11:59 pm: The Rockets have officially traded Martinelli’s draft rights to the Clippers for cash, Houston confirmed in a press release.
9:17 pm: The Clippers have agreed to acquire the draft rights to No. 55 pick Nick Martinelli from the Rockets, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania (Twitter link).
New York controlled the 55th overall pick coming into the day but sent it to Houston in an earlier deal, and the Rockets have subsequently flipped it to L.A. for cash, says Charania.
Martinelli is a 22-year-old, 6’7″ forward who spent all four collegiate years at Northwestern. He averaged 20 or more points in each of the last two seasons while hitting 41.7% of his three-point attempts this year. However, his shot has been inconsistent, as he shot below 34% from beyond the arc in his sophomore and junior campaigns.
Martinelli is also a strong rebounder, averaging 6.2 total rebounds – including more than two offensive boards – per game in each of the last two years.
The Clippers have pivoted toward a younger roster in the past year, adding Darius Garland and restricted free agent Bennedict Mathurin at the trade deadline before drafting Keaton Wagler with the No. 5 overall pick on Tuesday and Baba Miller at No. 36 on Wednesday. Martinelli could fit into that group nicely as a shooting specialist with size.
The Cavaliers were hoping to sign Martinelli to a two-way deal if he went undrafted, per Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor (Twitter link).
