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Missing the Can’t Miss NBA Draft: An LA Clippers Story

By Benjamin Criswell

Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Brice Johnson (North Carolina) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number twenty-five overall pick to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Brice Johnson (North Carolina) greets NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number twenty-five overall pick to the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Apr 15, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; LA Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) is surrounded by Utah Jazz center Jeff Withey (24), forward Joe Ingles (2) and guard George Hill (3) as he passes off during the first half in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 15, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; LA Clippers guard Chris Paul (3) is surrounded by Utah Jazz center Jeff Withey (24), forward Joe Ingles (2) and guard George Hill (3) as he passes off during the first half in game one of the first round of the 2017 NBA Playoffs at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports /

The Middle

While the San Diego Clippers suffered during the mid-80s at the expense of other championship caliber franchises, Clipper fortune was changing towards the end of the decade. With the number overall pick in the 1988 draft, the Clippers selected Danny Manning, months removed from Kansas’ remarkable 1988 NCAA championship.

Manning’s career began slowly. He played only 26 games in his rookie year before missing the rest of the season with a knee injury. Fortunately (at the time) Clippers struggles manifested into the number 2 overall pick in the 1989 draft. Unfortunately the Clippers pick (Danny Ferry) opted to play in Italy instead of Los Angeles.

Ferry had privately voiced his discomfort with playing for the Clippers citing the team’s gluttony of forwards. Sean Elliot and Glen Rice went third and fourth in the 1989 draft. Tim Hardaway, Shawn Kemp, and Vlade Divac went 14,17, and 26th.