featured-image

Clippers’ 2016 Summer League Team Breakdown

LOS ANGELES – Clippers fans won’t need to wait long to see last week’s draft picks in action.

First-round selection Brice Johnson and second-round selections David Michineau and Diamond Stone will join C.J. Wilcox and Branden Dawson as part of the Clippers’ 2016 Southwest Airlines Pro Summer League team in Orlando.

It’s the second straight year the Clippers will participate in the league, which runs July 2-8 at Amway Center. Here’s a look at each of the 13 players on the team this summer for the Clippers.

  • C.J. Wilcox (#30) | G | 6’5” | 195 | Washington

The 2014 first-round pick played in 23 games last season, averaging three points in 7.3 minutes per game with the Clippers. He finished the regular season on a high note, tallying a career-high 19 points in a career-high 29 minutes April 13 at Phoenix. Wilcox also played 14 games for the Canton Charge and seven games for the Bakersfield Jam in the D-League, averaging 18.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists with the former and 19.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists with the latter.

  • Branden Dawson (#22) | F | 6’6” | 225 | Michigan St.

The Clippers traded into the second round last year for Branden Dawson, and the forward appeared in six games for the Clippers. The majority of his rookie season was spent in the NBA Development League, where he appeared in eight games for Erie, 14 games for Grand Rapids and six games for Bakersfield. Dawson averaged 19.9 points and 8.4 rebounds at Erie, 6.7 points and 3.6 rebounds at Grand Rapids and 6.3 points and 3.8 rebounds at Bakersfield.

  • Brice Johnson(#10) | F | 6’10” | 230 | North Carolina | Player Profile

The Clippers’ first-round pick in the 2016 NBA Draft at No. 25 overall, Johnson averaged 17 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.5 blocks per game as a senior at North Carolina. He also showed nice form from the line, hitting a career-high 78.3 percent of his free throws last season. Johnson’s athleticism should be on full display at Summer League, as he’s capable of some highlight material when he gets near the rim. And, after setting a single-season record with the Tar Heels with 416 rebounds last year, he should be able to demonstrate his skill on the glass.

The No. 39 overall selection in this year’s draft, Michineau had the size, speed and defensive potential at the point guard spot to attract the Clippers’ attention. He had a strong EuroCamp and spent the last three seasons playing with ES Chalon-Sur-Saone in France, averaging 4.2 points and 1.3 assists per game.

Stone, who went No. 40 overall this year, averaged 12.5 points and 5.4 rebounds per game. At just 19 years old, there’s plenty of reason to like the upside of the young center. It’s his offensive game that stood out in particular at Maryland, where he scored as many as 39 points in a game in his lone season with the team. Stone, who helped get Maryland to the Sweet 16, was named the AP Big Ten Newcomer of the Year. He recorded three 20-plus point games and scored in double digits in 26 of his 35 games.

  • Andrew Andrews(#2) | G | 6’2” | 200 | Washington

His teammates Marquese Chris and Dejounte Murray were both first-round picks in the 2016 NBA Draft, yet it was the undrafted Andrews who led Washington in both scoring average and assists average last season. Andrews, the Huskies’ captain, led the Pac-12 in scoring and was named to the Pac-12 All-Conference First Team, averaging 20.9 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game while hitting 40.1 percent of his 3-pointers, all career highs for the senior standout who was Wilcox’s college teammate for two years.

  • Alex Hamilton(#20) | G | 6’4” | 195 | Louisiana Tech

Hamilton was among the last group of pre-draft workout players for the Clippers. He appeared in 140 games for Louisiana Tech, earning Conference USA Player of the Year honors last season and finishing his career as the all-time winningest player in program history. Hamilton averaged 19.8 points, 6.2 assists, 5.7 rebounds and two steals per game his senior year and is stronger attacking the rim and getting to the line than shooting from the perimeter.

  • Vince Hunter(#24) | F | 6’8” | 205 | UTEP

A D-League All-Star last season, Hunter played at UTEP for two seasons from 2013-15, averaging 14.9 points and 9.2 rebounds per game in his final year. He went undrafted in 2015, and after bouncing from Philadelphia to Sacramento in summer league and preseason ended up going to Reno Bighorns in the D-League in November 2015. Hunter averaged 21.8 points and 11.3 rebounds per game in 32 games for Reno.

  • Royce O'Neale(#15) | F | 6’6” | 215 | Baylor

O’Neale played four seasons at Baylor, most recently in 2014-15, when he averaged 10.1 points, 5.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, shooting better than 43 percent from behind the arc each of his final two seasons with the Bears. After playing with Boston in Summer League last season, O’Neale then played professionally in Germany for MHP Riesen Ludwigsburg. Between the BBL and Eurocup, O’Neale averaged 8.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game.

  • Greg Stiemsma(#54) | C | 6’11” | 260 | Wiconsin

The lone NBA veteran on the team other than Wilcox and Dawson, Stiemsma’s bounced around the NBA the last few years, playing for Rivers and the Celtics in 2011-12, Minnesota in 2012-13, New Orleans in 2013-14 and Toronto in 2014-15. It’s on the defensive side where Stiemsma, who was the 2010 D-League Defensive Player of the Year, makes his living.

  • TaShawn Thomas(#35) | F | 6’8” | 240 | Baylor

After spending three seasons as a standout at Houston, Thomas spent his senior season at Oklahoma in 2014-15, where he was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year, averaging 11.6 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks and assists per game. Thomas then spent last season playing for the same professional league as O’Neale in Germany for Mitteldeutscher BC, where he averaged 12.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 blocks per game.

  • Julian Washburn(#14) | F | 6’8” | 210 | UTEP

Washburn, who played with Hunter at UTEP, average double-digits in scoring all four years in college and hit 38.1 percent of his 3-point attempts his senior year in 2014-15. But it was on defense where Washburn thrived, earning Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year honors. Washburn spent Summer League last year with the Warriors and went on to play for the Austin Spurs in the NBA Development League, averaging 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 18.9 minutes per game.

  • Wes Washpun(#1) | G | 6’1” | 175 | Northern Iowa

Washpun spent the last three seasons at Northern Iowa after transferring from Tennessee, most recently averaging 14.2 points, 5.3 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game as a senior. Washpun earned Missouri Valley Conference Sixth Man of the Year in 2015 before starting all 36 games last season. The guard poured in 17 points while beating Texas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament and dished out 10 assists in a double overtime loss to Texas A&M in the second round.