2018 NBA Mock Draft: Knicks go big with Mo Bamba
12. player. 77. . G. Kentucky. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Los Angeles will have to settle for whomever falls past Charlotte, assuming the Hornets under new general manager Mitch Kupchak choose to take a point guard to eventually replace Kemba Walker. This week, I’ll imagine what happens if the Hornets choose Sexton.
Gilgeous-Alexander surely fits the mold the Clippers have gone toward since trading Blake Griffin — long, versatile guys who can play multiple positions and bring several skills on offense. If the Clippers keep Tobias Harris and De’Andre Jordan, they will be able to put together lineups with Gilgeous-Alexander that could be effective on both ends. Gilgeous-Alexander will be able to come in and create open shots for his teammates early in his career, though his own offense may be difficult to develop.
The other factor here is that while I’ve been assuming Los Angeles spends one of its two first-rounders on a point guard to replace the glut of veterans they’ve used the past two seasons, it may not happen that way. Maybe neither of Gilgeous-Alexander or Sexton is available by that point, or the Clippers are content with their current rotation of Milos Teodosic, Patrick Beverley and Juwan Evans.
All things considered, getting a primary creator early in a rebuild is too exciting a possibility for me to pass up if I’m the Clippers.