Bulldogs Become Clippers
LOS ANGELES - Trey Thompkins spent a lot of time watching Blake Griffin and the Clippers last season. He's about to get a much closer look, and says he's undaunted by the prospect.
"Honestly," said the 6-foot-9 power forward, selected by the Clippers with the No. 37 pick in last week's draft, "I'm just going to pick his brain every day, get as much as I can in this next couple days. And I'll be in contact with him and see if we can work together ... become better teammates."
Thompkins and University of Georgia teammate Travis Leslie, taken by the Clippers at No. 47, arrived Sunday to begin getting to know their new team and teammates. Thompkins was paying attention to the team well before his selection, because he attended middle school with Clippers forward Al-Farouq Aminu, and is excited about the team's young nucleus.
"It's definitely a great situation to get into," he said. It's that much better, he added, because he's joined by Leslie, a 6-4, guard.
"To add Travis to that," Thompkins said, "it makes it so much easier, that I have someone that I've been playing the last three years of my career with, who's actually my best friend."
Leslie, who gained a reputation as a spectacular dunker in college, acknowledged a need to improve his ballhandling skills and is aware the transition to the NBA will not be easy.
"I'm up for the challenge," he said. "I know it's going to be hard, but I'm up for it. I'm going to work my heart out."
Neil Olshey, the Clippers' vice president of basketball operations, remains effusive about the way the draft worked out.
"We got an incredibly highly skilled big man in Trey, and we got a lock-down defender in Travis," he said, "and we think they can both make our team and help increase the win total next year.