Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea
One of the more talented prospects in the 2012 NBA draft could be on the verge of joining a playoff contenders summer league team next season, and that player is Royce White.
The 24 year old suffers from an anxiety disorder and it has derailed his career up until this point which he has received interest from quite a few teams according to RealGM:
Royce White is closing on a commitment to join the Los Angeles Clippers to make his NBA comeback in the July Summer League, league sources told RealGM.
White has considered interest from several organizations, including the Chicago Bulls, San Antonio Spurs and New Orleans Pelicans, but gained trust with the Clippers’ front office through dialogue with brass members.
White is nearing a commitment to the Clippers, but the 6-foot-8 forward will stay away from signing any sort of free-agent deal in order to showcase himself for the NBA’s other 29 teams. He has spent the year training in Minnesota with trainer Chris Carr.
There’s no doubt White has talent, but it’s tough to determine if his game will transfer to the NBA. The Rockets took a chance on White selecting him 16th overall which he would not suit up for the team due to White’s illness which the Rockets and White had a dispute over the handling of his disorder.
The Rockets and White would then sever ties as the Rockets would ship him off to Philadelphia to create cap space to sign Dwight Howard.
White has been on the Rockets roster along with the Philadelphia 76ers and Sacramento Kings where he played in a total of 3 games in 2013-2014.
As the Clippers are on the verge of inviting White to camp, if they can hash out details how to help him overcome or cope with the hectic traveling schedule of an everyday NBA player I think Doc Rivers is the perfect coach to help develop White.
If the possibility of Paul Pierce to the Clippers exists that means White will have the perfect mentor.
The Clippers will need smaller moves like this to add depth with limited cap space to work with especially if the Clippers plan to hang onto DeAndre Jordan this off-season.
These moves can sometimes pan out as Hassan Whiteside did for the Miami Heat, but this one has a different set of circumstances. Hopefully White can overcome his anxiety disorder for the chance of a lifetime to continue his NBA career.
