was the Frenchman Yabusele that went high to the Celtics.
Dan Woike of the Orange County Register reported Doc’s comments and the high interest in Yabusele:
"“We had a ranking and we pretty much stuck to it. Brice was the guy,” Rivers said. “We had a lot of guys on the board, but who we thought at No. 25, who would be there, the main guy we wanted to be there was Brice and one other guy.”That other guy, it turns out, was French power forward Guerschon Yabusele, who went to the Boston Celtics with the No. 16 pick."
Even at 25, Yabusele seems like a reach, not projected to be taken by DraftExpress until the 32nd overall pick.
That being said, it’s clear why the Clippers were interested for their wing and frontcourt needs. At 6’8″, Yabusele is quite the physical specimen with sound athleticism and a powerful, 270 lbs frame with only eight percent body fat, a number he trimmed down over last season as he proved his work ethic overseas with Rouen in France. He upped his intensity, focus for the game, and showed what he can do as a power forward with strong rebounding, a 42.6 percent three-point shot, and intriguing potential for a smaller big man.
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His defense could have been better due to limited lateral quickness and rim protection, but he has strength and length to compete in the post and certainly has potential to improve with the right approach.
Well, now with Brice Johnson instead, the Clippers have a taller, longer, more vertically gifted power forward with superior rebounding and shot blocking. He’s the better option over Yabusele in terms of experience and facing tougher competition, too, an asset that the Clippers need for a rookie who can contribute right away.
Yabusele would have been interesting, though. But the Clippers kept their plan to a degree by taking another Frenchman instead, in the form of the exceedingly fast and aggressive point guard David Michineau.
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Like Yabusele, both have a lot to prove in the NBA as more unknown commodities than many players selected. Center Diamond Stone, a likely first-round pick, was also taken by the Clippers at No. 40. Michineau in particular is unknown, and the Clippers will be eager to find out beyond the workouts that impressed them.