Clippers use 46th pick on Cam Christie, team's youngest pick since 2005
The 18-year-old averaged 11.3 points for Minnesota as a freshman.
PLAYA VISTA, Calif. — The LA Clippers came onto the clock with the 46th pick on Thursday afternoon, the first time the NBA has ever held a two-day draft extravaganza, and a bevy of prospects had fallen into their lap. One of them was Cameron Christie, a shooting guard from the University of Minnesota.
The 18-year-old averaged 11.3 points across 33 games as a freshman. Christie shot 40.3% from the field and 39.1% on 5.4 three-point attempts per game. Christie scored at least 15 points in nine games last season.
“Number one is you got to start with what he does well, and I think that the shooting piece, he shot 39% from three,” Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank remarked to gathered media following Thursday’s second round.
“He’s very competitive, he’s high character, he’s high IQ, he’s a fluid athlete. He’s got a good feeling. He moves around the court like a basketball player.”
According to several draft pundits, Christie projects as a good shooter who was given a fringe first-round grade. The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie had Christie at No. 33 on his final board and called the youngster one of the best available players after the first round concluded on Wednesday night.
ESPN’s Jonathan Givony listed Christie as one of his draft sleepers when doing a position-by-position breakdown before the draft:
At 6-foot-6 in shoes and with an impressive 190-pound frame that should carry bulk nicely in the long term, Christie's dynamic shot-making stands out for his age. He ranks as one of the best off-the-dribble shooters in this class, converting 39% of his pull-ups on the season. He also showed some ability initiating out of pick-and-roll, being tasked with more ballhandling responsibility this season than one might expect, helping him develop into more than just a big-time shooter.
As Givony mentioned, Christie is likely not ready to contribute on opening night and will take some time to hone his craft and body before chipping in. The good news is the Clippers can utilize Christie in the G League with their rebranded San Diego Clippers squad in Oceanside.
Christie measured in at nearly 6-foot-5 and 190 pounds at the NBA Draft Combine with a 6-foot-8 wingspan. In his only year at Minnesota, Christie grabbed 3.6 rebounds and dished out 2.2 assists while averaging 30.1 minutes.
“I think you see a wing with a ton of upside on top of already a pretty developed skillset, his ability to shoot the ball from three, off the dribble, catch and shoot, stationary, and on the move is already pretty high level,” Clippers general manager Trent Redden relayed to reporters after the draft.
The Clippers brought in 74 players into their practice facility for draft workouts, according to Redden, but were unable to bring Christie in for a proper workout in Los Angeles, only getting one-on-one time with the 18-year-old at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago.
“The one thing with Cam, and this is where Trent and [scouting coordinator] Jason Piombetti do a great job, is in Chicago we were able to interview him,” Frank told reporters.
“Usually the strategy we take is the guys we know we have very little to no chance to be able to work them out here in L.A., just because they’re projected to go much higher than where we’re at, Trent and Jason do a great job of trying to figure out, okay, who’s that group of guys and that’s who we request for an interview versus the people who we know we’ll get here. We’ll see those guys in L.A. So we were super lucky that we were able to sit down with Cam during the visit they give you in the Combine.”
There are concerns about Christie on the defensive end, but the Clippers will work to iron out those kinks as best as they can.
“I think strength and core strength is going to have a lot to do with his development,” Frank said. “And then the defensive end, that’s going to be critical—lower body strength, core strength to really be able to sit down in a stance, guard the ball, be able to close out from disadvantaged situations.”
With the Clippers’ current cap situation and impending free agency for both Paul George and James Harden, as well as Russell Westbrook and Mason Plumlee, there’s a potential pathway to Christie seeing minutes but the likelihood is the Clippers sign the youngster to a two-way contract and work to get him reps in a less-burdensome environment.
The Clippers currently possess at least one open two-way spot due to Xavier Moon being ineligible to get that same deal again, and the franchise could have two open two-way spots depending on their upcoming decision with center Moussa Diabate, who was selected by the team in the second round back in 2022.
Christie represents the youngest player drafted by the LA Clippers since they selected Yaroslav Korolev with the 12th overall pick in 2005.
