L.A. Goes From Youngest to the Second Youngest

Thanks to a couple of final cuts by Chicago, the Clippers opened the regular season Tuesday night against the Utah Jazz as the second-youngest team in the league with an average age of 24 years, 268 days. The Bulls are the youngest at 23 years, 247 days.

Jeff Weltman, director of player personnel, said expect the NBA’s trend of signing younger players to continue.

“As guys continue to enter the league younger and younger, the league itself becomes younger and younger,” Weltman said. “That’s why college basketball has seen a drop off in competition because guys are going straight to the NBA.”

It wasn’t too long ago that only a couple of teams in the league had players with little or any college experience. Not any more.

Even the Utah Jazz, known for having veterans on its roster, has a teenager on its roster in guard DeShawn Stevenson, selected out of high school with the 23rd pick in last June’s draft.

According to Weltman, the difference is going to be how team’s use and develop their young players.

“Depending on the situation, some of them are going to get immediate minutes, some of them aren’t,” Weltman said.

“Teams [which draft young players] are usually at different points in their progression. Some teams can take certain risks that others can’t take.”

For Stevenson, that means wait for your time playing behind veteran John Starks. For rookie Darius Miles, drafted out of high school third overall, it means sink or swim as the Clippers’ starting shooting guard.

“DeShawn is a really talented young guy but because of the system that they play and the veteran team they have in place, the Jazz feels like they can afford to bring him along slowly and not have to rush him,” Weltman said. “They knew that going into the draft.”

Miles finished with eight points, seven rebounds and two assists in 34 minutes. Stevenson played seven minutes and had five points.

*

Starks, a Utah veteran, opened the game against Miles and left impressed by the rookie.

“He’s nice. I like his game,” Starks said. “He’ll get that aggressiveness that he needs once he beefs up a little bit more. But he understands the game. Most young players come into this league and don’t understand how to play. He takes what is there and he doesn’t get overanxious about what he’s going to do on the court. It’s going to be a learning year for him but he can definitely play.”

Miles, who picked up a technical foul after a brief run-in with Utah’s Bryon Russell in the second half, was pleased with his first game but said he can play better.

*

The Clippers’ starting lineup Tuesday was made up of guards Jeff McInnis and Miles, forwards Lamar Odom and Brian Skinner and center Michael Olowokandi. Combined they accounted for only 278 games of NBA experience, compared to Utah’s John Stockton, who has played in 1,258 by himself.