LA Clippers reportedly work out small group of NBA draft prospects

Per HoopsHype’s Alex Kennedy, the LA Clippers held a pre-draft workout on Saturday that included Nevada’s Cody Martin and Buffalo’s Dontay Caruthers.

The NBA Draft is less than a month a way, and the LA Clippers have expectedly begun holding pre-draft workouts with some intriguing prospects.

To our knowledge, the LA Clippers first started holding pre-draft workouts last week, when they reportedly worked out Nick Weiler-Babb, Chris Clemons, Charles Matthews, Terry Harris (Tobias Harris’ brother), Mamadi Diakite (who has since announced he will return to Virginia) and Kenny Wooten.

On Saturday, though, the LA Clippers brought in another group of projected-second-round-to-undrafted prospects. According to HoopsHype’s Alex Kennedy, LA worked out six different players, including Nevada’s Cody Martin and Virginia Tech’s Ahmed Hill. For the sake of this article, I’ll give a brief breakdown of each player in alphabetical order by last name.

Sedrick Barefield (6-2 PG, Utah) played four years of college basketball, and three at the University of Utah, where his game really caught on. In this past season, Barefield recorded 16.8 points and 3.8 assists across 32.2 minutes per game. He was named to the All-Pac-12 Team in 2019, and connected on an impressive 38.8 percent of his 7.7 threes attempted per game. A Corona, California native, Barefield is not ranked on ESPN’s Top 100 list.

Dontay Caruthers (6-1 PG, Buffalo) doesn’t boast big offensive numbers, but was considered to be one of the best defenders in this year’s NCAA Tournament. A two-time Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Caruthers was also named to the Conference’s All-Defensive Team in two out of his three collegiate seasons. He’d probably need to develop his offensive game a bit more to find a place in the NBA or the G League, but teams always need tough defenders like Caruthers that can do the dirty work.

Ahmed Hill (6-5 SG, Virginia Tech) played four seasons in arguably the toughest conference of all of college basketball, the Atlantic Coast Conference, and started in all but 19 of 134 possible games. He’s about as gifted as a scorer as the aforementioned Barefield, scoring 13.1 points per game in his senior season and connecting on 39.1 of his 5.5 three point attempts per game. Hill does not have any All-Conference honors, and is not ranked on ESPN’s Top 100 list.

Daulton Hommes (6-8 PF, Point Loma Nazarene) is a more unorthodox prospect, but he’s proven every step of the way that he belongs in the pros. Despite playing Division II basketball, Hommes drew plenty of national attention due to his scoring ability and willingness to take on Gordon Hayward during workouts. This past season at Point Loma Nazarene University, Hommes averaged 22 points and six rebounds per game, while shooting 47 percent from three-point range in the process. He’s currently ranked No. 93 on ESPN’s Top 100 list.

Cody Martin (6-7 SF, Nevada) isn’t the shooter that his identical twin brother and teammate Caleb is, but his defensive ability — and his ability everywhere else on the floor — should make up for that. While Caleb shot an absurd 9.3 threes per game in his final season at Nevada, Cody took a comparatively mere 2.8 from range. Still, he’s currently ranked No. 70 on ESPN’s Top 100 list and will most likely be selected in the second round of the NBA Draft. Assuming he turns up the volume from deep and hits consistently, he could be a steal for whichever team gambles on him.

Dean Wade (6-10 PF, Kansas State) possesses some of the same skills that many other of these prospects seem to have in common — a consistent three-point shot and plenty of size. Wade shot 41.8 percent from range in his final season at K-State, and 44.0 percent in the year prior. The big man is also a solid rebounder, averaging 6.2 rebounds in 30 minutes per game this season. Wade is ranked No. 82 on ESPN’s Top 100 list.

Whether the LA Clippers continue with any of these prospects is unknown, but it seems they’ve got at least a solid group of guys to look at if any are still available late in the second round of the NBA Draft. Otherwise, they’d likely be good as undrafted free agent finds.