While the LA Clippers have the outline of a team that should be in the middle of the 2025 Western Conference standings, they needed to bolster the developmental corps. The first opportunity to do that came in the 2024 NBA Draft, where the Clippers selected one of the youngest prospects available in Minnesota small forward Cam Christie with the 46th pick.
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Christie won’t turn 19 until after the Las Vegas Summer League that begins Friday for the Clippers, and he is signed to a four-year deal using the second-round pick exception. He needs all the time he can get. At 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds, Christie needs to add strength to his frame to be effective on both ends of the floor. Christie is billed as a shooter, but his growth areas include being better as a playmaker and as a finisher.
The encouraging sign early on is that Christie knows this. He is the younger brother of Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Max Christie, who just re-signed to a four-year contract after being a 2022 second-round pick out of Michigan State. And the Clippers are encouraging Christie to be himself.
“I am 18, I’m super young compared to a lot of other guys on the team or in the league,” Christie said Sunday. “But I’m not letting that deter me. I’m just staying confident in who I am, knowing that I’m a great shooter and knowing that I’m just a good basketball player in general, and just kind of being comfortable with who I am.”
Christie represents an interesting pivot point in where the Clippers are from a developmental standpoint. He’s the only drafted rookie, but he isn’t exactly the present. He’s the future of the Clippers, and he provides insight into the past.
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I mentioned last month that Christie has the same dimensions as Joshua Primo, a 2021 lottery pick by the San Antonio Spurs whom the Clippers spent just over six months trying to develop before he was injured and then waived to make room for Kai Jones in April. But on this roster, Christie is the new version of Brandon Boston Jr. In a way, Boston provides Christie (and the Clippers) a cautionary tale.
The Clippers had the NBA’s oldest roster last season for the third time in eight seasons. They retained Kawhi Leonard and James Harden but parted ways with Paul George to end the 213 era. In 2017, when the Clippers elevated Lawrence Frank to president of basketball operations, they started the process of moving on from the Lob City era led by Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan. In 2021, the Clippers were coming off of the franchise’s only conference finals appearance but had to prepare for a season without Leonard due to surgery to repair a torn ACL.
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Boston was one of the Clippers’ three draft picks in 2021. He lasted the longest and showed promise with his scoring ability despite turning 20 during his rookie season. Boston improved enough behind the scenes in his second season to earn a graduation from summer league last year, which wasn’t the case for fellow 2021 second-round pick Jason Preston.
But Boston’s third season saw his development stall, as his momentum toward a rotation spot was interrupted in training camp by left quadriceps tendinopathy and he struggled to make shots or make the right play in the rare instances when he got minutes. The Clippers declined to make Boston a restricted free agent, and he will not return for a fourth season; the team’s only draft pick selected after Blake Griffin in 2009 to play a fourth season with the franchise has been Terance Mann, a second-rounder in 2019 who is still on the roster. (An honorable mention goes to Amir Coffey, who also finished his fifth season with the Clippers after being undrafted in 2019 out of Minnesota.)
Like Boston, 2021 first-round pick Keon Johnson was a one-and-done wing, selected 21st. Johnson lasted 135 minutes with the Clippers before getting thrown in a trade that brought Norman Powell and Robert Covington to LA in February 2022. Johnson will be in summer league against the Clippers as a member of the Brooklyn Nets, whom Johnson played with last season on a two-way contract. Preston will be in summer league with the Utah Jazz, whom Preston finished last season with on a two-way contract.
“I’m going to try to learn as much as I can from them” -Cam Christie on having Kawhi & James as teammates pic.twitter.com/6cAiCiHJDZ
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) July 8, 2024
While Christie is on an expanded timeline, the clock ticks a bit louder for 2023 picks Kobe Brown and Jordan Miller. Frank mentioned both as players he was looking forward to seeing this summer, and those three join Christie as featured players on a summer league roster coached by assistant Dahntay Jones.
Brown, the 30th pick last year, is the only first-rounder on LA’s summer roster. Brown, who turns 25 on New Year’s Day, only got a combined 12 possessions last year as a scorer in isolation, post-ups, and out of ball screens, per Synergy. He attempted only two free throws in 394 minutes as a rookie. The only players who attempted two free throws or fewer last season while playing more minutes than Brown were 40 percent 3-point shooters Jacob Gilyard (two free throws in 699 minutes) and Reggie Bullock (one free throw in 417 minutes); Brown shot only 29.2 percent from 3 as a rookie.
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With Leonard’s durability concerns and the advanced age of 16-year veteran Nicolas Batum, Brown has an opportunity to be a part of the rotation at power forward. He has to show that he can make the right decisions on the ball, be more aggressive in using his 250-pound frame, make shots, and defend without fouling.
“We’re not the biggest team, but we’re going to be one of the faster teams, be able to hit shots,” Brown said Sunday. “Everybody can play, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Miller expressed to The Athletic in January that he wants “a chance to earn rotation minutes” even though he is on a two-way contract that extends into his second season. Like Brown, Miller will be 25 next January. The 48th pick in the 2023 draft, Miller doesn’t have the benefit of time like Christie to change his body as part of reaching his potential. Miller is listed at 6-foot-5, 194 pounds despite playing power forward at the University of Miami, and while his 7-foot wingspan allows him to guard up a position or two, the Clippers are trying to get him more comfortable with the ball in his hands. Dahntay Jones also wants Miller to make a strong impact defensively this summer while teaching him how to “magnify our current set of talent.”
“Jordan has a bright future, and Jordan works extremely hard,” Jones said. “I’m going to challenge him defensively to guard a lot of different positions. Challenge him on defense how to play harder than he’s ever had to play before, try to put him in different positions to show how good of a basketball player he is.”
While Miller is still on a two-way contract, the same can’t be said for 2022 second-round pick Moussa Diabaté, who was not given a qualifying offer and is an unrestricted free agent. Despite that, Diabaté will not only be with the Clippers for summer league, but he is also the only true center on the roster.
Frank mentioned Diabaté, Brown, Miller and Kai Jones as players he wants to put “pressure on the coaching staff to get in the rotation.” Kai Jones would have been on the summer league roster, but he has an ankle injury. While he remains in the Clippers’ plans and will be signed to a non-guaranteed minimum contract to compete for a spot in training camp, Diabaté will get the majority of the reps at center this month.
Christie, Brown, Miller and Diabaté should be four of the five summer league starters. The fifth spot is up for grabs, and the Clippers have four players on the roster who could be point guard options:
- RayJ Dennis, an undrafted rookie out of Baylor who was the 2023 MAC Player of the Year at Toledo and a 2024 All-Big-12 selection
- Elijah Harkless, who played for the Ontario Clippers in the G League last season
- Trevor Hudgins, who spent the 2022-23 season on a two-way contract with the Houston Rockets
- Amari Bailey, the 41st pick of the 2023 draft and a former Sierra Canyon and UCLA product
While I believe Dennis is the favorite to start since he is the best pure passer of the group, all four guards can make a case to get a look. Harkless is arguably the strongest defender, while Hudgins is arguably the best shooter. But Bailey was a top-10 recruit going into UCLA and arguably has the biggest upside since he won’t be 21 until next February. The only developmental point guard on the roster is former Nuggets 2021 first-round pick Bones Hyland, who would have welcomed a trade in February and is questionable at best to return to the Clippers for the last season of his rookie contract. Bailey in particular has a chance to make a case for an extended look as a potential two-way contract addition.
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“He can play multiple positions, he can guard multiple positions,” Dahntay Jones said of Bailey, who only played 65 minutes as a rookie with the Charlotte Hornets. “He has another level to himself, and he has to believe in that. We believe in him. We’re gonna put him in different positions to highlight his talents on the ball, off the ball. Defensively, we’re going to challenge him to try to be a menace out there, and I think he’s capable of doing that.”
Undrafted rookie teenage small forward Trentyn Flowers from the Adelaide 36ers, Australian power forward Josh Bannan out of Montana and 6-foot-4 NBA veteran Terry Taylor round out the initial summer league roster. Wins and losses won’t be the primary item to judge summer league play on, an event that will have plenty of bad shots and bad decisions. The Clippers won’t have the most talent or size, but Dahntay Jones is looking to have his young group play the right way and with the right energy.
“They’re going to make mistakes, but we just have to just work with them and just try and be as positive as possible,” Jones said. “What we do this summer is going to be the base of what our basketball team is going to be based around. And that’s playing hard defensively, communicating, and then making each other better. Bringing positive energy on a daily basis.”
(Photo of Kobe Brown: Harry How / Getty Images)
