{"id":760113,"date":"2026-06-13T16:15:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T16:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/760113\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T16:15:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T16:15:15","slug":"jalen-brunsons-finals-dominance-may-compel-clippers-into-drafting-darius-acuff-jr","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/760113\/","title":{"rendered":"Jalen Brunson&#8217;s Finals dominance may compel Clippers into drafting Darius Acuff Jr."},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5l\">Jalen Brunson, an undersized point guard, has dominated the NBA Finals, with an average of 29.5 points, leading the New York Knicks to a remarkable 3-1 lead over the San Antonio Spurs. He\u2019s done so by scoring at all three levels, and ultimately not shying away from the 7\u20194 unanimous Defensive Player of the Year in Victor Wembanyama, whom he\u2019s drilled countless shots over. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5o\">What does this mean for the LA Clippers? Well, due to the fact that Brunson is at a height disadvantage and on the verge of entering the promised land, he\u2019s modern-day proof that Darius Acuff Jr. can still become a superstar, despite measuring in at the combine at six-foot-three, and should be taken at fifth overall.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5r\">So, on draft night, the Clippers\u2019 front office should use Brunson\u2019s run on the biggest stage as a reason to <a href=\"https:\/\/clipperholics.com\/clippers-disregard-concern-draft-player-everyone-says-shouldnt\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">snag Acuff Jr. off the board<\/a>, which, to many fans, is the obvious choice, considering he\u2019s widely regarded as the best player available beyond the likely top-four.<\/p>\n<p>If Jalen Brunson can do it, surely Darius Acuff Jr. has the potential to <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5x\">Being under the belief that Darius Acuff Jr., one day in the future, could do what Jalen Brunson is doing in the NBA Finals is not a stretch, even the slightest. This is because both guards have mastered creating space with the rock, reaching their sweet spots, and scoring through contests shots against the defense.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"60\">Additionally, it\u2019s worth noting that Acuff Jr. was third in the entire country in scoring for the Arkansas Razorbacks at 23.5 points per game, and he did so while shooting 48.4% from the field and 44.0% from beyond the arc on nearly six attempts.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"63\">Long story short, these numbers are impressive; there\u2019s no other way around it. Acuff Jr. is a naturally gifted scorer, <a href=\"https:\/\/clipperholics.com\/next-jalen-brunson-sitting-right-front-clippers\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">just like Brunson<\/a>, and at a height like theirs, you cannot teach how to get buckets. A player either has it or they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"66\">The trait they also share is playmaking. Brunson, as we all know, is a one-of-a-kind at reading the passing lanes and executing to perfection, but so is Acuff Jr., who averaged 6.4 assists throughout 36 games.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"69\">That said, though there are various directions the Clippers <a href=\"https:\/\/clipperholics.com\/clippers-tough-decision-no-5-pick-if-stay-put\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">could go with the fifth pick<\/a>, using the New York Knicks\u2019 star as grounds for taking Acuff Jr. is extremely smart. The resemblance between the two is evident, and based on many factors, there\u2019s optimism that the 19-year-old can live up to Brunson\u2019s name, and maybe exceed it.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow clipperholics.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=clipperholics.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jalen Brunson, an undersized point guard, has dominated the NBA Finals, with an average of 29.5 points, leading&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":760114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3789],"tags":[7,559,4034,192,4032,251,135,4033,4031,6],"class_list":["post-760113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-clippers","tag-basketball","tag-clippers","tag-la","tag-la-clippers","tag-laclippers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-clippers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesclippers","tag-nba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116743695469396656","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=760113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/760113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/760114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=760113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=760113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=760113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}