NBA Team Didn’t Recognize Their Own Players. They Asked Him About a Photo That Wasn’t His Family.

Keaton Wagler got drafted fifth overall by the LA Clippers on Wednesday night. The 19-year-old guard out of Illinois was in Los Angeles for three days before the draft, going through workouts and meetings with the franchise. But one of those pre-draft interviews is stuck in his head for a weird reason.

It wasn’t the usual stuff. No personality tests or trick questions about his favorite movie. One team decided to test him by putting up photos of people they said were his family. Except some of them weren’t.

“There was one team that put up pictures of me and my family, and a couple of them just weren’t even my family,” Wagler told ClutchPoints after he got drafted. “I was like, ‘that’s weird.’ They asked me like, ‘who are these people?’ and I was like, ‘I actually don’t know who those people are.’”

Teams will do just about anything to see if a prospect cracks under pressure or tries to bluff their way through a situation. Wagler didn’t bite. He just told them he had no idea who those strangers were.

A point guard who can shoot and thinks

Wagler measured in at 6-foot-6 and averaged 17.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists this season at Illinois. He shot 44.5 percent from the field and nearly 40 percent from three. That kind of shooting and size for a guard is why the Clippers grabbed him so high in a draft that didn’t have a ton of sure things at the top.

He sees himself as a hybrid guard who can slide next to Darius Garland or run the offense himself when Garland sits. “I’m a point guard and combo guard,” Wagler said. “I can play both positions. That’s why I’m going to fit in well with the Clippers. Being able to play alongside Garland will be great. For me to be off the ball and ready to shoot, I feel like I’m a really good shooter. And then when he’s off the ball, having it in my hands, being ready to make plays for myself and others.”

The Clippers already have Kawhi Leonard and Garland as primary ball-handlers. Wagler said he’s fine with that. “My versatility is a big strength. Being able to play all over the floor, I know they’re going to have the ball in their hands a lot and I’m fine with that. I’m going to do whatever it takes to win games.”

As for the photo incident, nobody has said which team pulled that move. Probably won’t matter much to Wagler now. He’s got a Clippers jersey and a rookie contract. And he knows exactly who his actual family is.