Clippers introduce Keaton Wagler, then round out draft class with size and skill

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — When LA Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank met the media at the end of the season, he was asked what was needed from a personnel standpoint. There’s the draft and free agency, as well as trades and the retention of players. And then there’s internal improvement, in which young players develop and incumbent veterans get healthier and/or hone their fit within the team. Frank mentioned secondary ball handling, rebounding, and shooting as necessary areas of improvement.

As the Clippers come out of the 2026 NBA Draft, they have selected players to address their weaknesses, starting with Illinois point guard Keaton Wagler with the fifth overall pick. In Wednesday’s second round, they took Cincinnati power forward Baba Miller, who can address their rebounding issues, 36th overall, then grabbed Northwestern power forward Nick Martinelli to help with their shooting after acquiring the 55th pick. The Clippers also used the No. 57 pick on a player who will stay overseas in French center Narcisse Ngoy.

The prize is Wagler. After he was taken with the Clippers’ highest draft pick in 17 years and their first lottery pick in eight years, Wagler and his family touched down at Intuit Dome to meet the media and his new fanbase. Wagler, a Kansas native who will be a teenager until February of the 2026-27 NBA season, picked a new number (1) after wearing 23 last season at Illinois, got to see his spot in the locker room and sat down for a question-and-answer session at center court.

The Clippers expressed how impressed they were with Wagler, and how loyal and dedicated he is to winning and playing the right way. Wagler, in turn, feels the Clippers are the right team for him.

“I learned a lot throughout this whole process, talking with them at the combine,” Wagler said. “And then when I came and worked out here, I got to spend a good three days here. And I just saw just how genuine they were: front office, coaches, players. They’re all around, and they were just super genuine. And I mean, I just love the culture that they have built. And they have some young players and some veterans that I can learn from. And it’s just, I feel like I fit in really well here. And I mean, yeah, this is the place that I want it to be. And I’m just super excited to get going.”

The last Clippers lottery pick was future two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in 2018. Gilgeous-Alexander was a 19-year-old one-and-done guard who measured in at 6-foot-5 and 180 pounds at the combine. Wagler, also a one-and-done guard, measured in at the same height and a similar weight (188 pounds). While Wagler acknowledged the Gilgeous-Alexander similarity, there was another star point guard in the 2025 NBA Finals to whom Wagler feels he is a closer model. That player comes from the Indiana Pacers team that made it possible for the Clippers to select Wagler at No. 5 in this draft.

“I mean, I watch a lot of good NBA guards like (Tyrese) Haliburton and SGA, and a couple others,” Wagler said. “So I try to just steal little things out of each of those players. But I think the closest person is probably Haliburton, just off of size and the way we play, being able to have a really good feel for the game and use ball screens to create advantages.”

In another moment that showed a parallel between the Clippers moving from one era to the next, Wagler was asked who his favorite player was growing up.

“Paul George,” Wagler said, mentioning a player about whom Clippers fans still have mixed feelings. “I started watching when he was with the Pacers and OKC.”

Wagler is the third guard on the Clippers roster to be a No. 5 overall pick, along with Kris Dunn (2016) and Darius Garland (2019). Being the fifth pick is not easy; the only one of the past ten to make a first team All-Rookie was 2019 Rookie of the Year runner up Trae Young. Six of the past ten failed to make an All-Rookie team at all, and nine did not play on a winning team as rookies. Dunn and Garland were on both lists.

But Dunn has carved out a ten-year career, and Garland is a two-time All-Star. Wagler described Garland as a “super cool person” and the first to text him after he was selected. Whether Wagler will be Garland’s backup or co-starter, he is ready to learn from both Garland and Dunn.

“I’m definitely gonna ask a lot of questions, and want to talk to them a lot,” Wagler said. “Just to learn what they went through and how they go about their days of getting in workouts and balancing that with everything else.”

The Clippers were content to stay put at No. 5 and draft Wagler. They did the same with Miller, taking an All-Big 12 selection who led the conference in rebounds with 10.3 per game. Miller is 6-11 with a 7-2 wingspan. He’s too light at 208 pounds to be a center, and he needs to improve his shooting. He made only 19.2 percent of his 52 3-point attempts last season while shooting only 65.8 percent from the free-throw line.

But Miller got to the free-throw line 4.8 times per game and averaged 3.7 assists against 2.2 turnovers, meeting the skill threshold that the Clippers desire in power forwards. Miller also added 1.2 blocks per game while averaging only 2.3 personal fouls.

Baba Miller is selected 36th overall by the @LAClippers in the 2026 NBA Draft!

Watch on ESPN. pic.twitter.com/8jdJrFZr9h

— NBA (@NBA) June 25, 2026

“You had a guy that averaged a double-double with rebounds in the Big 12 while also being able to play out on the floor and pass it at a high level,” said Clippers general manager Trent Redden. “You can run things through him as a hub. He’s comfortable going off the dribble and playing drive and kick. His vision with either hand is pretty impressive, that you don’t see often with a guy who also averaged double-digit rebounds in a higher-level league. It was a little unique for what we thought we could get there to say the least.”

Redden wasn’t able to comment on the acquisition of the 55th pick in the draft used to select Martinelli, or the 57th pick used to select Ngoy. A team source confirmed to The Athletic that Ngoy will be the team’s first overseas stash selection since David Micheneau in 2016. But Martinelli wound up being the team’s sixth draft pick out of the Big Ten since 2019, and his Northwestern team played Wagler’s Fighting Illini twice last season.

Martinelli increased his 3-point volume every season at Northwestern, making 1.4 per game in 2025-26, while improving his percentage to 41.7. He led the Big Ten in scoring the past two seasons, both at more than 20 points per game.

At 6-7, 224 pounds and a 6-10 wingspan, Martinelli is a little undersized for power forward and would be at an athleticism deficit at small forward. But he can dribble and shoot, and made himself a draftable prospect following a return to school following a brief stretch on the 2025 pre-draft circuit.

With the draft over, the Clippers can shift into the next phase of the offseason. Miller will likely get a standard contract, something to watch with starting power forward John Collins entering unrestricted free agency and the Clippers holding a team option on veteran Nicolas Batum. Martinelli could be an asset on a two-way contract, one year after second-round rookie Kobe Sanders jumped from that status to playing this sixth-most minutes of any Clipper.