PLAYA VISTA — For the first time since 2014, the Los Angeles Clippers did not make a trade on NBA Draft night. Instead, the organization retained its No. 43 pick, selecting 20-year old Moussa Diabate from the University of Michigan in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft.

“We are super excited to have drafted Moussa,” Clippers president Lawrence Frank said in a statement following the draft. “We've been following Moussa for a while, and through this draft process, it's really been a unique opportunity to spend really a lot of time with Moussa in a short amount of time.”

Diabate, a 6-foot-11 forward weighing 210 pounds, played just one season at Michigan, where he averaged 9.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks per game on 54.2 percent shooting. By all accounts, Diabate is a developmental prospect the Clippers hope will turn into a legitimate role player.

Moussa Diabate grew up in Paris, France, and went to high school at the IMG Academy, where he was a McDonald's All-American. He then played for the Michigan Wolverines under head coach and 19-year NBA veteran Juwan Howard.

“The way we looked at him is he's a guy that has an unbelievable motor who has shown the ability to switch and guard multiple positions and brings a little bit more athleticism,” Lawrence Frank added. “He's kind of an undersized 5, 4, but where the game is going for the bigger players in this league, you're either rim protectors, you have the ability to switch or you can do both. And we want to be able to build his game and be able to start with the platform of a great motor who has really, really good feet and then build up his game.”

According to Frank, the Clippers brought in about 26-30 players for pre-draft workouts and interviews. In addition to those, the team also went and visited a number of prospects as well. It wasn't an easy decision by any means, and the organization knows Diabate will be a work in progress.

“He's very much a development player and that's how we look at it, and no different than some of our other young players. You need to start with a base. We like to have a balance of different skill sets that can fit together, and grow with these young guys, and we have an unbelievable, you know, coaching staff, player development staff, Agua Caliente coaching staff, and we thought Moussa has both the character traits on and off the court that we felt we could really build on.

“So we are super excited to have Moussa.”

The Clippers wouldn't divulge what kind of contract they'd be signing Moussa Diabate to, but the big man is expected to join Brandon Boston, Jason Preston, and Jay Scrubb on the Clippers' Summer League team in Las Vegas.

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“All those young guys have been in the gym. They come in Monday through Thursday. One thing that's been really, really nice, we've had anywhere from nine to 11 guys every day in the gym and it's an unbelievable atmosphere. I credit our players, our player development staff. They come in and they work. Our performance staff is doing a great job with our players, and it's a great balance between veteran players, young players, and you just see an urgency and a drive.

“I think after going through the year we did where there are a lot of positives but yet ultimately the goal is to be the last team standing, you just get a sense of a great urgency to try to maximize the opportunity we have in front of us.”

On top of the NBA Draft, the LA Clippers don't plan to make many moves outside of retaining their free agents. Nicolas Batum and Isaiah Hartenstein are the two free agent priorities. Batum is expected to re-sign and Hartenstein has been seen working out with Clippers teammates over the last few weeks.

The Clippers haven't been able to see their core healthy and on the court at the same time. Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Norman Powell are expected to take the floor together for the first time in October. The organization has been anxious to see what their team looks like healthy.

“I think our No. 1 goal on free agency is we would like to try to retain our free agents,” Frank explained. “I think we have a pretty good sense of, you know, how we are going to play. I mean, I think we just go back to two years ago, and then we have added some real significant pieces to that.

“And then even though we haven't had the benefit of seeing what it looks like, I think you just have to project a little bit. We are really, really fortunate that Steve has given us the resources to put together the type of team that we have, and you know, and then we continue to assess, okay, how can we continue to upgrade, how can we get better.”

Free agency is set to begin on June 30.