Given that guards from Kentucky typically have a high success rate, the LA Clippers could have done minimal research, examined examples like De’Aaron Fox and Devin Booker, then drafted Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with the 11th pick in the 2018 draft.
The very next pick is where the Clippers failed miserably, as they believed their backcourt for the future was set in stone with Gilgeous-Alexander and Jerome Robinson, a shooting guard from Boston College.
The Clippers must only be blamed to a certain degree for selecting Robinson, a major draft bust, in the lottery, as he averaged 20.7 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in his junior season with the Eagles.
Furthermore, the Clippers’ analytics department or front office did not conduct a thorough enough evaluation of his measurements or interview answers, as Robinson was far from an NBA-ready prospect.
He was often seen in the G-League, but his dominance with the Clippers’ affiliate did not mean he would pan out as well as Gilegous-Alexander, as Robinson averaged 3.4 points, shooting 40% from the field and 31.6% from three-point land, in 34 games as a rookie.
The following offseason, the Clippers traded Gilgeous-Alexander to the Oklahoma City Thunder in one of the biggest trades in NBA history, where they hoped a mistake would not be made and that Robinson would progress in the league.
The front office was mistaken with Robinson, once again, as he regressed as a sophomore, leading to a deal at the 2020 trade deadline.
The LA Clippers’ massive 2019 draft blunder still haunts them to this day
As the greatness of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was inevitable, the LA Clippers did not mind trading him for a player like Paul George, as they placed all their marbles in Jerome Robinson, thinking he would pan out as a star.
The Clippers noticed poor trends in Robinson’s sophomore performances and traded him to the Washington Wizards in a three-team deal involving Marcus Morris Sr. on February 5th, 2020.
This move ensured his status as a draft bust, and to put the cherry on top, the idea that LA made a regretful choice by picking him 12th overall was further solidified by the fact that the Wizards waived him and he is now out of the NBA.
Gilgeous-Alexander paved his route to a superstar career with the Oklahoma City Thunder, proving that with time, their sequence to select Robinson and trade the 2025 MVP appears worse by the day.