The Los Angeles Clippers selected Terance Mann with the 48th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft. It was the team's second pick of the night behind 27th overall pick Mfiondu Kabengele, who was Mann's teammate at Florida State. When selecting late in the draft, teams are mostly banking on the strength of their player development staff, but also just getting lucky and striking gold. The Clippers were able to do both.

In just two short years, including a rookie year where he rarely saw the floor thanks to the veteran-laden roster, Terance Mann has become an invaluable player. Mann was always a fan favorite, leading comebacks throughout the year and showing off his versatility on both ends. That fandom, however, was injected with steroids when he did the unthinkable.

Mann scored a career-high 39 points in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals against the Utah Jazz. It was a game in which the Clippers trailed by 25 early in the third quarter and were somehow able to claw back into it thanks to Mann's heroics. He literally put the entire league on notice, and general managers around the league haven't forgotten.

In NBA.com's annual GM survey, one of the questions executives around the league were asked was this: “Which player is most likely to have a breakout season in 2021-22?”

He didn't receive the most votes, but Terance Mann was named as a player who could have a big season following his breakout postseason performance. When asked about receiving that kind of recognition, Mann told members of the media how he really felt.

“You said, GMs?,” Mann asked before pausing. “The ones that didn’t draft me? Until the 48th pick? Man, I don’t care about that sh-t.”

After playing sparingly off the bench in the first nine postseason games, Mann started six of the final eight games for the Clippers. He averaged 12.8 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and a steal per game while shooting an absurd 55.7 percent from the field and 44.8 percent from beyond the arc.

The Clippers are now hoping the soon-to-be 25-year-old Terance Mann takes a big leap in a year that'll start without Kawhi Leonard available.

“You saw the confidence build throughout the year,” president Lawrence Frank said prior to training camp. “You look at post-All-Star break, what he did and then initially not be in the playoff rotation and then, obviously many people will think about the 39-point game against Utah, but there were a lot of positive contributions. He's had a tremendous offseason of growth, both skill level, I think confidence wise.”

Even head coach Tyronn Lue struggled to pinpoint where exactly Mann needs to improve most to take the next step in his development, pointing to his already staggering growth.

“I don’t know,” Lue admitted. “I really don’t. He’s improved his shooting, he’s improved attacking the basket, getting to the rim, he’s improved his rebounding, so I don’t know what the next step is to be honest. But when he’s on the floor, he makes this happen. We understand that.

“I think the biggest thing for me is, defensively, continue to keep getting better if I had to pick one thing. Be able to guard the point guards and then be able to guard bigger players if you gotta switch onto a 4, be able to guard those guys as well. If there’s one thing I gotta pick, I’d probably just say defensively.”

Mann and the Clippers have two preseason games remaining, one in Dallas and the other in Ontario, CA. The team will kick off their regular season on Oct. 21 against the Golden State Warriors.