Clippers might make a deal to get a pick
Rivers said the team is potentially more interested in a second- round choice, if it can purchase one.
The Clippers are the only NBA team without a pick in the draft Thursday evening in New York, but there’s a chance they won’t come home empty- handed.
The team is considering buying or trading its way into the draft, a league executive said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly comment on possible moves. The Clippers worked out a number of prospects at their training facility in the last month and were intrigued by a handful of players.
Doc Rivers, the Clippers coach and president of basketball operations, recently said his team would more probably be interested in acquiring a second- round pick be- cause those players do not require a three- year f inancial commitment like their first- round counterparts.
The Clippers currently have only eight players under contract for next season and are facing severe salarycap restrictions regardless of whether they re- sign center DeAndre Jordan. Acquiring a second- round pick could help them cheaply fill a roster spot while satisfying needs to get younger.
The Lakers have bought a couple of second- round picks in recent years, with mixed success. They paid the Dallas Mavericks $ 500,000 in 2012 for shooting guard Darius JohnsonOdom, the 55th selection, who went on to play three games with the Lakers before being waived.
The Lakers had far more success last year when they paid the Washington Wizards $ 1.8 million for the rights to point guard Jordan Clarkson, the 46th pick in the draft, who went on to be named to the NBA’s all- rookie first team.
The Clippers do not have a pick because they sent their f irst- round selection to the Boston Celtics as part of Rivers’ agreement to join the Clippers in June 2013 and their second- round pick is headed to the Denver Nuggets to complete a 2009 trade for center Cheikh Samb.