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Los Angeles Clippers 2016-17 report cards: Diamond Stone

By Nicholas Agar-Johnson

September 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) and center Diamond Stone (0) play a free throw game during media day at Clipper Training Facility in Playa Vista. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
September 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) and center Diamond Stone (0) play a free throw game during media day at Clipper Training Facility in Playa Vista. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /
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Los Angeles Clippers
September 26, 2016; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Clippers center DeAndre Jordan (6) and center Diamond Stone (0) play a free throw game during media day at Clipper Training Facility in Playa Vista. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports /

Diamond Stone did not play much in his first year with the Los Angeles Clippers, but he may be a key piece of their future.

Diamond Stone finished his high school career on a high note. Stone was the sixth-best player and second-best center in his high school class, according to ESPN. However, his mediocre freshman year at Maryland caused him to tumble all the way down to the 40th overall pick.

Stone played only 24 minutes for the Los Angeles Clippers in his rookie season, but showed promise on both ends of the floor during his time in the D-League. While he was mostly a pure post-up big in high school and college, he showed a nice shooting touch that will help him earn a rotation spot in the league.

The Clippers did not get to see much out of their young center at the NBA level. However, he only just turned 20 years old and has a lot of development time ahead of him. The “diamond in the rough” puns will quickly become cliches if he has a solid year in 2017-18.

However, he could fill a number of holes in the Clippers’ rotation. If Stone can build on some of the promising signs from his D-League tenure, he may find himself in the big league rotation sooner rather than later.

Offense

Diamond Stone made only three of his 13 shots for the Clippers this season. However, he showed flashes of his potential during his time in the D-League.

Stone averaged 21.7 minutes per game in the D-League and was an effective scorer from nearly everywhere on the court. His shooting splits of 49-37-83 would be impressive for a guard, let alone a big man. Most notable among those splits is his solid shooting from beyond the arc:

Although his shooting touch is impressive, Stone’s offensive game is mostly predicated on looks in the post. Those looks will be harder to come by in the NBA. Although he makes up for it to some degree with his 7’3″ wingspan, Stone is only 6’10” in shoes. That relative height disadvantage will make it harder for him to eat in the post against smaller players.

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Stone will also need to improve his passing and ball control to be effective on offense. After struggling to pass out of double teams in college, Stone averaged just 0.8 assists per game but 2.7 turnovers per game in the D-League.

On the more positive side of the possessions ledger, Stone showed great energy on the offensive glass. His 10.3 percent Offensive Rebounding Rate would have been in the upper echelon of NBA bigs this season.

Overall, Diamond Stone put up an impressive season on the offensive end. While his turnover ratio was troubling, he will probably not see the ball enough in the post to be overly turnover-prone. His solid stroke from deep is incredibly promising. His size alone paired with that shooting touch could make him a capable fill-in for Marreese Speights as early as next season.

Grade: B-

Defense

Diamond Stone was a solid rim protector in college. He averaged 2.9 blocks per 40 minutes, and he was able to use his solid frame to keep opponents from getting into the paint. Those shot-blocking instincts occasionally appeared during his D-League tenure:

Unfortunately for Stone, he struggled defensively when forced outside of the paint. His lack of elite lateral mobility, a question mark in college, continued to haunt him as he tried to cover pick-and-rolls. That might be a passable weakness in the D-League, but it will be deadly in the modern NBA.

Stone did manage to grab a respectable percentage of rebounds on the defensive glass. His 24 percent Defensive Rebounding Rate is not as strong as his offensive work. However, it is a marked improvement from his less impressive college numbers on the glass.

Grade: C-

Future Outlook

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    • While Diamond Stone did not show much during his time in the NBA, his D-League performance this season was better than could have been expected.

    Most of that is due to how much better his jump shot has looked this season. While he might not be quite ready to shoot more than two three-pointers per game at the NBA level, that volume is a far cry from his zero three-point attempts in college.

    Stone will ultimately have to completely revamp his game to be successful in the NBA. The post-up big man is dying out as it is, and Stone will not be able to bully opponents down low as he did in college and high school.

    However, he already showed a willingness to try to change his game during his time in the D-League, and that will be crucial to his ability to eventually succeed in the NBA.

    Grade: B

    Overall

    Diamond Stone will in all likelihood never be an NBA starter. His poor passing vision will make it tough for teams to run their offense through him in the post. His relative lack of lateral mobility will make it tough for them to rely on him to cover opponents in the pick-and-roll.

    However, the Clippers showed just how thin their big man rotation was after the Blake Griffin injury. DeAndre Jordan and Marreese Speights were the only Clippers taller than 6’8″ that received minutes after Griffin went down.

    Diamond Stone is still early in his development, but if he can sustain his shooting touch he will carve out a role in the NBA. The Clippers may have a role for him as early as next season, and his progress this year indicates that he will be ready to fill that role when the time comes.

    Next: The top 10 moments of Paul Pierce's NBA career

    Final Grade: B-

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