He is a Real Madrid product, he is going to be an NBA star and can save the Clippers: Baba Miller

The Los Angeles Clippers have become rich and poor. The opulent Intuit Dome of more than 2,000 million – the most expensive arena in the NBA – is in reality a desolate solar devastated by the excesses of a past that have left a mortgaged future as its only inheritance. The era of the Kawhi Leonard – Paul George duo that dawned in 2019 has ended in 2026 with a catastrophic deficit: zero rings, a waste of more than 1.2 billion dollars in salaries, the two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander given away by PG and a scandalous waste of 10 first-round draft picks – not counting trades -, among the 5 given to the Thunder in 2019 for PG and the five lost as punishment for the Kawhi Leonard case. One of the picks given to OKC, the 12th in which Aday Mara was selected.

And although George left the very ‘bandit’ for free in 2024, Kawhi has left as a return in the operation with the Raptors a good loot with Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and two first-round draft picks of 2031 and 2033, a 2027 trade and two second rounds of 2030 and 2033 as draft capital. But Ingram is a damaged commodity – he partially ruptured his Achilles tendon and the Clippers won’t own a first-round pick until 2034.

So it was normal that, with a broken voice, the interim president of operations of the Clippers, Trent Redden, appeared before the media with an appearance of a lost soul, acknowledging that the issue is hairy.

“Our fans deserve to hear this from us: we are sorry. The pain you have felt during this time is real, we feel it and we listen to you. The penalties we face are significant and we will fulfill them. We hope to keep our promises to earn your trust,” Redden said at Media Day in a resonant statement like few others in recent years.

Redden is the replacement for president of operations Lawrence Frank, suspended six months for Kawhi’s salary cap evasion case while the owner of the Los Angeles franchise, Steve Ballmer, has been suspended for one year.

But after the financial and draft looting that the era of the PG – Kawhi duo has left as a ruinous legacy, a sibylline draft robbery as a powerful hope for the present and future: Baba Miller.

Even with the mess of the draft that exists, with the handful of fateful decisions of recent times, the Los Angeles Clippers were ready to select in a low draft range – 36 – a player of high value or who, at least, aims to rise like foam like the Spaniard.

“He’s a little unique considering his skill set,” said Trent Redden on the night of Miller’s draft, one of this year’s five Spaniards in this NBA with also Santi Aldama and Sergio de Larrea (Dallas Mavericks), Hugo González (Boston Celtics) and Aday Mara (Oklahoma City Thunder).

But too little is being said at this start of the preseason in the United States about the 22-year-old Mallorcan forward who is 2.11 tall and has a reach of 2.82. The echo of the Kawhi Leonard affair still resonates and in purely sporting terms, Ingram’s injury and the sudoku of guessing the Clippers’ starting five with all the changes that have been made have to do with it. Darius Garland -who arrived in February for James Harden-, and other interesting summer reinforcements such as former Laker Rui Hachimura, Max Strus and Bradley Beal -signed again-, are some of the names that raise more expectations.

And when it comes to talking about the draft, number 5 Keaton Wagler monopolizes all the spotlights. Baba Miller himself has not spoken so far either, although sooner or later he will do so in this training camp.

But Miller can raise his voice on the court soon so that the rest realize what the Clippers are up to with the exuberant Spanish forward trained at Real Madrid and who will debut in the NBA after four years in the NCAA. And calling him ‘forward’ is unfairly pigeonholing Baba because he can play in all positions from ‘3’ to ‘5’ as he demonstrated in the Summer League with his combination of ball handling, game vision, mobility and athletic power, with shooting being an aspect he has to work on.

“The truth is, I will be the type of player that the coaches ask of me,” the Mallorcan told MD in the summer league.

“Whatever they need I will do as long as I can be versatile, do different things and take advantage of my rivals depending on the qualities they have, that is key,” Miller also said, who is inspired by the star of the neighboring Lakers Luka Doncic. After all, the Spanish international grew up as a Real Madrid youth player.

Although they play in different positions, the Mallorcan tries to emulate the Slovenian.

“I try to replicate the vision of the game, try to calm down a little, not go so fast all the time because in the end he is a player who controls his pace a lot. So, trying to calm down on the court and make the best decisions and then obviously the passes he gives and the field vision he has, is something that I really liked, I pay attention and try to learn,” Baba Miller also explained.

Of Senegalese and British origin, the Palma-born player began playing for Bahía San Agustín in Mallorca and then moved to Madrid to play for the Olympic District and joined the Real Madrid youth team at the age of 12. Pablo Laso made him debut with the first team in the Euroleague in December 2021, the year in which he was part of the white team that won the junior Euroleague after defeating the Barça of James Nnaji, Michael Caicedo and company in the final.

Faced with the dilemma that many talented young people find themselves, Miller went to look for a life in the NCAA in 2022, playing in Florida State for two years, in Florida Atlantic for one and Cincinnati for the last one before being drafted by the Clippers in ’36. The Mallorcan shouted that he was ready for the NBA in that last college season with numbers of 13 points, 10.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 32 minutes with a 53% in field goals and 19% in triples, his only mole.

Trent Redden was talking about the draft that night, which led the Los Angeles franchise to select Baba.

“You have a guy who has averaged a double-double with rebounds in the Big 12 while being able to play outside and pass at a high level. You can make plays through him as a connector, he feels comfortable dribbling, penetrating and passing outside, and his vision with either hand is impressive and you don’t see it very often with a guy who averaged a double-double with rebounds in a big league,” the executive noted.

The Clippers still have a ways to go to figure out their starting quintet at this start of reconstruction with a medley of veteran players who finished the previous project and new ones. Brook Lopez (38 years old), Bradley Beal (33) and Kris Dunn (32) are the oldest in a team in which Darius Garland at 26 years old leads a large group of young people with names like Kobe Sanders (24), Gradey Dick (22), the aforementioned rookie Keaton Wagler (19) or Baba himself. The coach of the Los Angeles team, Tyronn Lue, said yesterday that he tried a quintet made up of Garland, Strus, Hachimura, Derrick Jones and Isaiah Jackson.

With the Clippers just starting their new era, the season will be open for Lue to experiment and exploit Miller’s versatility, a coveted treasure in this basketball in which the boundaries between positions are increasingly blurred. With his combination of size and skills, Baba easily creates mismatch and, while he may lack muscle to face pure centers, he can put the more traditional ‘5’ in trouble with his footwork and mobility and dragging them away from the paint with his ease in playing on the outside. Of course, the three-point shot is a vital area of ​​improvement in this NBA in which the three-point shot continues to expand endlessly.

“What facets can I improve? The shot, being more consistent and the body. The stronger I am, the more contact I will be able to receive and give. It will help my style of play and compete at the highest level,” also said Baba Miller, who projects maturity and serenity off the court.

A player that modern times require, his natural versatility will greatly facilitate his adaptation to the best league in the world as well as the context of reconstruction of the Lakers’ neighbor and, no less important, being a native English speaker as his mother is British. The Clippers look ragged after all the spending of the Paul George & Kawhi Leonard era between wasted money and squandered draft capital, but they have been able to find a priceless gem in that draft steal called Baba Miller.