Late night host Jimmy Kimmell highlighted two college basketball teammates in his audience. One was the 2009 AP college Player of the Year, Evan Turner. After some talk on considerations for the NBA, Kimmell said, "I'll be praying for you that you don't go to the Clippers!"

The LA Clippers are known for always getting a lottery pick in the draft. Lottery picks are the 1-14 picks of the draft. Yet they never seem to pull it together. With all that talent, they have made the playoffs once this decade! They have blown it nearly every year since 2000. On the flip side, the Jazz seem to find the diamonds in the rough. With Deron Williams and Ronnie Brewer as their only lottery picks in decades, they continue to make the playoffs year after year.

Here is a history of the Clips picks:

2000

Clippers' record: 15-67, worst.
Pick: Darius Miles, F, East Saint Louis (Ill.) High School (3rd).
Pick No. 2: Keyon Dooling, G, Missouri (10th).
Could have had: Hedo Turkoglu, Michael Redd.

What they said then
"He has a great upside. I just can visualize him playing with Lamar for years to come."
--Baylor on Miles

Postscript
He also had a great downside. The Clippers gave up on Miles after two seasons and 27 games started.

2001

Clippers' record: 31-51, eighth-worst.
Pick: Tyson Chandler, C, Dominguez High School, Compton, Calif. (2nd). Traded to Bulls for Elton Brand.
Could have had: Pau Gasol.

Postscript
Actually, this trade worked out pretty well, at least until Brand convinced Baron Davis to sign with the Clippers after the 2008 season, only to see Brand jump ship to Philadelphia, Davis shoot a disastrous 37 percent from the field, the team trade for Zach Randolph, give nine starts to Ricky Davis, finish with the worst offensive rating in the league and implode to a 19-63 record that had fans itching for the days of Lancaster Gordon and Kurt Nimphius.

2002

Clippers' record: 39-43, 12th-worst.
Pick: Chris Wilcox, F, Maryland (8th).
Pick No. 2: Melvin Ely, C, Fresno State (12th).
Could have had: Tayshaun Prince, Carlos Boozer.

What they said then
"They either took that pick for someone else or they're stupid."
--Charles Barkley, after the team drafted Wilcox

Postscript
Wilcox ended up having a couple decent seasons -- with Seattle. Ely started nine games with the Clippers. Contrary to what coach Alvin Gentry said after this draft, the team was not good.

2003

Clippers' record: 27-55, fifth-worst
Pick: Chris Kaman, C, Central Michigan (6th).
Could have had: David West.

What they said then
"Any time you get the second pick in the draft, it's crucial that you get a player that's going to be a fixture, a contributor and hopefully a star. I'm pretty confident he's going to be able to fulfill all those things."
--Larry Brown

"When you get a special talent like this, and it comes at that size, it's almost impossible to pass on that. As special as I think Carmelo Anthony is, I do believe there will be other great 6-8 small forwards who will come around.
--Joe Dumars

Postscript
Oops, that's what was said about Darko Milicic, not Chris Kaman. As for the Clippers, typical bad luck for them: They got the sixth pick in a loaded draft in which Dwyane Wade went fifth.

2004

Clippers' record: 28-54, tied for fourth-worst.
Pick: Shaun Livingston, G, Peoria (Ill.) Central High School (3rd).
Could have had: Devin Harris.

What they said then
"And he's the type of player, as you give him a few years to mature, you could see him develop into an All-Star in this league. The thing about him that's so compelling is the fact that he just makes everybody else around him better."
--Coach Mike Dunleavy

Postscript
Have we mentioned the bad luck the Clippers have had with injuries? The Clippers passed on Harris, a college point guard, and made Livingston the first high school point guard ever drafted with a lottery pick. Livingston battled injuries his first two seasons but was finally showing promise in his third season when he suffered a knee injury so severe that ESPN warned of the graphic nature of the video clip.

2005

Clippers' record: 37-45, 12th-worst.
Pick: Yaroslav Korolev, F, Russia (12th).
Could have had: Danny Granger.

What they said then
"His offensive skills are very wide and varied, with a very big upside."
--Dunleavy

Postscript
But not wide enough and definitely not varied enough. The 18-year-old Russian did score 39 points -- in his Clippers career.

2006

Clippers' record: 47-35, made playoffs!
Pick: No picks!

2007

Clippers' record: 40-42, 14th-worst
Pick: Al Thornton, F, Florida State (14th).
Could have had: Actually, you can't argue too much about this pick.

2008

Clippers' record: 23-59, tied for fifth-worst.
Pick: Eric Gordon, G, Indiana (7th).
Could have had: After averaging 16.1 points per game and shooting 39 percent on 3-pointers, do the Clippers make the right pick two years in a row?

2009

Clippers' record: 19-63, tied for second-worst.
Pick: Blake Griffin, F, Oklahoma (1st).
Could have had: Anybody else.

OUCH!