They’ve Never Won the Lottery

They had no shot at Shaquille O’Neal, the top pick in 1992, but they could have had Jermaine O’Neal, the 17th pick four years later.

Instead of Reggie Miller in 1987, they took Reggie Williams.

Practice has made far less than perfect for the Clippers, whose history belies the notion that building through the draft will yield a winning team. Their litany of lottery picks hasn’t come close to producing the fortune-altering results expected of a team selecting so high in the draft year after year after year.

The Clippers, who hold the No. 4 pick in Thursday’s draft, passed on Karl Malone, John Stockton and Scottie Pippen in the 1980s, Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki in the 1990s.

You say the Clippers are in dire need of a point guard?

Among those they’ve passed on over the last 10 years are Damon Stoudamire, Steve Nash, Bobby Jackson, Mike Bibby, Tony Parker and Gilbert Arenas.

“I don’t want to get into how we’ve drafted,” General Manager Elgin Baylor said last week. “I think we’ve gotten good players.”

Good, yes.

Great, no.

Though they’ve made 16 lottery picks in the 19 years since the process began in 1985, far more than any other team, the Clippers have reached the playoffs only three times and have not won a playoff series since moving from San Diego.

Of course, their problems have reached far beyond the draft.

But from Benoit Benjamin at No. 3 in 1985 through Chris Kaman at No. 6 a year ago, they’ve yet to draft a player even approaching the equal of Baylor, the top overall pick in 1958 and a 10-time first-team All-NBA selection.

* Twice they’ve had the top overall pick in the draft and nine times they’ve picked among the top four, but only one player they’ve taken -- Antonio McDyess -- ever was named to the All-NBA team. And McDyess, a third-team selection for the Denver Nuggets in 1999, never played for the Clippers, who took the former Alabama forward with the No. 2 pick in 1995 and promptly traded him to the Nuggets.

* Only three players drafted by the Clippers -- McDyess, Danny Manning and Hersey Hawkins -- have been selected to play in the All-Star game. And Hawkins, like McDyess, never played for the Clippers; he too was traded.

* No player drafted by the Clippers since they moved to Los Angeles has been rookie of the year; only Lamar Odom in 2000 and Darius Miles in 2001 have been first-team all-rookie selections. Both have since left the team, Miles via trade and Odom via free agency.

* Only one player drafted by the Clippers since they moved to L.A. has won an NBA title -- Danny Ferry with the San Antonio Spurs a year ago. And Ferry, like McDyess and Hawkins, never played for the Clippers; he was traded after refusing to sign with them.

In fact, probably the best move the Clippers ever made with a draftee was trading him. In 2001, after taking former Compton Dominguez High star Tyson Chandler with the No. 2 pick, they shipped him to the Chicago Bulls for Elton Brand.

Through the past, darkly:

No. 1 Picks

The Clippers twice landed the top pick, 10 years apart.

In 1988, they took Manning, who had just led Kansas to the NCAA title. In 1998, they took Michael Olowokandi, who was still learning how to play.

Manning twice was an All-Star for the Clippers and, under his former Kansas coach Larry Brown, twice helped the Clippers reach the playoffs. But he was traded during the 1993-94 season, the Clippers unsure about re-signing him after he became a free agent. Though bothered by persistent knee problems, he averaged 14 points and 5.2 rebounds for seven teams over 15 seasons.

Among those the Clippers passed on in 1988: Mitch Richmond, who was the fifth pick and averaged more than 20 points over his NBA career.

Olowokandi was the Clippers’ starting center for five seasons, averaging about 10 points and eight rebounds, but left with little fanfare last summer to sign with the Minnesota Timberwolves, where he was the subject of derision last season. He often is cited as one of the worst No. 1 picks in NBA draft history.

Among those the Clippers passed on to take Olowokandi: Bibby, Vince Carter, Nowitzki and Paul Pierce. They went second, fifth, ninth and 10th.

No. 2 Picks

Curiously, none of the players taken by the Clippers with the No. 2 pick -- Ferry in 1989, McDyess in 1995 and Chandler in 2001 -- ever played for the team.

Ferry, who among others was taken ahead of Sean Elliott, Glen Rice and Tim Hardaway, was traded five months later to the Cleveland Cavaliers along with former lottery pick Williams. In exchange, the Clippers got Ron Harper, two first-round draft picks and a second-round pick.

McDyess, the most successful of the Clipper draft picks with career averages of 16.7 points and 8.5 rebounds, was packaged with Randy Woods and shipped to the Nuggets for Brent Barry and Rodney Rogers. Among the players taken after McDyess in 1995: Jerry Stackhouse at No. 3, Garnett at No. 5, Stoudamire at No. 7.

Chandler, destined for the Bulls before he was taken, was picked ahead of Pau Gasol at No. 3, Zach Randolph at No. 19 and Parker at No. 28.

No. 3 Picks

Though he played 15 seasons for nine teams, most of them bad, the 7-foot Benjamin never lived up to his promise, as evidenced by the fact that in all those seasons he played in only 18 playoff games. Among those taken after him: Chris Mullin at No. 7, Malone at No. 13 and Joe Dumars at No. 18.

Mullin and Dumars are now running their former teams, Dumars having built the NBA champion Detroit Pistons, while Benjamin, as recently as two years ago, was trying to catch on with the Harlem Globetrotters. He reportedly is bankrupt.

The high-flying Miles was one of the Clippers’ most popular players for two seasons before they traded him to the Cavaliers two years ago for point guard Andre Miller, who spent one disappointing season with the Clippers before leaving last summer via free agency.

Among those taken after Miles in 2000 was center Jamaal Magloire of the New Orleans Hornets, an All-Star last season.

No. 4 Picks

Williams wasn’t a bad player -- he averaged 12.5 points for six teams in 10 NBA seasons -- but he was no Reggie Miller, who was not only a local product (Riverside Poly High, UCLA), but a great shooter. The 11th pick in 1987, Miller is the NBA’s all-time leader in three-point field goals.

Odom, picked ahead of Shawn Marion, Corey Maggette and Ron Artest in 1999, could turn out to be the most productive player ever drafted by the Clippers, a versatile, multitalented 6-foot-10 forward with playmaking skills. But the Clippers set him adrift last summer, citing character issues when they declined to match Odom’s offer from the Miami Heat. While the Clippers again sank to the bottom in the Western Conference last season, Odom averaged 17.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists in helping the Heat reach the Eastern Conference semifinals.

Other Lottery Picks

Hawkins, the sixth pick in 1988, was packaged along with Michael Cage in a three-team trade that brought Gary Grant and Charles Smith to the Clippers. Hawkins averaged 14.7 points for five teams in 13 seasons, helping the Seattle SuperSonics reach the NBA Finals in 1996.

Bo Kimble, the eighth pick in 1990 after a stellar career at Loyola Marymount, was one of Clippers’ biggest lottery busts. He played only three seasons in the NBA, two with the Clippers, averaging 5.5 points. Among the players the Clippers passed on: Tyrone Hill, Elden Campbell and Toni Kukoc.

In 1994, the Clippers took Lamond Murray with the seventh pick. At No. 10, the Lakers took Eddie Jones, their first and still only lottery pick. Murray has averaged 12.5 points in 10 NBA seasons, five with the Clippers, Jones 16.8.

Lorenzen Wright, the seventh pick in 1996, spent three seasons with the Clippers, who passed on Bryant, Peja Stojakovic, Nash and Jermaine O’Neal to take him. In eight NBA seasons, the 6-11 center has averaged 9.2 points and 7.1 rebounds.

The Clippers’ last three lottery picks -- Chris Wilcox at No. 8 and Melvin Ely at No. 12 in 2002, Kaman last year -- are still with the team. Last season, Kaman was a starter, Wilcox a valuable reserve and Ely out of the regular rotation. Ely probably will be traded this summer. None has so far shown the potential of Amare Stoudemire, who was taken by the Phoenix Suns with the ninth pick in 2002 and has since averaged 16.3 points and 8.9 rebounds.

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No. 1 L.A. Clipper Draft Picks

First-round draft picks by the Clippers since their move to Los Angeles in 1984:

*--* YEAR PICK PLAYER POS SCHOOL 2003 6 CHRIS KAMAN C Central Michigan 2002 8 CHRIS WILCOX F Maryland 12 MELVIN ELY F Fresno State 2001 2 TYSON CHANDLER F-C Dominguez H.S. 2000 3 DARIUS MILES F East St. Louis H.S. 18 QUENTIN RICHARDSON G DePaul 1999 4 LAMAR ODOM F Rhode Island 1998 1 MICHAEL OLOWOKANDI C Pacific 22 BRIAN SKINNER F Baylor 1997 14 MAURICE TAYLOR F Michigan 1996 7 LORENZEN WRIGHT F Memphis 1995 2 ANTONIO McDYESS F Alabama 1994 7 LAMOND MURRAY F California 25 GREG MINOR G Louisville 1993 13 TERRY DEHERE G Seton Hall 1992 16 RANDY WOODS G La Salle 25 ELMORE SPENCER C-F UNLV 1991 22 LERON ELLIS F Syracuse 1990 8 BO KIMBLE G Loyola Marymount 13 LOY VAUGHT F Michigan 1989 2 DANNY FERRY F Duke 1988 1 DANNY MANNING F Kansas 6 HERSEY HAWKINS G Bradley 1987 4 REGGIE WILLIAMS G-F Georgetown 13 JOE WOLF F North Carolina 19 KEN NORMAN F Illinois 1986 NO PICK 1985 3 BENOIT BENJAMIN C Creighton 1984 8 LANCASTER GORDON G Louisville

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