Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy suggested Thursday that the team is exploring ways to move up in next week’s NBA draft from its slotted position of seventh in the first round.
Up would be the only movement that Dunleavy said he would consider.
“It wouldn’t make much sense right now for us to move down,” he said.
At the seventh slot, the Clippers probably would still be able to get a player that they like, such as Indiana’s Eric Gordon, whom the team worked out three days ago.
However, the Clippers worked out USC’s O.J. Mayo, in a clandestine session held Wednesday. Mayo is not expected to fall below fourth, where the guard-needy Seattle SuperSonics pick, and surely would snatch Mayo if Minnesota did not pick him.
The Timberwolves and the Clippers have done business in the past - both direct and indirect. Minnesota signed former Clippers center Michael Olowokandi, as a free agent, after the 2002-2003 season.
Then in the summer of 2005, the T-Wolves and Clippers made the deal that sent Marko Jaric and Lionel Chalmers to Minnesota in exchange for Sam Cassell and a future first-round draft choice, that will be lottery-protected for the third consecutive year.
Mayo, no doubt, would love to stay in Los Angeles, which probably is the reason why he and his agent, Leon Rose, agreed to work out for the Clippers.
Whether the Clippers are able to draft him, however, is one of the intriguing questions that will be answered on draft night.
