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LA draft history: Ranking every #12 overall pick

By Hans Themistode

NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 21: Miles Bridges reacts after being drafted 12th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2018 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 21, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 21: Miles Bridges reacts after being drafted 12th overall by the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2018 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center on June 21, 2018 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images) /
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Surprisingly, despite spending decades picking high in the lottery, the LA Clippers have never held the number 10 or 11 picks. But regardless of those gaps, the Clippers have held the number 12 pick a total of three times.

Although LA’s brain trust has done their due diligence, their draft days have been an absolute mess when given that selection. Spoiler alert, roughly every number 12 pick made by the Clippers was horrific. Well, with the exception of one player in particular. Still, it wasn’t a happy ending.

Let’s take a look at some of the blunders LA has made with the number 12 pick.

3. Yaroslav Korolev

LA Clippers stats: 1.1 ppg, 0.5 rpg, 0.0 bpg

Yaroslav Korolev was a gifted big man. In fact, he was a bit ahead of his time. Standing at 6’10” and weighing roughly 203 pounds, Korolev didn’t have the physicality to deal with some of the bruising big men in the league during the mid-2000s. He was, however, a more than capable 3-point shooter.

Taken with the 12th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, LA attempted to foster Korolev’s development in the hopes that he would become a future star. Their lofty expectations of him, nevertheless, never came to fruition.

Korolev struggled in the league the moment he stepped foot onto an NBA court. At the incredibly young age of 18, Korolev managed a scoring average of just 1.1 points per game in his rookie season. On the offensive end, things didn’t get much better in year two, increasing his scoring output ever so slightly to 1.2 points per game.

After two frustrating seasons, Korolev returned to Russia, playing in his native land and leaving the NBA behind him for good.