2025 NBA Draft Press Conference | Lawrence Frank & Trent Redden | LA Clippers

2025 NBA Draft Press Conference | Lawrence Frank & Trent Redden | LA Clippers

super exciting night uh we’re we’re super excited uh with our draft pick of uh of uh uh what’s his name again yanik yeah I’m joking uh Yannik Conan Neerhauser uh we had the uh really good opportunity to get to know Yannik uh really it started back when it was at Northern Illinois with one of our scouts John Lawyer who who saw him there and then when he transferred to Penn State we uh continue to keep an eye on him we have regional scouts there Steve Rosenberry and over time all of us saw him and then the added benefit of Penn State being in the Big 10 they actually practiced at our gym um before they played USC and UCLA and he actually Yannik was coming back from an ankle injury uh and then we had Yannik out the couple weeks ago and Trent and I were able to take him out to dinner and our since he’s nursing a sprained ankle our Maggie Bryant and our performance health and wellness staff was able to spend time with them uh long story short I’ll let Trent tell you his journey of how he got here but I think his his best basketball is ahead of him he’s got great positional size he’s he’s a terrific athlete north to south he’s one of the fastest centers in fact he tested the fastest in the combine he’s a uh very good screen setter roller and vertical lob threat um we think in due time not next year but in you know you you can squint in two years from now you can see him with the ability to shoot some threes he’s got a really really good touch um he’s uh a he’s so thirsty to learn uh and you you’ll kind of get the background when Trent goes into his backstory but he’s super super coachable um he understands the areas he has to get better at um he’s very very motivated to be really really good and we always go on the draft board for best available player and it also coincides this time with a need is we’ve kind of looked over the years for a center that complements Zoo that that does something different than Zoo does um and you know sometimes it’s you know it’s resulted with guys being undersized where we haven’t been able to maximize it yannik has legit positional size uh and I think the rim rolling threat uh combined with what you know Zoo’s play is I think uh in due time will be really really good again uh we’re super excited i’ll turn over Trent to kind of give you some background on Yannik on on how he started this journey yeah he he grew up in Switzerland in a small village outside burn that had like 200 people um at 15 he played kind of when he came on the scene to our international guys Fab um Beznati he he played on a U16 Switzerland team he was still 61 and on that team was also Kashan George and they weren’t particularly good because they were just starting their development journey in terms of their bodies two years later Yannik was 17 18 17 and a half 18 years old and he was 6’9 um growing you know eight inches in less than two years and you can see it with his play that he’s still learning how to play with this massive frame that he has that is freak of nature from there he goes to Northern Illinois he played for two years that’s where John Lawyer saw him for the first time and then goes to Penn State this past year and Jason PMBetty and the rest of the group really started to pick up on him uh he doubled his output essentially in terms of points and rebounds from the MAC to the Big 10 so moved up in level and grew as a player immensely thanks to the coaching staff at Penn State and his own work rate we think there’s plenty of upside you know that’s the famous draft word obviously but for a guy that’s been this age he’s still learning and growing into this frame that he hasn’t had his whole life we think there’s some real upside there um and you know we talked about seeing him out here but the kid himself and being able to go to dinner with him he’s pretty impressive as a human being speaks multiple languages really really loves the game of basketball easy to be around um and you know we think we got a chance to have someone that can learn from Zoo and grow into a role that could play complimentary to him at the center position to as L pointed out we just haven’t had a size position size guy at that position in the backup role that’s young that we can kind of feed into and give to our development staff are there any injury issues with him going into the year and do you expect him to be the backup center uh well I mean I think one his injury so he’s coming off an ankle injury not serious he just sprained his ankle so the uh he’s he was actually getting back there we’ll probably you know kind of just ramp him up gradually he’ll probably be available for some parts of summer leave but we’ll see see where he’s at that um and I think we’ll look at free agency i mean Yannik is even though he’s 22 he’s basketball young cuz to Trent’s point he didn’t start playing the center position till 17 so we really look at his best basketball really is out in front of him and if you track it like Trent talked about him doubling his production but even study his last seven games you know in the Big 10 uh and their last five where they went three and two he’s just he’s just touching it so um we’ll make a decision in terms of you know whether you know TU decides who plays but we’re we’ll probably have at least three centers um and we may want to get a different compliment to balance it because uh it’s it’s hard at any level for rookies to come in but especially on a team like ours but we’ll kind of see how the roster roster plays out how do you guys kind of view their progress yeah it’s not that he just started playing the game of basketball like he’s played it’s just playing with this frame is a little new to him so the physical parts of the game that you would see a normal center have is still a work in progress and we saw growth even from the start of the year to the end of the year 22 as NIL has came into the space you guys have seen that more and more guys are going to be staying in school like the normal seniors and normal juniors will be going to kind of be back in well not vogue but more of the group of being picked you’ll see tonight tomorrow night there’ll be a lot more guys that are going to be older because the incentives to stay in school are different these days there were other bigs out there did you guys go the route of like we want someone who we can develop with a lot of upside versus say there might be more that’s available now uh well I think the draft is so much about projection um and there are a lot of good players available um and it’s always tough deciding one versus the other i think why we decided with Yannik is he’s got terrific positional size um he also has some definite traits in the short term that will carry over like his ability to run the floor his ability to play behind the defense in the dunker spot his ability to play screen and roll and be a vertical threat those are things that will carry over pretty much in day one some of the other things you know the you know the different pick and roll coverages the nuances of you know defensively as a rebounder he has to get better there uh you know he has a knack to get the offensive boards but as Trent talked about in terms of him getting used to playing with this big frame cuz he’s strong and I think it’s just how he applies that functional athleticism going forward but to answer your question I think with all these guys what you what you have to try to do and why it’s such a challenge is what do they look like 12 months from now what do they look like 24 months from now and can you project them when they’re in their prime when they’re 26 years old what are they are they rotation players are they key players off the bench are they just roster players and and the goal is that when you draft especially at 30 I think there’s a 15% chance that the player will be in the league in five years still in the league as a rotation player so you’re just doing your best to try to beat that math and we we feel he has a really good chance to to be that type of player had a question similar to the point that you just made about just the challenges that late first round picks face trying to stick in the league obviously a lot of that is just because the teams are being drafted to or teams that are trying to win veterans you guys have been in that position is that something you guys think of and refine over the years when you see how certain developments have played out with first round picks you guys have had in recent season yeah no doubt and I think it’s you know look we’re always the position we’re in and and not that we’re the only team like this but we’re always trying to be competitive we’re always trying to win and we’re also super fortunate in that we’re in a great market that veteran players want to be and you know we’ve talked about it before i think in terms of young players getting on the floor so first it starts with you know with us in terms of talent identification and character identification mental makeup then it’s the development of that talent and then it’s creating pathways for them to have an opportunity to play and then when they do have an opportunity to play for them to show whether they’re that they’re capable or or not um and it’s tough because you look at even the guys that we’ve had who have been on minimums veteran guys it’s it’s hard for those guys to beat them out so we’re constantly looking and we’re going to make some tweaks in in how we go through with our younger players next year in the the G- League has been unbelievable for our guys it’s been terrific but we’re also probably we’re going to make you know some tweaks in terms of having our guys spending more time with the team here uh so they’re getting practice reps they’re getting hands-on in terms of coaching you know from the coaches here so because back you know I’m going to be uh the old man but back when I was coaching is there was a lot of practices and so for a young guy to earn playing time he would do it in practice he’d beat out the veteran and eventually from a coaching perspective you’re like “Hey he’s wearing this guy out i got to give him a chance.” Well now because in the NBA because of the density of schedule there’s not a lot of practice time other than training camp there’s really no opportunity for young players to compete for playing time that they either do it in the G- League or through just their talent or opportunity they nail it the first time and we know we’ve talked about this uh is figuring out ways for for our younger players to have pathways and also at the same time they have to earn it and we don’t give them anything uh and uh and there’s always a lot of competition because we’re super fortunate to have to have several good players draft process in general specifically if any feedback or excitement that he had specific yeah Tu was great in the draft process i mean not only is here to see the guys work out but he also watches film so it’s it’s great to be able to get his insight uh on all the guys and you have a pretty good sense of the guys in the range uh and to be able to narrow it down but he he was terrific he’s super excited uh you know I think you know cuz not only did he see you know just Yannik’s athleticism uh but we do a a shooting drill called Clipper 105 that’s pretty standard around the league that’s different types of threes and even though again you’re not probably going to see Yannik shoot threes in a game next year but he saw his stroke he was really really impressed about what he could be uh and so uh Tai’s super excited for for Yannic and he adds a different element and plus I think when you meet Yannik as Trent talked about he he’s got a great spirit about him the tricky thing when you do that is um the uh it’s you’re now thinking about that player and I always feel when you’re doing player comps it’s kind of unfair because each player is their own self and and if I say “Hey uh DeAndre Jordan Derek Lively you’re oh you know but you know uh but he has you know he has qualities of those you think about the guys in the league uh and it’s it’s unfair because these guys are all accomplished you know Yannik hasn’t he’s just This is draft night uh so I always think it’s a little bit unfair to put those those expectations on them but you know you have the classic the Clint Capella uh there there’s a wide range of guys in this league uh and we’ve tried to find guys like like that um because you know what you want to do especially when if your center position if they’re basically one position players that they only play one position you’d like to have diverse skill sets zoo has done an unbelievable job of growing his game um and and he’s become one of the best centers in the game ideally and you know whether it’s Yannik whether it’s other people we add we’d like to just have diversity there and I think he’s he’s going to bring that yeah like you could come up with an array of guys that are rolling vertical lob threats that run very well at seven feet that defensively have some ability to switch but are going to play probably in a drop coverage most of the time that are big like you can run the gamut of those guys and those are the type of names you’ll hear i think the unique thing about Yannik is that we’re still figuring that out of what he will be and yeah you don’t really want to put those names on people sometimes but you know those are the skills and so you can probably draw your own connections well that’s why you Ty Lou is the head coach you know yeah but basobly Yeah I mean I would say I’d say we’re just going to have him focus at being a center um and but you you know you never know you watch even how the Rockets you know the double big lineup but I I would say if we try to give our guys especially when we’re onboarding them we just try to keep their box pretty small um because they’re overloaded you know as rookies especially on a veteran team so it’s going to be a center it’s going to be you’re going to focus on you’re going to be an unbelievable runner on both ends you know screener rim roller vertical threat rim protector like the job described at those things and then we’ll we’ll build that but in terms of you know the vision for him is is really as a as a five but as as the league continues to evolve and as people try to negate so much shooting on the floor and to be able to offset it in different ways you know we’re super lucky to have Tailoo who is you know as creative as they come to figure it out but I think right to answer your question I think we’re just going to focus on him being a five right now what would be the best case scenario uh what well what’s the best case scenario that James is is here a long time and you know and the Clippers win championships that’s the best case scenario how do you go about making that place though the uh well I guess probably hire you as the lead negotiator you you know you have you had the James Harden wine have you ever had his wine no champagne all right so uh nothing i mean you know the we’re able to formally engage with James once the finals ended uh he’s our number one priority uh we’re super hopeful uh that that James is here and and he’s here for you know for a long time uh and but yet at the same time we we always respect he has a player option so um he can opt in and obviously um we’re super super excited that or he can opt out and hopefully we can we re we can do a deal that that makes sense for both sides but James as you guys know was was phenomenal uh and you know we hope to continue to see his his play yeah I mean I think very very disappointed like all our guys um our guys and our group really felt we had a real chance not just to get out of the first round but to do something really really special um I think you know when when James and others look back and reflect back we we look at different moments throughout that series where you know we make a play here make a play there that that the outcome could have been different um so there’s always a lot of reflection and I think he he looks first internally and then he’s a super super bright guy and and then we kind of problem solve together and figure out okay what are internally how do we get better uh and you know you look in the mirror first uh and then what kind of needs the team has uh and so uh it it hurts I think all our guys talking to him like it it really hurt because to a man um despite kind of what the outside expectations were the momentum we built and then you know winning 18 of our last 21 and then you know winning that game at Golden State the team I mean thought hey you know this could be this could be our year unfortunately obviously it wasn’t so and you know I know it’s it’s hard and we all have responsibilities um you know in terms of both the good and the bad and and and facing the music um and no excuses are made um but I think when you put so much into it and you fall short everyone deals with that differently um but to answer your question I think he was he was really really disappointed just because his his expectations uh just like all of ours were very very high and unfortunately you know we fell short 12 days we’ve seen about 10 players around the league um how are you guys doing that do you expect to be in the mix in a lot of those as teams are kind of reshaping their team yeah I mean we you know as you know look you you’re always in constant contact with all the teams and you have a a good sense of the things that you can be involved with and and other things that that you’re not um just like we talked about last year that the CBA is is having a huge impact uh you know we made some decisions and some decisions were made last year uh to create flex flexibility for us going forward you see what other teams have to do um and there’s no secrets so um but yeah you’re you’re constantly engaged and looking for opportunities to get the team better um and we’ll continue to do that and uh you know kind of our goal Trent and I the rest of the front office team is how can we get this current group as good as we can possibly be uh to compete at the highest level while also still having flexibility going forward because to your point it’s not going to stop like in you know but and in our case because of you know Steve Tai LA into it dome all the the great things that we’re blessed with that players players are going to be in circulation and we have to be in a position to be able to attain them and you know many times cap space you know gives you that opportunity because we’re super fortunate that that players want to play here for you way to counter Derek good job you got Dennis good uh I’ve learned um Norm is extension eligible obviously kind of the negotiations discussions been like with him and his representation kind of how has that gone but then also this is the first time entered the offseason healthy um kind of how’s he been where’s he at not physically but you know in terms of kind of him being ready for the summer and the offse getting ready for camp is he where you guys want yeah so Norm uh extension conversations actually can’t start until July um and you know at the appropriate time you know we’ll we’ll sit with with Norm and his representative enough to you know to talk about kind of you know an extension and what it would look like and how it would fit in the in the bigger picture um with Kawhai he actually he continued to train all the way until basically the the end of the finals because he wants to wanted to push his body to get to that point so he can play deep in June um he’s extremely excited because to your point it’s the first time in a while he’s not rehabbing from a surgery an injury um and he’s you know he’s you know he’s he’s really you know he’s he’s able to get back to training to you know whether it’s improving things in his game adding different things that he wants with his in terms of his his strength and explosiveness with his body um and just getting back to working uh as opposed to rehabbing uh so yeah I mean he he pushed himself all the way until the finals and you know now he’ll continue with his his normal summer routine thank you very much thank you very much guys thanks for hanging out thanks y’all

LA Clippers President of Basketball Operations Lawrence Frank & General Manager Trent Redden spoke to the media following the selection of Yanic Konan Niederhauser with the 30th overall pick.

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