Clippers Select Keaton Wagler As #5 Pick in NBA Draft

Keaton Wagler looks like a good player, and I hope that he will turn out to be a difference maker for the Clippers with his range and ball handling.

Let's hope he pans out. I was certain the Clippers were going to select Brown. I'm not mad at the pick. It looks like the FO went with who could fit alongside the current guards we have.

Hope he doesn’t become another Jerome Robinson. The team went safe mode on this pick and let’s hope he blossoms.

Bro, I said this very same thing in another post. He does kind of seem similar due to that lack of athleticism. However, he could also be like Luke Kennard or Joe Ingles, a good catch and shoot deep threat. We won't know for some time. Now I just hope he plays well enough to keep himself in the lineup with the others.

Here are some positives about Wagler over Acuff or Brown. First, I watched a lot of footage of Wagler. First, he is a more natural shooter, even at the college level. Compare that to many college students, who score from the paint and take longer to develop a shot. This will probably keep him in the lineup longer, as he won't be taking hits in the paint, like Acuff. Also, when looking at Brown, he seems to be very off balance when he comes down from a shot. I've seen him fall very awkwardly on his back for trying these high speed in the paint shots. Lastly, Wagler is 6'5." You cannot teach height, and this will help him defender better. Now we have to let the process pan out.

The difference is that this guy can slide to the lead guard spot. Better passer and ball handler than either one of those guys. If he winds up shooting as well as Kennard then this is a great pick. That remains to be seen

I thought so too. When I heard that both Brown and Wagler cancelled their visit to Sacramento, I had a good idea that they got promises from the Clips and Brooklyn at 5 and 6 but it seemed like out of the two, the media seemed to hint that the Clips liked Brown more

I like this pick. We don't know how much longer Beal will play and even if he does, how effective he'll be. We don't know if Mathurin will even be back and with Garland getting hurt as much as he does, having a versatile guard can only be a good thing for this franchise

Wagler reminds me of Cade Cunningham. That similar size and playmaking.

Scoring will be TBD, because there's more nuances to scoring, and different floor spacing in the NBA vs college.

Probably, Mathurin’s minutes will be restricted with the arrival of Keaton.

That sounds reassuring. I just hope Ty Lue will find minutes for him.

Keaton won't be, or shouldn't play, heavy minutes to be honest. I think there won't be any controversy with minutes. A good range for Keaton would be 20-30 minutes per game. This would give him some exposure, but it wouldn't hurt us in the win-loss column. I understand we want to balance the minutes so that Mathurin can contribute more, but I just don't want to see Keaton on ice because the FO is trying to win games. We can do both: win games and get Wagler some exposure.

Won't lie, I was scared they were going to trade the pick for Jaylen Brown in a delusional move to convince themselves they're still in title contention. Thankfully they didn't. I love Keaton. I see a lot of Haliburton in his game. Other than Caleb Wilson, this was the perfect pick. I can't wait to watch this kid grow up.

Same here, bro. The Clippers kept throwing away draft picks after pairing PG and Kawhi together. We also gave up some first rounders for Harden in an attempt to try and go all in for this squad. The danger was very real, but as you said, I'm glad the front office resisted the temptation. It'll be a good year as Kawhi, Darius, and Benedict will be good enough to keep us in the play-in race. If we're lucky we can reach the play in and secure a 7th or 8th seed. Meanwhile, we have our eyes on the future while watching Keaton Wagler and Yanic Konan Neiderhauser develop. Hopefully, we have learned something from the PG trade fiasco. We need to stop being so cavalier with our draft picks. I'm not saying we should never include them in future trades anymore, but we should make it practice to never give away more than two for a player and allow a few years in between dealing them. For example, if we decide to trade two picks for some vet player then after the second pick is conveyed, keep a 2-3 year span where you don't deal away your picks. That way you don't hurt yourself for a generation.