The Los Angeles Clippers announced today that they have waived former BYU forward Brandon Davies. The Clippers' roster now stands at 15 players.
Davies, who was undrafted out of BYU in the 2013 NBA Draft, was looking to make the team after working out with the Clippers all summer. Davies was part of the Clippers' 2013 Summer League team. In the five games that he played, he averaged 5.8 points and 4 rebounds in 15.8 minutes of play.
The Clippers initially signed Davies back in September, but terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Clippers head coach and senior vice president of basketball operations Doc Rivers had high hopes for Davies, saying, "We really liked Brandon in Summer League. We like his ability to play multiple positions and he fits with our team. He understands team basketball and has been in here all summer working on his game.”
According to a clippers.com report, Davies' summer consisted of working out with Clippers superstar Blake Griffin and playing pickup basketball with the likes of Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony.
Davies played in five preseason games for the Clippers, averaging 3.4 points and 2.8 rebounds in 11.2 minutes of action. To be fair, Davies has faced a lot of adversity throughout his playing career at BYU as well as not being drafted. That did not stop him from growing as a player and as a person.
“It did get me down,” Davies said of not getting selected. “I can definitely use that as fuel, seeing some guys that got drafted that I feel like I can probably be better than, whether that’s now or in the long run. I just know myself. I know I’m going to work every day and try to get better every day.”
Unfortunately for Davies, his time with the Clippers is now over. It remains to be seen if other teams will pick him up before the season starts. Davies, who is known for his hard work, will need to continue to do that to achieve his goal of playing in the NBA.
During his four years at BYU, Davies averaged 12.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 24.1 minutes. As a senior, he averaged 17.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.0 blocks in 36 games played (all starts). He was named to the All-West Coast Conference First Team as a junior and senior.
Justin Giles is a recent graduate of the University of Utah. Email: justingiles22@gmail.com