The L.A. Clippers, who own the No. 1 pick in tonight's draft, have made some rather curious draft choices over the years. Here's a look at their picks since 1980:
1980
Drafted: Michael Brooks
Still on the board: Kiki Vandeweghe, Larry Smith, Jeff Ruland, Louis Orr and Rick Mahorn
1981
Drafted: Tom Chambers
Still on the board: Rolando Blackman, Larry Nance and Danny Ainge
1982
Drafted: Terry Cummings
Still on the board: Dominique Wilkins
Note: Cummings played well and was the league’s Rookie of the Year that year, Wilkins – aka the Human Highlight Film – is in the Hall of Fame.
1983
Drafted: Byron Scott
Still on the board: Clyde Drexler
Note: Scott was eventually traded to the Lakers for an aging Norm Nixon.
1984
Drafted: Lancaster Gordon and Michael Cage
Still on the board: Kevin Willis, John Stockton and Jerome Kersey
1985
Drafted: Benoit Benjamin
Still on the board: Xavier McDaniel, Chris Mullin, Detlef Schrempf, Karl Malone, Joe Dumars, A.C. Green and Terry Porter. Not to mention John “Hot Rod’’ Williams and Gerald Wilkins.
1986
Note: Traded to Philadelphia in 1979 for Joe “Kobe’s Daddy’’ Bryant. The pick ended up being the first pick in the draft which eventually landed in Cleveland who selected Brad Daugherty). They still passed on Drazen Petrovic in the third round.
1987
Drafted: Reggie Williams, Joe Wolf and Ken Norman
Still on the board: Scottie Pippen, Kenny Smith, Derrick McKey, Horace Grant, Reggie Miller, Mark Jackson and Reggie Lewis
1988
Drafted: Danny Manning and Hersey Hawkins. In a three-way trade, the Clippers landed Charles Smith and Gary Grant and the 15th overall selection.
Still on the board: Rik Smits, Mitch Richmond, Dan Majerle and Rod Strickland.
Notes: Manning was the No. 1 pick overall and knee injuries hampered a once promising career. It could be argued that this was one of the few times the Clippers picked the right player and pulled off a good deal.
1989
Drafted: Danny Ferry
Still on the board: Sean Elliott, Glen Rice, Nick Anderson, Tim Hardaway, Shawn Kemp, Sherman Douglas and Cliff Robinson
1990
Drafted: Bo Kimble and Loy Vaught
Still on the board: Tyrone Hill, Dee Brown and Toni Kukoc
1991
Drafted: LeRon Ellis
Still on the board: Rick Fox
Note: Also had the No. 9 pick but traded to the Hawks for aging Doc Rivers. Hawks selected Stacey Augmon.
1992
Drafted: Randy Woods and Elmore Spencer
Still on the board: Latrell Sprewell
1993
Drafted: Terry Dehere
Still on the board: Sam Cassell and Nick Van Exel
1994
Drafted: Lamond Murray and Greg Minor
Still on the board: Brian Grant, Eddie Jones, Jalen Rose and Aaron McKie
1995
Drafted: Antonio McDyess
Still on the board: Rasheed Wallace and Kevin Garnett
Notes: Great pick but one that was eventually traded to Denver for Rodney Rogers.
1996
Drafted: Lorenzen Wright
Still on the board: Kobe Byrant, Predrag Stojakovic, Steve Nash, Jermaine O’Neal, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Derek Fisher
1997
Drafted: Maurice Taylor
Still on the board: Brevin Knight and Bobby Jackson
1998
Drafted: Michael Olowokandi and Brian Skinner
Still on the board: Mike Bibby, Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce
1999
Drafted: Lamar Odom
Still on the board: Andre Miller
Note: Odom was the No. 4 pick overall and was argubably the best player on the board. Clips make the right pick again.
2000
Drafted: Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson
Still on the board: Mike Miller, Jamal Crawford
Note: Miles was a huge bust but the Clippers redeemed themselves by drafting Richardson.
2001
Drafted: Tyson Chandler
Still on the board: Pau Gasol, Shane Battier, Joe Johnson, Tony Parker and Gilbert Arenas
Note: Traded Chandler to Chicago for Rookie of the Year Elton Brand. Great move.
2002
Drafted: Chris Wilcox and Melvin Ely
Still on the board: Tayshaun Prince and Carlos Boozier
2003
Drafted: Chris Kaman
Still on the board: David West
2004
Drafted: Shaun Livingston
Still on the board: Luol Deng, Andre Iguodala, Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, J.R. Smith and Trevor Ariza
Notes: At the time, you couldn’t argue with picking Livingston. It wasn’t the Clippers fault that he suffered a devastating knee injury that robbed the NBA of one of the great young guards.
2005
Drafted: Yaroslav Korolev
Still on the board: Danny Granger
2006
Note: No pick in the first round but in the second, they passed on Paul Milsap.
2007
Drafted: Al Thorton
Still on the board: Rodney Stuckey
2008
Drafted: Eric Gordon
Still on the board: Jason Thompson
---Rodney McKissic
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