Diamond Stone roster

Joseph Ibarra

The L.A. Clippers announced today they have assigned rookie center Diamond Stone to the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA Development League.

This is the third Development League assignment for Stone. He has appeared in 10 games this season, averaging 15.1 points and 8.3 rebounds in 21.6 minutes of play with the Stars and Santa Cruz Warriors.

The 6-11 rookie has seen action in five games for the Clippers this season, holding averages of 2.0 points and 0.8 rebounds.

Stone, the 40th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, played one season at the University of Maryland, where he was named the AP Big Ten Newcomer in 2016. The Milwaukee native averaged 12.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 35 games (all starts), helping lead the Terrapins to the Sweet Sixteen.

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Press Release: L.A. Clippers Assign Stone To Salt Lake City Stars

The L.A. Clippers announced today they have recalled rookie center Diamond Stone from the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA Development League.

Stone appeared in six games for the Stars, averaging 15.5 points, 10.8 rebounds and 1.0 steal in 24.6 minutes.

This was Stone’s second NBA Development League assignment. He appeared in four games (two starts) for the Santa Cruz Warriors, averaging 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 block in 17.0 minutes.

The 6-11 rookie has seen action in four games for the Clippers this season, holding averages of 1.5 points and 0.8 rebounds.

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Press Release: L.A. Clippers Recall Stone From Salt Lake City Stars

Jay Johnson

This is Stone’s second NBA Development League assignment. He appeared in four games (two starts) for the Santa Cruz Warriors, averaging 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 block in 17.0 minutes.

Stone, the 40th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, played one season at the University of Maryland, where he was named the AP Big Ten Newcomer in 2016. The Milwaukee native averaged 12.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 35 games (all starts), helping lead the Terrapins to the Sweet Sixteen

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Press Release: LA Clippers Assign Stone to Salt Lake City Stars

Robyn Dixon

The L.A. Clippers announced today they have recalled center Diamond Stone from the NBA Development League’s Santa Cruz Warriors.

Stone appeared in four games (two starts) for the Warriors, averaging 14.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.0 block in 17.0 minutes.

The 6-11 rookie has seen action in three games for the Clippers this season, holding averages of 2.0 points and 1.0 rebound.

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Press Release: LA Clippers Recall Diamond Stone From Santa Cruz

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New Additions: Diamond Stone - 9/9/16

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Photos: Diamond Stone 2016 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot | 8/9/16

Anthony Davila

The LA Clippers announced today the team has signed center Diamond Stone.

Stone, selected with the 40th overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, averaged 12.5 points, 5.4 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in his lone season at Maryland. Named AP Big Ten Newcomer of the Year, the 6-foot-11 inch center established the Maryland freshman record and all-time XFinity Center mark with 39 points vs. Penn State on 12/30/15. Stone was a member of the gold-medal winning 2014 USA U-17 World Championship Team and was chosen to the FIBA U-17 World Championship All-Tournament Team after averaging 13.4 points and 9.7 rebounds over seven games. He earned a gold medal at the 2014 FIBA Americas U16 Championship and led the USA U-16 Team to a 5-0 record.

In five games with the Clippers Summer League team, Stone averaged 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds.

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CLIPPERS SIGN DIAMOND STONE

PLAYA VISTA, Calif. – Clippers head coach Doc Rivers expressed his enthusiasm about drafting Brice Johnson, Diamond Stone and David Michineau during Tuesday’s introductory draft pick press conference.

Rivers said through the ups and downs each of them experienced at Summer League, he saw aspects of their games that made them the players the Clippers wanted to draft.

“I think we’re very fortunate in the draft that, in our case, you could say these guys have fallen to us,” Rivers said. “After watching them in the summer, I feel very good about our picks.”

That’s not to belittle how much work’s left to do for the picks to be ready to contribute at the NBA level.

Rivers said he never overdoes Summer League production, since the jump to actual NBA competition is “gigantic.” That’s something the Clippers’ rookie bigs know they need to prepare for, even after averaging double digits in scoring in Orlando.

Johnson and Stone both demonstrated their talent and potential offensively, but they know they’ll need to dedicate themselves in the weight room to have the strength to hold up on the other end of the floor defending the frontcourt players they’ll see at the NBA level.  

They found out quickly at Summer League how important that’s going to be. 

“We’ve got to get a lot stronger,” Stone said. “These are grown men we’re playing against. Hopefully during training camp, working with the bigs like Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan, being able to get stronger, lifting with the strength coach, that’s a big part of the game right now. For me, especially, I’ve got to get a lot stronger.”

Stone posted at least 15 points in two of his five games, but he also fouled out with 10 fouls against Oklahoma City in a game that featured the biggest frontcourt the Clippers would see in Summer League play.

Johnson led the Clippers with 15.4 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, but he also averaged more than six fouls per game as he adjusted to the size of the competition.

“Getting stronger’s probably the biggest thing for me,” Johnson said, seconding Stone’s comments. “I’m very gifted offensively obviously, but I just have to be able to hold my own on the defensive end and not get pushed around. That’s probably the biggest thing that hurt me during Summer League.”

Johnson said he hopes to put on 20 to 25 pounds, eventually – a weight he feels he can still play comfortably at. He’s confident now, with the Clippers’ draft picks finally arriving in Los Angeles, the free time he has before training camp can be used to get in the weight room and get his body in the right shape.  

“I’ll be able to pay for a lot more food that I can eat that is good for me and not go to McDonald’s or eat bad food all the time,” Johnson said. “It’s just a transition for me. Just being able to say I’m a professional athlete and have the resources to get myself to that weight and play with that weight will be a lot better.”