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Clippers’ Latest Workout Features Familiar NBA Names

Rowan Kavner Digital Content Coordinator

LOS ANGELES – Oregon State guard Gary Payton II and Iona guard A.J. English III aren’t the typical draft prospects. 

While some players might receive advice from a couple people who were in the league, the two players who were part of Wednesday’s workouts with the Clippers have gotten it all their lives from fathers who played in the NBA.

“It’s a great tool to have,” said Payton, whose father’s a nine-time All-Star, NBA champion and Hall of Famer. “He’s one of the best, a Hall of Famer, so you can’t tell him that he’s wrong.”

English is also named after his father, a two-year veteran who averaged 9.9 points per game for the Washington Bullets.

“A lot of guys that have dads who played in the league,” English said. “To see somebody in your own household make it to the NBA or make it to the next level helps you out. It gets you over that stepping stone.”

On one hand, it helps make the NBA dream seen more attainable. As English said, there’s only a small percentage of players who get there, and all his life he’s eaten at the same table and joked around with someone who’s done it while making it out of a small city.

For English, coming out of a mid-major school, his father is proof that defying the odds is possible.

But, he also realizes he has to do it his own way.

Like Clippers guard Austin Rivers knows, there are advantages and disadvantages to having a father who did it before, and the comparisons and expectations follow them everywhere they go. English said the minute he picked up a basketball, he tried to make his own name. 

“I don’t look at it like I’m competing with my dad,” English said. “I just want people to know I’m AJ English III.”

The Clippers’ wave of workout players this Wednesday included Payton, English, Virginia guard Malcolm Brogdon, Duke center Marshall Plumlee, Texas A&M guard/forward Danuel House and Colorado center Josh Scott. 

Plumlee’s also no stranger to asking pros for advice, with his brothers, Mason and Miles, currently playing in the NBA. He knows he’s not the same player and that “you run your own unique race.”

“But, no one’s run a more similar race to me than my brothers,” Plumlee said.

So, he talks to his brothers after every workout. They want to know how he did, and he asks them how he could do better. Any time he has a question, Marshall doesn’t hesitate to reach out.

That was the case going into high school, then going into college and now preparing for the NBA.

“That’s probably the best advice I’ve gotten from my brothers going into this, is you tend to put pressure on yourself, stress out because you want to do so well, and they said to just have fun,” Plumlee said. “That’s what I tried to do today, and I feel like I play my best basketball when I have fun and a lot of energy. It was a real privilege to come out here and work out for the Clippers.”

Here’s a quick look at the six seniors who worked out Wednesday for the Clippers:

Malcolm Brogdon | Player Profile »

He could end up the highest drafted player of this crop of workout players, and the Clippers showed their interest in him at the Combine, where Brogdon said he interviewed with the team.

The Clippers got another look at him Wednesday, during which Brogdon said the Clippers worked the group out hard.

Brogdon has size at 6-5, 225 pounds, and leadership experience helping guide Virginia to the ACC Championship and Elite Eight. Last year, Brogdon averaged 18.2 points and 4.1 rebounds while hitting two 3-pointers per game. 

But, it’s on the other end that he feels his game will translate most quickly to the NBA level. Brogdon was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year in addition to being the ACC Player of the Year.

“I don’t let people score on me,” Brogdon said. “I think that’s my biggest asset.”

AJ English | Player Profile »

The 6-3 guard averaged more than 20 points per game each of his final two seasons at Iona, helping the Gaels reach the NCAA Tournament.

English averaged career highs with 22.6 points and 6.2 assists per game his senior year. He wasted no time showing off his scoring ability against some of the top talent from some of the top schools in the nation at the NBA Combine, where he scored 22 points in 21 minutes on the first day of scrimmages.

“Maybe it’s because I’m from a mid-major, but every time I step on the court, I have to prove myself,” English said.

Gary Payton II | Player Profile »

Payton played two years at Oregon State after transferring from Salt Lake Community College, averaging 16 points, 7.8 rebounds and five assists his last season. During his breakout year, Payton said he also finally played his father and won.

Admittedly, he’s not the same player as his father. For one, Payton says he doesn’t talk as much trash. He’s also not the same scorer, but Payton has plenty to like. He says he’s more of a leaper than his father was with a better rebounding game.

And, much like his father, he prides himself defensively.

Payton’s trying to show teams he’s been working on his shot after shooting 48.6 percent last year but 31.4 percent from long range his final season. He’ll have plenty of opportunities to do that. This was Payton’s fourth workout so far, coming to Los Angeles from Atlanta after going to Chicago and Phoenix.

Marshall Plumlee | Player Profile »

Plumlee knows as much about quality coaching as any college athlete, coming out of Duke, where he averaged 8.3 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.6 blocks last season.

That’s why he thought it was especially fun when Clippers head coach Doc Rivers got on the floor and drew up plays for the workout guys Wednesday.

“That fired me up,” Plumlee said. “It’s an exciting opportunity, like, ‘I’m working with a head coach right now.’”

Last season was a breakout year for Plumlee, who had played fewer than 10 minutes per game each of his first three seasons at Duke. But at 7 feet tall, there are plenty of tools to like. He feels he’s prepared for this situation, and a lot of that confidence comes from his military experience, which he said has helped him grow more than anything.

Plumlee said he’d always planned to be in the Army Reserves, knowing his first pursuit would be professional basketball. As he’s gone through workouts from city to city, he’s thought back to last summer when he’d wake up daily at 4 a.m. while completing a month of training at Fort Knox.

“It’s given me that level of discipline and preparation that I think really shows in my game,” Plumlee said.

Danuel House | Player Profile »

House doesn’t have a parent or a sibling that played in the league the way Payton, English and Plumlee do, but the versatile Texas A&M guard/forward is still getting advice through this process from someone who can give it.

“I lean on my dad even though he never played, but I also lean on John Lucas because I’m from Houston, and J-Lucas III,” House said. “I learn a lot from those guys.”

House averaged more than 14 points per game in each of his two seasons with the Aggies after transferring from the University of Houston. He has size at 6-7, and clearly is generating interest as he worked out for Memphis last week and has workouts with the Celtics, 76ers, Knicks and Lakers coming up.

Josh Scott | Player Profile »

Another big with size, Scott averaged double digits in scoring all four seasons at Colorado, highlighted by his 16.3 points per game his senior year. Scott also averaged at least 8.4 rebounds per game each of his final three seasons.

He helped lead the Buffaloes to the NCAA Tournament this season and was named to the All-Pac-12 Conference First Team and All-Defensive Team. Scott wasn’t a part of the NBA Combine, so the 6-10 center is meeting with teams and trying to rub off positively now during pre-draft workouts.