The Los Angeles Clippers entered the 2022 NBA Draft with only one pick: the 43rd overall pick. Three hours later, they exited the draft with only one selection: Moussa Diabate with that No. 43 pick. It's the first time since 2014 the Clippers did not facilitate any trades on draft night.

“We are super excited to have drafted Moussa,” Clippers president Lawrence Frank said of Diabate. “We've been following Moussa for a while.”

With only one pick for LA in what was a rather quiet night for them, here's a grade for that selection.

LA Clippers 2022 NBA Draft Grades

Moussa Diabate: B

The Clippers selected Moussa Diabate out of the University of Michigan. The 6-foot-11 forward/center weighing in at 210 pounds played just one season at Michigan under head coach and longtime NBA veteran Juwan Howard. At just 20 years of age, Diabate is a raw prospect with upside, but he's not ready to contribute right away and especially not for a team with championship aspirations.

That's okay, though.

“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,” Lawrence Frank explained of Diabate. “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.”

In his lone season at Michigan, Diabate averaged 9.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks per game on 54.2 percent shooting. None of those numbers are gaudy, but that's to be expected with a product considered to be a work in progress.

“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,” 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.”

Diabate's best game came in a matchup against the Iowa Hawkeyes in February 2022, where he dropped a career-high 28 points to go along with eight rebounds and a blocked shot.

In today's positionless basketball, the Clippers could elect to place Moussa Diabate at the power forward or the center spot. It's a decision they'll mull over the next few months and likely experiment with at NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

“I think early on, his advantage, especially offensively, is going to be at the 5. If you look at his dimensions, it's very similar to some of the other 5s in this league, and I'm not saying he's the — he's a different type of player. But you know, he's the same height, length, as guys like Isaiah Jackson, Daniel Gafford, different in how he plays.

“I think probably playing some 5 and also what we saw in the workout, he has some really good grab-and-go skills. He has some good passing instinct. The shot, it's going to take time. There's a base, so I think to exclusively play him on the perimeter, probably won't be playing to his strength. I'd probably say more 5, 4.

“What was intriguing was we saw the ability for him to guard 2, 3, 4, 5, and just those — the feet, you look at his body, it's going to fill out. He's probably 212 pounds now, so I think taking the time to continue to build up his frame while maintaining his vertical and lateral quickness, and explosion.”

The Clippers have one of the best developmental programs in the league. It started with assistant coach Kenny Atkinson in the 2020-21 season and assistant coach Shaun Fein has continued its progression. To look for the improvements, look no further than Terance Mann turning into a legitimate rotation player for the Clippers after being drafted 48th overall. Brandon Boston, who was selected 51st overall, is also starting to come into his own despite being just 20 years old.

Moussa Diabate is going to get chances to develop and improve over the next few years. There were also a few bigger, more seasoned prospects the Clippers could've drafted, but elected not to. Maybe Diabate pans out. Maybe he won't. It's far too early to guess how that will play out.

From me, the LA Clippers get a solid ‘B' as their 2022 NBA Draft Grade.