Clippers have several holes that could be filled with draft picks

The Clippers need a starting small forward. They need a backup point guard. They need … well, practically an entire bench.

They will fill most of their needs in free agency in the coming months, but they also have two draft picks for the first time since Coach Doc Rivers joined the team in the summer of 2013. They hold the No. 25 pick in the first round of the draft Thursday and the No. 33 pick in the second round.

That makes the series of workouts they have held for draft prospects in recent weeks all the more alluring for players who might be able to fill one of their holes.

“If I know a team needs a three man, I will definitely try to show them that I can play that spot,” Maryland small forward Jake Layman said Monday during what was expected to be the Clippers’ final set of pre-draft workouts at their practice facility. “You have to attack every workout the same, but you definitely know in the back of your mind if a team needs your position.”

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Layman is projected to be selected late in the second round by some mock drafts. Among the 12 players who worked out for the Clippers on Monday, Nevada Las Vegas shooting guard Patrick McGaw and center Stephen Zimmerman are projected to be taken in the middle of the second round and Iowa power forward Jarrod Uthoff is expected to go late in the second round.

UCLA power forward Tony Parker, who also worked out for the Clippers, is not listed on most mock draft boards.

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It was the first time college teammates McGaw and Zimmerman, both underclassmen, had worked out together for an NBA team. They are scheduled be joined by fellow Nevada Las Vegas teammate Derrick Jones on Wednesday during a workout for the Lakers.

“I know I’m young and everything,” said the 6-foot-11 Zimmerman, who averaged 10.5 points and 8.7 rebounds last season as a freshman, “but now would be the time to go in and learn from the best and get stronger and bigger and just prepare myself at the next level as early as I can.”

McGaw said it was surreal to work out on the Clippers’ practice court after having watched them complete training camp on the Las Vegas campus in the fall of 2014.

“I watched and I picked [up] some of Chris Paul’s game and just how he plays off the pick and roll,” McGaw said. “It’s cool to see NBA teams come into your facility and practice there and be with your strength coach and do workouts and stuff.”

McGaw was too star-struck to engage the Clippers back then beyond a few pleasantries.

“I said ‘What’s up?’ to DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin when they were in the weight room, but that was pretty much it,” McGaw said. “These are guys you do crazy stuff on 2K [video game] with. Now that you’re running alongside them or playing against them, it’s hard to believe that I have that opportunity.”

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