Los Angeles Clippers Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Pelicans Acquire No. 33, Select Cheick Diallo

June 23rd, 2016 at 10:13pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans have moved up six spots in the draft, sending the Nos. 39 and 40 selections to the Clippers in exchange for the No. 33 pick, reports Dan Woike of The Orange County Register (via Twitter). With the newly acquired pick, New Orleans selected Kansas big man Cheick Diallo.

Diallo, a 6’9″ freshman out of Senegal, was projected as a late first-rounder. He was ranked 24th by ESPN’s Chad Ford and DraftExpress’ Jonathan Givony on their lists of the top 100 prospects.

Diallo averaged just 7.5 minutes of playing time at Kansas, scoring 2.5 points per night and grabbing 1.9 rebounds. He is known as an excellent defender and rebounder, but needs to develop an offensive game.

Draft Rumors — Morning: Maker, Young, Hawes

June 23rd, 2016 at 8:36am CST by Eddie Scarito

The 2016 NBA Draft is mere hours away and trade chatter is likely to ramp up significantly as the event nears. Here’s the latest rumors and notes from around the league:

A number of teams have ruled out selecting Thon Maker in the first round over concerns that his age has been misrepresented, Jake Fischer of Liberty Ballers tweets. Multiple league sources tell Fischer they believe Maker to be 21-23 years of age, while he is officially listed as being just 19-years-old.
The Hornets are offering the No. 22 overall pick as a sweetener if teams will take the contracts of Spencer Hawes or Jeremy Lamb off their hands via trade, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical relays (via Twitter). Charlotte wants to clear cap room to aid it in pursuing free agents this offseason, Wojnarowski adds.
Several Western Conference teams have been aggressively pursuing Nets forward Thaddeus Young, who Brooklyn is looking to deal to the highest bidder in an effort to land a first round pick, Wojnarowski tweets.
Teams picking after the Grizzlies, who own the No. 17 overall pick, believe Memphis is split between selecting Malachi Richardson and Malik Beasley, Fischer tweets.
The Hawks have contacted teams drafting in the late teens of the first round offering to trade back from No. 12 overall in exchange for an established rotation player, Fischer relays (on Twitter).
The Clippers have made calls to teams owning first-rounders in the mid to late teens and are offering up the No. 25 and No. 33 overall picks in return, Fischer tweets.

Clippers Look To Add Bench Depth Via Draft

June 21st, 2016 at 7:55pm CST by Eddie Scarito

While the Clippers are expected to look to fill their most glaring roster needs via free agency, coach/executive Doc Rivers has two draft picks to work with for the first time in his tenure with the team and will look to add bench depth with them, Ben Bolch of The Los Angeles Times writes.

UNLV Guard McCaw Works Out For Clippers

June 20th, 2016 at 10:30pm CST by Dana Gauruder

UNLV shooting guard Patrick McCaw was among the players who worked out for the Clippers on Monday, according to the team’s website. McCaw is a potential late first-round pick, ranked No. 28 by ESPN Insider Chad Ford and No. 29 by Draft Express’ Jonathan Givony. Other notables included a trio of forwards, Kentucky’s Alex Poythress, Iowa’s Jarrod Uthoff and Maryland’s Jake Layman.

Pacific Notes: Walton, Rondo, Cousins, Clippers

June 19th, 2016 at 7:25pm CST by Arthur Hill

Luke Walton has managed to stay focused on his duties as lead assistant with the Warriors, even as his head coaching job with the Lakers awaits, writes Marc Berman of The New York Post. Walton had his first interview on April 18th — more than two months ago — when he had a phone conversation with Knicks president Phil Jackson. “Luke is a real loyal guy,” said fellow Golden State assistant Ron Adams. “And he’s real loyal to the Golden State Warriors — has been since he was named coach of the Lakers. It might be hard for people to understand that. I would say he’s atypical in that regard. A lot of people, if a team would’ve allowed what the Lakers allowed, I think [the person] would’ve been more fixated on that team than this team. That’s not Luke. That’s not what Luke has been.” Walton will coach his final game with the Warriors tonight, then will likely be introduced as the Lakers’ new coach later this week.

There’s more from the Pacific Division:

Kings point guard Rajon Rondo pronounced himself fully healthy as he prepares for his second straight year of free agency, according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. Rondo signed a one-year deal with Sacramento last summer, which gave him a first-hand view of the turmoil in the organization, especially between DeMarcus Cousins and former coach George Karl. “Obviously it didn’t go the way we wanted it as an exit [missing the playoffs], but I was able to bounce back, I believe,” Rondo said. “I am very healthy. I’ve been working extremely hard on my body and my game. I’m 30 years old and I feel great.” Rondo’s numbers had declined since tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament in 2013, but he bounced back to average 11.9 points and 11.7 assists per game this season.
Cousins’ younger brother, Jaleel, worked out for the Kings on Saturday, according to James Jones of The Sacramento Bee. The 6-11, 250-pound center was a senior this season at South Florida.
Dee Brown and Pat Sullivan have emerged as assistant coaching candidates with the Clippers, tweets Marc Stein of ESPN.com. Kevin Eastman, a longtime assistant to Doc Rivers, announced his retirement earlier this week.
The Clippers will hold two workouts Monday, tweets Rowan Kavner of Clippers.com. The morning session will feature Alabama’s Retin Obasohan, Miami’s Sheldon McClellan, Kentucky’s Alex Poythress, Maryland’s Jake Layman, Villanova’s Daniel Ochefu and UNLV’s Stephen Zimmerman. Working out in the afternoon will be Tulsa’s James Woodard, West Virginia’s Jaysean Page, UNLV’s Patrick McCaw, Louisiana’s Alex Hamilton, SMU’s Markus Kennedy and Iowa’s Jared Uthoff.

Clippers May Have Promise For Bentil

June 19th, 2016 at 9:04am CST by Arthur Hill

Providence power forward Ben Bentil has a draft promise late in the first round, according to NBADraft.net (Twitter link). The Clippers, who hold the 25th selection, are mentioned as a possibility because of their connection with Friars assistant coach God Shammgod.

Clippers Work Out Russ Smith

June 18th, 2016 at 9:53pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Russ Smith, who averaged 27.8 point per game in the D-League this past season, has worked out for the Nuggets, Blazers and Clippers, Alex Kennedy of Basketball Insiders passes along (Twitter link).

Poll: 2016 Community Mock Draft (Pick No. 25)

June 18th, 2016 at 11:50am CST by Eddie Scarito

The results of the 2016 NBA Draft lottery are in and the Sixers finally landed the elusive No. 1 overall pick after missing out the past two seasons. Now that the exact draft order is locked in, teams can begin targeting specific players who are likely to still be on the board when it is their time to choose. Drafting players is far from an exact science, and many a GM has been second-guessed for his draft night decisions. I’m willing to bet that every team executive has at least one pick that he would like a mulligan for. We at Hoops Rumors thought it would be fun to give our readers the chance to predict the results of this June’s draft, which is what we are doing with a series of polls.

We are now well on our way to completing the first round and have come to the Clippers. Readers, you are now on the clock! Cast your vote for Los Angeles’ selection and check back Sunday for the results, as well as to cast your vote for who the Sixers will select with the No. 26 overall pick. But don’t limit yourself to a simple button click. Take to the comments section below and share your thoughts on the No. 25 overall pick and why you voted the way that you did.

Sixers — Ben Simmons (LSU)
Lakers — Brandon Ingram (Duke)
Celtics — Dragan Bender (Maccabi Tel Aviv)
Suns — Jaylen Brown (California)
Timberwolves — Buddy Hield (Oklahoma)
Pelicans — Kris Dunn (Providence)
Nuggets — Jamal Murray (Kentucky)
Kings — Henry Ellenson (Marquette)
Raptors — Marquese Chriss (Washington)
Bucks — Jakob Poeltl (Utah)
Magic — Skal Labissiere (Kentucky)
Jazz — Denzel Valentine (Michigan State)
Suns — Domantas Sabonis (Gonzaga)
Bulls — Deyonta Davis (Michigan State)
Nuggets — Timothe Luwawu (Mega Leks)
Celtics — Thon Maker (Australia)
Grizzlies — Wade Baldwin (Vanderbilt)
Pistons — Tyler Ulis (Kentucky)
Nuggets — Furkan Korkmaz (Anadolu Efes)
Pacers — Demetrius Jackson (Notre Dame)
Hawks — Taurean Prince (Baylor)
Hornets — Brice Johnson (North Carolina)
Celtics — Malachi Richardson (Syracuse)
Sixers — Malik Beasley (Florida State)

With the No. 25 Overall Pick, the Clippers Select...

DeAndre Bembry (St. Joe's) 23.03% (219 votes)

Dejounte Murray (Washington) 16.40% (156 votes)

Cheick Diallo (Kansas) 11.46% (109 votes)

Diamond Stone (Maryland) 5.99% (57 votes)

Zhou Qi (China) 5.36% (51 votes)

Wayne Selden (Kansas) 5.36% (51 votes)

Caris LeVert (Michigan) 5.15% (49 votes)

Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia) 4.94% (47 votes)

Juan Hernangomez (Spain) 4.84% (46 votes)

Stephen Zimmerman (UNLV) 4.31% (41 votes)

Ante Zizic (Croatia) 3.15% (30 votes)

Damian Jones (Vanderbilt) 2.42% (23 votes)

Patrick McCaw (UNLV) 2.31% (22 votes)

Chinanu Onuaku (Louisville) 1.58% (15 votes)

A.J. Hammons (Purdue) 1.37% (13 votes)

Guerschon Yabusele (Rouen) 1.05% (10 votes)

Robert Carter (Maryland) 0.63% (6 votes)

Isaia Cordinier (France) 0.53% (5 votes)

Petr Cornelie (Le Mans) 0.11% (1 votes)

Total Votes: 951

For Trade Rumors app users: [Direct Link]

Clippers Part Ways With Dave Severns

June 16th, 2016 at 8:00pm CST by Eddie Scarito

The Clippers are parting ways with assistant coach for player development Dave Severns, Dan Woike of The Orange County Register relays (via Twitter).

John Welch Close To Joining Coaching Staff

June 15th, 2016 at 9:27pm CST by Eddie Scarito

Former Sacramento assistant coach John Welch and the Clippers are in the process of finalizing a deal that will see him join Doc Rivers‘ coaching staff, Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical reports (Twitter link).
The Clippers have workouts set for Thursday with Wayne Selden (Kansas), Isaiah Whitehead (Seton Hall), Brandon Austin (NW Florida State), Perry Ellis (Kansas), Kaleb Tarczewski and Tonye Jekiri (Miami), Dan Woike of The Orange County Register tweets.