Five second-round prospects the LA Clippers could add in the 2019 Draft

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COLUMBIA, SC – MARCH 24: Aubrey Dawkins #15 of the UCF Knights reacts to the action against the Duke Blue Devils in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament held at Colonial Life Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/NCAA Photos via Getty Images) /

Aubrey Dawkins, SG-SF, UCF

2018-2019 statistics: 15.6 PTS, 5.0 REB, 1.4 AST

If you watched the UCF Golden Knights nearly upset Zion Williamson and the Duke Blue Devils in this year’s NCAA Tournament, then there’s a good chance you remember Aubrey Dawkins, who led the charge against the nation’s top team.

In that 77-76 defeat, Dawkins matched Williamson’s game-high 32 points (on less field goal attempts) and scored 14 of those points in the second half. He made shot after shot to keep UCF alive in the second half, but ultimately missed the potential game-winning follow at the rim, which ended up going viral on Twitter.

Dawkins finished the game shooting 12-of-18 from the floor and 5-of-7 from deep, marks that were only slightly above his percentages recorded in his final season of college ball. In 33 games at UCF, he converted 46 percent of his looks from the floor and 40 from deep on 5.5 attempts per game. Moreover, he connected on nearly 84 percent of his free throw attempts this past season, albeit on a small number of attempts.

His high-volume shooting from three-point range is likely the biggest thing that any NBA team will want to translate to the next level, but Dawkins is far more than a spot-up shooter.

Dawkins is an elite scorer from all ranges, and is very capable of going on personal runs and handling the ball. He’s also a strong, pesky defender and is long enough to keep taller players busy on both ends of the floor. One of the only downsides is his age — he just celebrated his 24th birthday on Wednesday.

Under the advisement of guys like Lou Williams and Garrett Temple (assuming the LA Clippers bring him back), Dawkins could flourish with LA’s second and third units, and with his size and length, could easily play and defend multiple positions.

Dawkins is currently projected to go in the mid-to-late 50s (again, mostly because of his age), so the Clippers shouldn’t have issue selecting him with one of their two second-round picks.

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