To the surprise of virtually no one, the Clippers announced they will select Oklahoma sophomore Blake Griffin with the No. 1 pick in the June 25 NBA Draft.
The Clippers won the Draft Lottery Tuesday night for the third time in their history.
“After spending a lot of time and effort preparing for the possibility that we didn’t get the No. 1 pick, this now allows us a lot of clarity to take Blake Griffin,” said Neil Olshey, the Clippers assistant GM. “It puts us at ease for the next six weeks.”
The 6-foot-10 Griffin won the 2009 John Wooden Award and said he’s ready to contribute to the Clips.
“They have great players on their team already and I feel like they can be a team that turns it around quickly and does really well next year,” Griffin told Andy Katz of ESPN.
Griffin said he’s ready to make an impact next year.
“I feel like what I went through last year in college helped prepare me,” Griffin said. “I’m not completely prepared for everything that’s going to happen next year. It’s going to be a completely different world, totally different game, but I’m going to try and learn on the fly and do my best.”
