The Jerry West drafting era has arrived for the Clippers

If somebody told Clippers fans prior to tonight that they’d be trading one of their picks on draft night, dive bars all over Los Angeles would be filled to the brim with well-lubricated comedy writers, day-drinking and daydreaming about the Kawhi Leonard era.

The Clippers, who could dangle a package including the Tobias Harris, the 12th and 13th picks and salary filler, were linked to the Spurs prior to the draft. But they, alongside every other fanbase with a stake in Leonard’s future, will have to continue holding their breath.

Luckily, Clippers fans tuned in for more than Kawhi: the arrival of the Jerry West draft era (they hired him just day’s prior to last year’s draft). West might merely be a consultant, but you don’t hire West -- the hallowed scout with the golden eye that engineered the deal that brought Kobe Bryant to the Lakers and made space for Shaq, who threatened to quit if the Warriors traded Klay Thompson for Kevin Love -- to not consider his input.

And on Thursday, the team that once considered first-round picks expendable and rookie development an afterthought seemed to lean heavy on scouting. Not only were they zoned in, focused on, fixated and unlikely to resist Kentucky point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander prior to the draft, conducting a private workout with him in Los Angeles they traded the twelfth pick and two second-rounders for his rights when the Hornets snagged him at eleventh.

Gilgeous-Alexander, a rangy floor-stretcher, 6’6 with a 7’0 wingspan, is a stat-stuffer who can create for others and lock down on defense. Coupled with one of the long forwards the Clippers left on the board -- Lonnie Walker, Zhaire Smith, Michael Porter Jr. -- and Tobias Harris, they could have fielded a young, explosive portrait of modernity in their starting lineup.

But hours before the draft, Sports Illustrated’s Jake Fischer reported Jerome Robinson --another shooting guard who lacks Gilgeous-Alexander’s athleticism but shares a similar frame -- was a Jerry West favorite. They doubled down and drafted him at No. 13. The 6’7 Robinson, an NBA-ready microwave sharpshooter, is a safe pick but he’s spindly and doesn’t project much defensive potential -- a taller Lou Williams, maybe.

Speaking of which, the Clippers are now loaded at the guard position. Even if Milos Teodosic opts out of his player option and leaves in free agency, Williams was extended during the season, Austin Rivers just opted into his player option, Patrick Beverley and Juwan Evans are still on the books and Avery Bradley’s free agency looms.

Regardless of how these picks pan out -- I have my doubts about Robinson, especially considering the guys they left on the board, but I’m not going acumen-to-acumen with Jerry West -- the Clippers’ work this draft showed a marked difference in demeanour: bold and assertive, with not just one but two first-round picks, a natural extension of a season in which the Clippers fell just short of the playoffs touting a lineup with five rookies (not including Teodosic), two of them two-way G-League players.

If they attended so carefully to the draft and player development during the Chris Paul era, the Clippers may have just stumbled into the small forward solution that plagued them for years.

At the very least, they might have realized that Reggie Bullock, who they traded him away for the coaches son, was a 3-and-D guard wasting away under their noses.

Who knows if it was a matter of philosophy. After all, Doc Rivers -- the same coach who gave away first-round picks without impunity when he also played GM -- had no qualms with relying on and developing multiple unproven players this year. There are only so many hours in a day, and if Rivers couldn’t exactly afford to ignore the threat of the Warriors and Spurs to watch NCAA game-tape all day. But help, mercifully, arrived. Lawrence Frank took over Doc Rivers’ front office role last summer and hired Jerry West. The Clippers, organizationally, should end up better for it.

And you never know: maybe they found out the Spurs really like Gilgeous-Alexander and Robinson.