Clippers host pre-draft workouts

None of the six players who had a pre-draft workout for the Clippers on Wednesday have any idea if they’ll be drafted in the first round, second round or at all.

Most likely they are being considered as second-round picks by the Clippers and other teams, but they still wanted to show their talents during the workout in Playa Vista.

The Clippers have a first-round pick (25) and a second-round selection (33).

“Ideally, anybody would want to go in the first round,” said Jaron Blossomgame, a 6-foot-7 forward from Clemson. “But probably top 35 is an ideal pick for me to leave school early. Anything past that, I would have to come back and prove myself.”

College underclassmen like Blossomgame have until May 25 to return to college as long as they haven’t hired an agent.

That extra time and the workouts can help a player make the best decision.

“I want to impress teams,” said Robert Carter, a 6-9 redshirt junior forward out of Maryland who has signed with an agent. “But at the end of the day, I want to get better even in these workouts. I feel in a couple of months I’m going to be on somebody’s roster and I’ll be trying to impact their team, help them win.”

All of them have seen how several players taken in the second round have succeeded, and that gives them hope.

Isaiah Taylor, a 6-1 guard out of Texas, mentioned how Golden State All-Star forward Draymond Green and Lakers guard Jordan Clarkson were second-round picks who have had an effect on their teams.

“Seeing them flourish in the NBA, I think that it really doesn’t matter,” Taylor said. “I think depending and deciding on going pro is just knowing when you’re a pro. It’s just a mindset.”

The Clippers took the players through a set of drills and then had them run afterward.

“I think what I can show them is my knowledge of the game, the way I understand things defensively and offensively,” said Yogi Ferrell, a 6-foot guard who played four years at Indiana. “And just the way I share that knowledge with my teammates. Hopefully I showed that to them here today.”

The workouts never seem to stop for the players and it takes them all over the country.

Blossomgame said he had a workout scheduled for Brooklyn on Thursday, at Denver on Saturday and Dallas on Monday.

Damion Lee said he got a call at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday about working out for the Clippers on Wednesday. He couldn’t refuse.

Besides, he was training in Oakland, knowing it was a short flight to Los Angeles.

“Got on a flight, got here,” said Lee, a 6-6 forward from Louisville. “And here we are.”

Twitter: @BA_Turner