Niederhauser

LAS VEGAS — Yanic Konan Niederhauser received the pass near the half-court line from a Clippers teammate who had just stolen the basketball. The 6-foot-11 center maneuvered down the court, his long strides allowing him to use just two dribbles before he took flight outside the circle and threw down a thunderous dunk over helpless Lakers defender Cole Swider.

The crowd inside Thomas & Mack Center went into a frenzy, including Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, who leaped out of his courtside seat, pumped his fists and yelled.

At that moment Monday night, Niederhauser displayed his agility, speed and ballhandling skills. It was another step taken in his progress while playing in the NBA Summer League on the campus of UNLV.

The Clippers had used the 30th and last pick in the first round of the NBA draft to select Niederhauser out of Penn State because they saw potential.

That exciting, and in many ways unexpected, play was an encouraging sign for the Clippers.

“I didn’t see Mr. Ballmer because I was in the moment,” Niederhauser, laughing, said late Monday night. “That’s the guard skills I was talking about and I had a couple of fast breaks these last few days and I passed the ball away. Now I said, ‘Naw, man. I can go up by myself.’ I told myself I was going to dunk it and I did.”

In his first three games in the NBA Summer League, Niederhauser has shown different skills.

It was his defense and rebounding in the first game, against the Houston Rockets in which he blocked four shots and collected 10 rebounds. Though he missed all four of his shots and scored just one point, Niederhauser found other ways to contribute.

It was a little bit of everything in his second game, against the Milwaukee Bucks in which he had two points, three rebounds, two steals and one block.

It was his offense in the third game against the Lakers in which he scored 10 points, grabbed two rebounds and had two steals.

“He just sticks with it,” Clippers assistant and Summer League coach Jeremy Castleberry said. “No matter if it’s going good or bad, he sticks with it. He’s trying his best to do everything we ask him to do. And just like I said after the last game, he continues to get better. From the last game [against the Bucks] to this game [against the Lakers], he was a little bit better than he was last game. He’s getting the dunks, catching the basketball, finishing it, being a rim-protector, consistently running the floor. Like, you can see the progress.”

Niederhauser was born in Bern, Switzerland, a town of about 135,000 an hour from Zurich. Even so, at 15, the Clippers’ international scouts became aware of Niederhauser when he played on the under-16 Switzerland national team. At that time, he was a 6-1 guard.

Niederhauser had a growth spurt at 17 that pushed him into playing center position. He said he was 6-5 when he broke his knee and was forced to sit out for a year.

Clippers center Yanic Konan Niederhauser elevates for a shot over Lakers center Christian Koloko during a Summer League game in Las Vegas.

(Garrett Ellwood / NBAE via Getty Images)

“I was like out for a whole year and once I came back, after a whole year of sitting out and I get back on the court, now I’m 6-11,” he said. “Yeah, in one year, I had to change my whole game from being like a forward/guard to being a center. So, yeah, I had guard skills. That’s why sometimes I be dribbling the ball.”

Niederhauser laughed, agreeing those guard skills helped him make that electric dunk against the Lakers.

His size, weight (242 pounds) and youth (22) are all part of the package the Clippers like.

“We think there’s plenty of upside,” Clippers general manager Trent Redden said. “You know, the famous draft word, obviously. But for a guy that’s his age, he’s still learning and growing into his frame that he hasn’t really had his whole life. We just haven’t had a guy that size at that position in a backup role that’s young that we can feed into and give to our developmental staff.”

As a kid growing up in Switzerland, Niederhauser learned to speak four languages — Swiss, German, French and English.

His parents, Dominique and Nadege Niederhauser, made sure their son was well-versed.

“Since I was a baby, I was speaking all those languages,” Niederhauser said. “My mom, she speaks French. She’s from the Ivory Coast and that’s where I learned French, and my dad speaks mostly German and so that’s how I learned my German.”

Now that Niederhauser is with the Clippers, he’ll have tutors to teach how the NBA game is played.

He will be able to learn from centers Ivica Zubac and Brook Lopez.

Lopez is 37 and a 17-year veteran who signed with the Clippers this summer.

He mentioned how he played with great players like Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Now it’s up to him to pass on knowledge to Niederhauser like others passed on to him.

“I’m absolutely ready to get on the court, help him out and help him adjust and become a great player in this league,” Lopez said.

Niederhauser is soaking it all in while in Las Vegas, from the games to the practices to the conversations he’s had with Clippers coach Tyronn Lue.

“He’s been giving me advice. I can just tell that he has a lot of knowledge,” Niederhauser said. “I’m loving this. I’m in a great situation with experienced players to learn from. I’m just taking time to learn and get my experience. Everything is new to me so I’m just trying my best to soak everything in and just get better every day.”

Some three hours before the Clippers used the 30th and final pick in the first round of the NBA draft to select Penn State’s Yanic Konan Niederhauser, the two top choices went as predicted and then the rest of the order was all over the place Wednesday.

In Konan Niederhauser, the Clippers got a 7-foot center and that was one of the positions they needed help to back up starter Ivica Zubac.

“We always go into the draft board looking for the best available player, and it also coincides this time with a need,” said Lawrence Frank, the Clippers president of basketball operations. “We’ve kind of looked over the years for a center that complements Zu, that does something different than Zu does. Sometimes it’s resulted with guys being undersized where we haven’t been able to maximize it. Yanic has legit positional size and I think the rim-rolling threat, combined with what Zu’s play is, I think in due time will be really, really good.”

As expected, Duke’s talented Cooper Flagg was taken first overall by the Dallas Mavericks. Rutgers’ Dylan Harper, the son of former NBA star and former Laker Ron Harper, was taken second by the San Antonio Spurs.

The rest of the lottery started to take shape with a change, when Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe was taken third by the 76ers.

Duke’s Kon Knueppel went fourth to Charlotte; Rutgers’ Ace Bailey went fifth to the Jazz; Texas’ Tre Johnson went sixth to the Wizards; Oklahoma’s Jeremiah Fears went seventh to the Pelicans; BYU’s Egor Demin went eighth to the Nets; South Carolina’s Collin Murray-Boyles went ninth to the Raptors; Duke’s Khaman Maluach went 10th to the Rockets (but he was traded to the Suns); Washington State’s Cedric Coward was taken 11th by the Trail Blazers (he was traded to the Grizzlies; France’s Noa Esse went 12th to the Bulls, Maryland’s Derik Queen went 13th to the Hawks (he was traded to the Pelicans); and Arizona’s Carter Bryant was taken 14th by the Spurs.

Flagg was at the top of his draft class, a player the Mavericks really needed to take after trading fan favorite Luka Doncic to the Lakers last season, a trade that upset many of Dallas’ fans.

But they now get Flagg, who averaged 19.4 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists in his only season with the Blue Devils.

Konan Niederhauser, 22, who grew up in Switzerland, has been dealing with an ankle injury the Clippers don’t think will be a problem.

He averaged 12.9 points and 6.3 rebounds last season at Penn State.

“I think the reason we decided with Yanic is that he’s got great positional size,” Frank said. “He also has some definite traits in the short term that will carry over, like his ability to run the floor, his ability to play behind the defense in the dunker spot, his ability to play screen-and-roll and be a vertical threat. Those are things that will carry over pretty much on day one.”

The Clippers are a veteran-laden team led by Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, and because of that, Coach Tyronn Lue said any young player they take should follow their lead.

“I think the biggest thing is, coming into the draft, if you’re not a Cooper Flagg, a one, two or three pick, you got to find your way, find your niche to get on the floor,” Lue told a group of fans at the team’s draft watch party at Intuit Dome on Wednesday. “Playing without the basketball, because when you come to this team, or any other team, with Kawhi Leonards, James Hardens on the floor, you’re not going to [get a lot of time]. You have to learn how to play the game and make your teammates better and things like that. And then the most important thing is your attitude.”

When the NBA draft continues Thursday with the second round, the Clippers will pick 51st.

The Lakers didn’t have a first-round pick, but they have a second-round pick at No. 55.

For the Clippers, they have a few things to get worked out.

Harden, who averaged 22.8 points per game, 8.7 assists and 5.8 rebounds and was third-team All-NBA, has a player option for $36.3 million and he has to inform the Clippers of his decision by Sunday.

The consensus around the NBA is that Harden will opt out and seek a two-year extension from the Clippers.

Nicolas Batum has a player option for next season that pays him $4.9 million and he has to let the team know by Sunday of his decision. Norman Powell has one more year on his deal that pays him $20.4 million next season and he also is looking for an extension.