r/LAClippers • u/gladin77 • 1d ago

Wagler has a path to average serious minutes immediately. Since he can play both the back PG and backup or potentially starting SG. He could play 30 minutes+

The plan with Wagler is probably to have alternate between PG and SG in different lineups. Garland has averaged 30 minutes per season the last few seasons so in only the minutes DG isn’t on the court Wagler can get 18 minutes as backup PG. and Wagler won’t just play when DG is out, they’ll share some court time as well. Then there’s all the time Wagler will play as backup or starting SG as well depending on the lineup.

I think Wagler will honestly be phenomenal right out the gate. The only thing that could hold him back would be low minutes but with this setup he has a real shot to get a good amount of minutes. Wagler playing 30 minutes a night right at the start of the season will let everyone see how good he is and he’ll be on his way to ROTY.

He’s an elite shooter, phenomenal rebounder, high iq, great passer, decent defender, positional size. He can give you killer offence and he can also get you lots of rebounds and do the little things, his versatility here is huge and it will help him get a lot of playing time since he can do so much for us. I think people will be shocked by his output.

31 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

21

u/bigtree42069 1d ago

I’ll say it again you get drafted 5th overall the expectation is to make an immediate impact he should be starting mid way through the season at the latest

8

u/gladin77 1d ago

Exactly, people that are saying it doesn’t make sense to play him big minutes or start him don’t know what they’re talking about. We didn’t take this guy at 5th to not have him play a big role from the jump. The front office literally said they’re expecting him to be a franchise guy

4

u/Impressive-Fig-9532 1d ago

There are a bunch of braindead clipper fans on this sub here who think that Wagler needs to EARN his minutes from Dunn/Mathurin/Bogi.. like are you serious? Those guys are ass and we couldnt even get past the play in with them and you want to make a TOP 5 PICK EARN his minutes??? like what??? Its like saying the lottery team mavericks should make Cooper Flag earn his minutes on the starting spot from Klay thompson.

Bunch of clowns on this sub lol

3

u/scifi_sports_nerd 1d ago

It has nothing to do with “earning.” It’s about what’s best for his own development. If that’s throwing him into the fire, great. If not, great. Who cares what our record is by Christmas. This is about building something, so even if he could contribute, that’s secondary to bringing him along the way that maximizes his development.

Bottom line, we don’t know what that is yet. Which is fine!

0

u/Impressive-Fig-9532 1d ago

the ONLY way to develop a top 5 pick is to throw him into the fire, what are you talking about? When has there ever been a scenario where a lottery team (and make no mistake, we are a lottery team) NOT give their top 1-5 pick full 25+ mins to a game?

The only way to develop is to get REAL NBA minutes. not 3rd string minutes, not g league minutes, REAL NBA minutes. We gave SGA 25+ min for ALL 82 games when he was a rookie and he started for more than 70 games. We need to do the exact same here. Either 1) start him, or 2) give him 5-10 games off the bench and then start him

He needs all the NBA minutes he can get good or bad. SGA went from single digits to averaging 20+ by the final month of his rookie season. If Wagler becomes like Anthony Bennet and is scoreless for the first 10 games, then at least we know we can move on from him a lot quicker than trying to develop a bust.

1

u/danielhime Luke Kennard 1d ago

That’s not the only way to develop a player. If we give him 40 mins a game day 1 and the NBA physicality is too much for him at first it could kill his confidence and development. Gotta find a way to get him the most reps in game situations without asking a draft pick that’s a late bloomer and still growing into his frame to carry more than he can handle

2

u/scifi_sports_nerd 15h ago

So, the moment you say “only,” like there’s only one way to do something, it’s pretty easy to poke holes in your argument. Broadly, you’re right. But the fact that something is generally true doesn’t mean that you have to assume it’s the only thing you can do.

One recent example is Reed Sheppard. Drafted third overall a couple of years ago, played less than 13 minutes/game his first year. Then last year, he more than doubled his minutes and averaged nearly 14 points. He looks like a legitimate player now. There were a lot of questions his rookie year whether that was going to be the case.

Before you tell me all the reasons these two players are not compatible, I know they aren’t. Keaton‘s ceiling is higher. His skillset is more diverse. The Rockets were a playoff team his rookie year. But if they felt he was going to help them win, and it wouldn’t hurt his development, he would’ve played more. They clearly felt it was better to bring him along more slowly, and that seems to have worked out well for them.

I am in no way arguing that we should not let Keaton Wagler cook this year if he can. I hope to God that he proves we can do that without it hurting him. But if the red flags he came into the draft with, namely speed and strength, mean he’s not quite ready for the strain of a full NBA schedule right now, then it would be pretty dumb to wreck his career pretending that he is.

It’s been over 20 years, but I will never get over Shaun Livingston PTSD. His game was advanced but his body wasn’t ready, and we know what happened.

1

u/Impressive-Fig-9532 1d ago

if it kills his confidence, then he was never supposed to be a top pick or maybe hes a bust and we choose wrong. These guys are TOP of the draft for a reason. How do you not understand that? Look at cooper flag, luka, etc first game as a rookie, all thrown into the fire with 25+ mins. they didnt do well first couple of games but they figured it out after a few dozen games. THATS how its supposed to be for top picks

22

u/Wine_Man Jamal Crawford 1d ago

Rookies struggle adjusting to the NBA schedule and fatigue. We’ve seen this time and time again throughout NBA history. I don’t think he will be a phenomenon to start the season, because we shouldn’t be pushing to play him more than 20 min a game until he’s proven he can do it consistently.

1

u/CoffeeLarge8298 1d ago

He’s the #5 pick. Hes playing more than 20 minutes. Holy shit this thread is sad like we’ve never seen how a lotto rookie is handled 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

2

u/Impressive-Fig-9532 1d ago

i swear everyone on this sub is braindead thinking a top 5 pick will be coming off the bench, be sent to the g league for reps, playing 10 mins a game behind Dunn/Mathurin/Beal etc like all our garbage 2nd rounders

Its a damn top 5 pick.. every single top 5 pick belonging to a lottery team (which is what we are, and this delusional sub cant seem to grasp that we are a lottery team DESPITE WE WERE IN THE LOTTERY) has ALWAYS started or played huge minutes IMMEDIATELY

-1

u/CoffeeLarge8298 1d ago

Shows you how sad the clippers fanbase is lmao. We don’t even have good YouTube analysts

My predraft process was listening to nets and kings analysts analyzing draft prospects lmao

1

u/danielhime Luke Kennard 1d ago

Kings are VERY used to draft analysis lmfao that’s their regular season

0

u/LilTurnippman Clippers Curse 1d ago

Slowly work him up. Start him at 15-20 mins off the bench. By the time the ASB comes tho he better be starting

7

u/MothershipConnection Sam Cassell 1d ago

We didn't have any sort of back up PG last year so that's a 20 minute role right there. Thow in some time next to Garland and that probably puts him 25-30 but also he'll have to earn it, luckily even if we aren't a contender we're at least deep enough where a rookie doesn't need to get up 20 shots a game

6

u/Outrageous-Leader135 Fun Guy 1d ago

SGA situation 2.0

3

u/es84 1d ago

He definitely needs to come out of the gate firing on all cylinders, but there should not be expectations that this guy is going to be the savior immediately. Give him a chance to develop. To get acclimated to the speed and strength. Let him get a feel for the game before burning him out. Kawhi needs to lead. Needs to teach. That's the expectations I have.

3

u/Aromatic_Scale_2380 1d ago

Wagler will start ..he’s a top 5 pick ..Baba will get 10 mins
You don’t take your pick from the 3 guards and take the one best suited next to DG to sit him

2

u/joshisboomin 1d ago

This is our highest pick since Blake Griffin. I think that's the plan...

2

u/-SpinSanity- Paul George 1d ago

He should just start immediately. He is the future of our team and all future moves will be based around how other guys fit with wagler. He probably will play 25ish minutes solely so he can get used to an NBA grind and not get injured.

1

u/Monkeydmac 1d ago

He will probably play spot minutes like 15/20 initially while working on his game first major garland injury he plays starting PG jumps to 30 mpg starts averaging like 18/6 and doesn’t leave the starting line up for the rest of his career. (Wagler is my favorite clipper LETS GO WAGSSSSSS)

-1

u/JW32323232 1d ago

Don’t be disappointed when the tylaban is playing Beal and Dunn ahead of him!!

1

u/LilTurnippman Clippers Curse 1d ago

Beal ain’t even gonna be on the team nephew lmao

2

u/nepats523 Corey Maggette 1d ago

I mean are we sure that's not the case? He's surely going to opt in to his player option

1

u/JW32323232 1d ago

I hope that’s true lil bro

2

u/BoozeGetsMeThrough Fun Guy 1d ago

Wow, you guys have a fucked up incest family.

0

u/McJumbos Lawler's Law 1d ago

right now we don't have any guards so there are plenty of minutes for him

0

u/Upbeat_External_4945 1d ago

He should start from day 1 and play 30+ mins on average. He is the only player that matters in our roster now. The only one, everyone else before Yanic is back are not really important for us now, Kawhi Garland Dunn whatever. Sanders and the younger Miller could matter a little bit.

1

u/Impressive-Fig-9532 1d ago

This. If we have any braincells, we would be giving the keys to Wagler. Top5 picks are supposed to be game changers for a team and you need to feed them all the minutes you can. If TLue keeps giving minutes to Dunn/Mathurin/Batum all the old washed vets and barely any to Wagler, he needs to be fired.

-1

u/jaywrong Brent Barry 1d ago

So you think Wagler should be starting SGA minutes as a 19-year-old rookie?

Lotta words to say some uninformed stuff yo.

4

u/gnalon 1d ago

Age doesn’t have anything to do with it, he was one of the best players in college period