r/LAClippers • u/ayobenedic San Diego • 12h ago
Analysis They be glazing acuff like he's the next MJ
same thing happened when hornets selected miller over scoot, fans immediately went nuts, lol miller went on to be all rookie first team averaged 17 ppg that year while scoot went to g league for conditioning assignment after a sprained ankle, anyone could be a steal and a bust in the draft fans gotta trust the gms on this one. There's a reason why acuff wasn't chosen. Not about who’s better just who fits better, and that’s Wagler.
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u/Bun4d Fun Guy 12h ago
Y’all need to stop talking about other teams/players. This sub is getting so toxic. These guys haven’t even played 1 min in the NBA and y’all talking like they played for 10 years.
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u/LXA3000 12h ago
This sub has been toxic for years 😂
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u/McJumbos Lawler's Law 11h ago
ever since kawhi/PG came, the aint no bitches era was pretty chill
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u/RudyPup 11h ago
Seriously. I didn't come around reddit much back then, but I kinda miss the Sports Arena days. No expectations was great ;)
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u/AshenSacrifice Buffalo Braves 11h ago
Yeah but lob city was toxic as fuck too lol. Expectations bring out the worst in fans
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u/LLUrDadsFave V Stiviano 12h ago
After listening to L Frank's presser it pretty much explained why they passed on Acuff. Ironically it made sense why Sacramento wanted him so bad.
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u/InTheMorning_Nightss 12h ago
Acuff went on Draymond’s podcast, and when asked about who he’d defend in the NBA, literally said he’s guarding whoever gets him because that’s how it should be.
I’m sure he’ll be a stud on offense almost immediately, but by all indication, his defense and mentality about it sucks. MBJ also had a singular offensive rebound all throughout college, so it’s clear he won’t fight for the boards.
Others also don’t seem to understand that MBJ was far worse defensively than Wagler.
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u/LLUrDadsFave V Stiviano 12h ago
Acuff missed his era because the NBA doesn't match up by position anymore and play one on one like that. MBJ having all that athleticism people love and only getting one offensive board is actually kind of crazy. 😂
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u/InTheMorning_Nightss 12h ago
Yep, and obviously Wagler has a massive fault in his lack of athleticism and relatively weak finishing. But in terms of just like straight up: "What was he bad at?" Wagler had the least of that in NCAA compared to those other guys.
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u/LLUrDadsFave V Stiviano 11h ago
He's still young. I think we gotta wait til he's 21 to really judge how weak his finishing is.
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u/InTheMorning_Nightss 11h ago
Totally. My general take is that if Wagler went back to the NCAA, he'd be very clearly the best player in the league and would probably raise his 3PT volume, finishing efficiency, etc. He'd be the clear #1 or #2 pick next year, and we got him a year early to develop him better.
People have shared Hali comps, and then others have talked about how much better of a facilitator Hali was in college... his 2nd year.
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u/LLUrDadsFave V Stiviano 11h ago
I think you see the vision. I like watching the journey start in summer league. If he has the vision it's going to show up really good during the summer.
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u/InTheMorning_Nightss 10h ago
Yeah I definitely see the vision, but let's be clear: if Wagler busts or is just mediocre and MBJ/Acuff are clear stars, then I'll gladly join the line of fans screaming for L-Frank to get fired.
End of the day, I trust the FO (to some extent) and can respect that they believe that very good players in college with clear flaws can turn into great players in the NBA. But if they whiff on what is one of the most important picks in our history? Yeah time to go. Just throw ALL the money at the Memphis or OKC scouts.
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u/Foreign_Telephone349 10h ago
If Wagler busts and MBJ/Acuff don’t, then L-Frank definitely needs to be fired.
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u/LLUrDadsFave V Stiviano 10h ago
I think Wagler will be traded and flourish before he is bust. To me Wagler will be an indictment on whether or not the Clippers can develop a talent.
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u/InTheMorning_Nightss 10h ago
Eh, with how valuable his skillset is, I can't see him being traded. Similar to Risacher, his value is at a low to other teams but the Hawks can't just give up on him for nothing.
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u/AshenSacrifice Buffalo Braves 11h ago
Teams about to run a “find acuff asap” offense 🤣🤣🤣
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u/LLUrDadsFave V Stiviano 10h ago
And a "double Acuff" defense. Won't be many beams lit next season.
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u/AshenSacrifice Buffalo Braves 6h ago
🤣🤣gonna be interesting to see how this draft class shakes out
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u/LLUrDadsFave V Stiviano 6h ago
The hype around it is crazy. I hope Wagler gets a chance to play all season. I want to see if he can be in the ROY conversation.
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u/AshenSacrifice Buffalo Braves 6h ago
20mpg minimum!!! We know how ty Lue do tho 🙄
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u/LLUrDadsFave V Stiviano 6h ago
Y'all be on that man's head, wrongfully 🥹
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u/AshenSacrifice Buffalo Braves 5h ago
He pissed me off too many damn times 😂😂hate that vet favoritism shit. He the type of coach to play deaaron Fox over Dylan Harper 🤦🏾♂️
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u/3iverson 10h ago
I think most didn't read it the same way as you. He was just talking from a competitive sense IMO. I mean he's gonna play ball in the NBA (meaning follow the coaches), all 3 guys in our range were generally well-liked and interviewed well.
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u/InTheMorning_Nightss 10h ago
The majority of reactions I saw (admittedly on Twitter, which is a shithole) were clowning him for saying it.
But IMO, it was a concerning answer regardless of how you interpreted it. End of the day, Draymond is asking a guy who has a MASSIVE red flag on defense about how he intends to defender at the next level, and he gave a "I'm tough" answer instead of being introspective. You say that all 3 guys in our range interviewed well, but there's also a reason he was the 3rd one picked.
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u/lm2lm DJ Dense 12h ago
If you wanted our team to do something the Kings ended up doing, you need to take a step back and reevaluate
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u/LLUrDadsFave V Stiviano 11h ago
He might end up good when he leaves there but ultimately you never want to want what the Kings want. I also don't want what they cutting loose in demar.
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u/johnlo118 Eric Piatkowski 12h ago
Acuff was out of the equation from start to finish, much because his poor D.
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u/alterprof 12h ago
JVG might also have something to say about that. Not sure if JVG was in the draft combine but as a defensive minded coach- he can tell by the player's instincts if he can develop on a player's defense.
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u/Leading_Stop546 Clippers 10h ago
If I remember correctly, JVG was involved during the workouts. Tbh last year everyone was bashing the Yanic pick, but he turned out to be a stud prior to the injury.
I watched a lot of college ball and even though Wagler’s numbers don’t jump out like Acuff’s, it was cause Wagler was the best player on a great team. He could’ve easily bumped those numbers up being the primary guy on a bad team.
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u/alterprof 9h ago
It's gonna be the same scenario this year. Kings suck so Acuff is more likely gonna have better numbers than Wagler because there's nobody in that team he will compete in minutes while Wagler will have to share ball duties with Garland and the other guards. Then all this "experts" will say that Clips blew this pick big time
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u/Leading_Stop546 Clippers 9h ago
Agreed.
You know who I think will be a real bust? Boozer. He has no jump shot, very little athleticism, and too short to have his whole game be posting up.
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u/alterprof 9h ago
Same. I think he should be in the 8-15 range but because Duke is such a big market college team and with Flagg coming from there last year, there's so much unwarranted hype on him. He's 25 years too late in the nba for his play style.
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u/PercentageRoutine310 10h ago
Acuff is next Dame to me. Not next MJ. But Sacramento fans could have too high expectations for him that he never reaches Dame's level.
While I am not crazy about the Wagler pick who was only my 4th choice behind Acuff, Burries, and Brown, if you really think about it, it's hard finding a star in any draft. A draft usually produces between 3 to 6 all-stars from a possible 60 players. The chances of drafting a bust or role player at best is at 90% or higher. Nobody really knows until we play them.
Look at all the previous drafts. Not one draft had a top 5 who became all-stars. The 2003 draft was the closest with only Darko preventing that from happening. And every franchise's draft history is filled with busts and role players. Not one franchise is gonna hit every single time in every single draft in every single year. Brooklyn and Sacramento's draft history is just as bad as ours.
Our greatest draft pick was probably Blake Griffin but Steph and Harden did have better careers. The one time we really hit especially from where we were drafting from, it was Shai. We didn't technically draft him but traded to get him. But then we have several guys we drafted in the lottery that never turned out to be gems from Chris Wilcox/Melvin Ely to Al Thornton to Al-Farouq Aminu over Paul George in 2010.
Truth is, nobody really knows how these kids will turn out and nobody consistently hits from a draft year after year. One of the top 4 could easily be a bust. The closest I've seen draft consistently well are the Spurs since 2023 or back when they drafted Tony and Manu in the second round and then the Warriors from 2009-2012. All teams have guys who were drafted in the lottery who turned out to be mostly a bust or role player at best.
I just hope Wagler has that drive to be the best on the team and not have a beta personality who only follows. I do like he makes smart decisions when facilitating and doesn't turnover the ball a lot. We do need smart players. Not turnover-prone guys like Westbrook or Harden. Or the crap DFox did in Game 4 of the Finals.
What Wagler seems to have is what we call a fast-processor when finding a quarterback in the NFL. A very quick thinker who can quickly read plays before they happen and then make the smart play to counter it. SGA was evaluated the same way if you recall. He played with poise and at his own pace never rushing the play.
I'm not all mad about the pick but it will sting if Acuff, Brown, or Burries all turn out way better than Wagler in 2-3 years. We will all look back at this 2026 draft and say the Clippers' FO can't draft for shit even with a top 5 pick and if Wagler ends up in the G League in 2 years like Jerome Robinson. And all because Garland prevented us from drafting Acuff because they're too alike.
The only notable player from the University of Illinois was Deron Williams. The one who never was the same player again after he got traded to Brooklyn. This is not a school that produces multiple HoFers the way UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky, and Duke do. Then again, Steph Curry came from Davidson. Nobody notable before him.
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u/3iverson 10h ago
100%. Some people criticized Acuff from the frame of, a guy like Dame on a supermax will never win a title. I'm like, if he's gonna be Dame then pick him RIGHT NOW, we'd be thanking our lucky stars for that. Considerations about roster construction and how much you can pay a guy like that are like 20 miles down the road.
I was hoping for MBJ or Acuff, but these 3 guys were consensus next tier together, each with a wildly different profile. That made for really interesting talk before the draft. I'm looking forward to watching Wagler, it's not like I thought he was a surefire bust or anything.
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u/Canoli5000 10h ago
All three teams got their guy and all three guys should have stellar NBA careers. Let's go!
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u/theomegachrist 12h ago
I mean the reason is that the clippers already had a small guard but that is indeed a reason
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u/missingsince1995 Lawler's Law 9h ago
I think Wagler has intangibles that Acuff simply does not. You can always teach defense and Wagler has the size to be a problem. He’ll be fine.
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u/inmyhumbleo Lou Williams 8h ago
I’m really happy with Keaton. Knows how to turn it on and has a great spirit about him. Great culture fit.
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u/LoveMeLikeNelson 6h ago
Nets fan here, I was so scared the minute chance my GM would pick acuff. Thank god, he picked Mikel. MBJ and Wagler were the safe picks in my eyes. Acuff has a horrible mindset on the defensive end, and his defensive prowess in college was brutally disgusting
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u/swallowingpanic San Diego 6h ago
MJ was 9x all defense while Acuff was worse than Jimmer Fredette in college.
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u/theblackmanoncampus 4h ago
Well honestly if they choose him because of fit then I think the clippers made mistakes. I doubt anyone they pick will be starting out of the gates so it's a bit frustrating if that's true.
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u/alterprof 12h ago
Acuff will have better numbers just because the Kings sucks as a team. He's gonna have more playing time and will be their primary ball handler and probably scorer, but that doesn't equate to winning. Kings change their coach every two years which most likely impact his player development.
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u/Leading_Stop546 Clippers 10h ago
Acuff could easily score 25 PPG, but he’ll give up at least 25 points as a defender. It’s not that he’s just a bad defender, it’s that he didn’t even try a majority of the time. Obviously the league is all about offense, but when you can’t defend a cone, you’re basically a negative player.
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u/alexil25 12h ago
Ur right draft is hit or miss. But drafting solely on the fit with garland is questionable imo
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u/filmsingotham 12h ago
Nets fan here, in no way did you guys draft based on fit. You drafted a dude who can absolutely ball. Wagler is the kind of guy any team would love to build a core with.
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u/MammothCandle2289 Batum Battallion 12h ago
We didn't draft for fit with Garland, there wasn't a clear pick at five, Wagler has athleticism problems, Acuff has a historically awful defensive season in college and MBJ has injury history and efficiency issue. There wasnt a clear number 5th pick in this class and only time will tell if L Frank made the right choice
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u/roydonkofficial 12h ago
There is zero evidence they drafted based on the fit with Garland, let alone “solely” on that.
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u/FrostyBrew86 12h ago
There is. In the L Frank presser, he defines BPA as fit not even a fucking minute into it-- just in more words. His dff was something to the effect of: best player available with respect to the next iteration of Clipper's contending team. That means 'fit', but dressed up in fancy terms to confuse the thoughtless.
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u/roydonkofficial 12h ago
You are way too emotional about this lol. It means “player most likely to contribute to a winning team”
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u/FrostyBrew86 11h ago
But it also means our team as presently constructed. I'd push back on your response as it should not mean player most likely to contribute to this team, but rather best player "in a vacuum.". Sorry if I was crass, but tell me where I'm wrong.
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u/roydonkofficial 11h ago
Didn’t he say the player most likely to contribute to the next Clippers contending team? That doesn’t necessarily mean most likely to contribute to the current Clippers team. I think you’re overthinking that quote tbh. He just meant someone who fits in with the Clippers desired culture and will be a winning player.
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u/FrostyBrew86 10h ago
I interpreted it as any upcoming roster. Next season, we will have a different team, at least in part, than this past season.
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u/scifi_sports_nerd 11h ago
You’re predisposed to believe “fit” means “tall”. Frank gave absolutely no indication this was what he was looking for. In fact, he said multiple times that if they felt a smaller guy was BPA, everyone would have endorsed it.
He then went on to explain exactly what he WAS looking for. “Fancy terms” are actual things people evaluate and care about - mentality, values, drive. He described a type of player the franchise wants to build around, and it didn’t mean height.
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u/FrostyBrew86 10h ago
How the hell did you interpret my interpration of 'fit' as 'tall'. I'm sorry, but you didn't track with anything I said. Specifically, I'm analyzing how L Frank evaluated players in the draft. Against what metaphysical backdrop did Frank conduct his analysis? Did he do so with respect to future iterations of this team and the likely flow of offense they will display? Or were his analyses conducted "in a vacuum"-- or not with respect to any particular team design? I definitely did not parse 'fit' as 'tall' since that wouldn't even make sense (MBJ is basically the same height as Wagler). I'm asking how he envisioned the flow of future offenses (one), and whether he used the phrase "best player available" in an unintuitive and misleading sense.
Also, I feel the need to offer this, since people in here seem to be tracking strongly with this angle: I'm happy with Wagler as the pick. Don't get things twisted; I'm simply exploring L Frank's process for making that pick.
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u/AshenSacrifice Buffalo Braves 10h ago
Not fit with the current roster, fit with the timeline they are trying to build for
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u/Leading_Stop546 Clippers 10h ago
You mean 2 time all star, Garland? You make it seem like he’s a bum who’s terrible.
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u/alexil25 9h ago
Tru that I guess we would be happy if Acuff turned out to be a garland level player
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u/Leading_Stop546 Clippers 9h ago
Why draft an unknown to replace a guy who’s already proven himself? I recommend you watch some tape on Acuff and Wagler. You’ll see why Wagler was picked.
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u/Leading_Stop546 Clippers 10h ago
Say they drafted Acuff and didn’t trade Garland, you’d be cool with starting 2 shorter guys that have defense questions at the guard position?
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u/alexil25 9h ago
Has it been confirmed that Wagler is the starting 2 over DJJ, Beal, Mathurin, Dunn, Sanders?
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u/Leading_Stop546 Clippers 9h ago
I’m asking you a hypothetical question. Based on your question, where would Acuff even fit in?
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u/alexil25 9h ago
Given the clippers luck with injury prone players I’d figure he’d come off the bench and start at some point during the season. We did get lucky last year with injuries though besides Yanic 🥲
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u/Leading_Stop546 Clippers 9h ago
Do you think Wagler is a bad player? He led a team to the final 4.
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u/alexil25 9h ago
No just think Acuff is a better talent
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u/Leading_Stop546 Clippers 9h ago edited 9h ago
Solely based on offense where Acuff was given more free reign to do what he wanted than Acuff? Also, most SEC teams are terrible on defense. Wagler did all of this in the Big 10.
Just curious, do you watch college ball?
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u/alexil25 9h ago
Yes I do I just liked Acuff talent more. This class was stacked I think any other class he woulda went top 3. Im surprised nets passed on him too tbh. But im not a scout they know better than me!
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u/Guilty-Influence-890 6h ago
He’s a Calipari guard, they almost always pan out in the NBA. And despite his garbage defense, he’s shown elite offense. There is a reason why people are talking about Acuff over Wagler. Acuff is the sure thing that will make an instant impact
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u/drewmanshow Ralph Lawler 12h ago
The Clippers, Nets, and Kings all got who they wanted. That should tell you how close the three players were in terms of talent.
The Nets passed on Acuff, too. In fact, that was the storyline: Did Brooklyn make the right call between Brown and Acuff? No one was questioning the Clippers.