Summer League gave the Clippers a reason to believe this draft class can shape what comes next.
The Clippers have not had a draft class feel this important in a long time.
The headliner is Keaton Wagler, the No. 5 overall pick who arrived from Illinois after averaging 17.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists as a one-and-done freshman while shooting 39.7 percent from three.
President of basketball operations Lawrence Frank did not hide how the front office felt about him.
"We were blown away, not just with his game, but with his character," Frank said.
Frank has also praised how quickly the 19-year-old processes the game, pointed out that he can play on and off the ball, and framed the pick around the Clippers' next contending roster rather than today's.
Wagler backed all of it up in Las Vegas, closing Summer League with a 26-point game after a slow start, and he has talked about fitting next to Darius Garland by spacing the floor when the ball is not in his hands.
That is a mature plan for a teenager, and it suggests the self-awareness front offices dream about when they draft this high.
Miller and Martinelli Round Out the Group
The second round might have produced two more real pieces.
Baba Miller, taken 36th overall, blocked seven shots across five Summer League games and looks like the type of long, mobile defender every contender wants on the wing, the sort of player who earns minutes with effort long before the offense catches up.
Nick Martinelli, the 55th pick now on a two-way deal, was the most efficient scorer of the group, including a 19-point game against Washington in which he went 8-for-9 from the field and made all three of his three-point tries.
Neither one needs to be a star for this class to work, because second-round value is measured in dependable minutes rather than headlines.
Los Angeles went 42-40 last season and finished ninth in the Western Conference, and the roster needs cheap, young contributors who can defend and shoot around the veterans instead of another expensive patch.
What It Means for the Franchise
The team around these rookies still has a high floor.
Kawhi Leonard averaged 27.9 points last season and made the All-NBA second team, so the young guys will not be asked to carry anything right away.
Jeremy Lambert has laid out what the starting lineup could look like if Leonard stays, and the front office still has decisions coming, from the case for re-signing Bennedict Mathurin to the way Steve Ballmer is preparing to fight any league punishment.
All of that uncertainty is exactly why the rookies are so valuable.
Draft picks on rookie deals are the one part of the future the Clippers fully control, and this class looks like the best one the franchise has produced in years.
Development is never a straight line, so patience will be required, but patience is a lot easier to sell when the early returns look like this.
If Wagler grows into the player Frank believes he can be, with Miller and Martinelli filling real roles behind him, the bridge from this aging core to the next good Clippers team is already being built.
