Clippers might make a deal to get a draft choice

The Clippers are the only NBA team without a pick in the draft Thursday evening in New York, but there’s a chance they won’t come home empty-handed.

The team is considering buying or trading its way into the draft, a league executive said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly comment on possible moves. The Clippers worked out a slew of prospects at their training facility in the last month and were intrigued by a handful of players.

Doc Rivers, the Clippers coach and president of basketball operations, recently said his team would more probably be interested in acquiring a second-round pick because those players do not require a three-year financial commitment like their first-round counterparts.

The Clippers currently have only eight players under contract for next season and are facing severe salary-cap restrictions regardless of whether they re-sign center DeAndre Jordan. Acquiring a second-round pick could help them cheaply fill a roster spot while satisfying needs to get younger.

The Lakers have bought a couple of second-round picks in recent years, with mixed success. They paid the Dallas Mavericks $500,000 in 2012 for shooting guard Darius Johnson-Odom, the 55th selection who went on to play three games with the Lakers before being waived.

The Lakers had far more success last year when they paid the Washington Wizards $1.8 million for the rights to point guard Jordan Clarkson, the 46th pick in the draft who went on to be named to the NBA’s all-rookie first team.

The Clippers do not have a pick because they sent their first-round selection to the Boston Celtics as part of Rivers’ agreement to join the Clippers in June 2013 and their second-round pick is headed to the Denver Nuggets to complete a 2009 trade for center Cheikh Samb.

Follow Ben Bolch on Twitter @latbbolch