After a Slow Start, Jawun Evans Settling in at Summer League

Jawun Evans’ night didn’t go as he had planned. The former Oklahoma State point guard, who has drawn Chris Paul comparisons since before he ever unpacked his bags in Stillwater, began to slide in June’s NBA Draft.

On that Thursday night in late June, Evans sat with family members and close friends and waited in Brooklyn, New York. His life-long dream was about to be realized, he just didn’t know when.

After being projected as high as the 14th pick, Evans’ stature and first-look athleticism got the best of him and the All-Big 12 point guard slid. With the 39th pick, in the second round, the Philadelphia 76ers drafted the undersized guard and immediately sent him to Los Angeles for cash considerations.

Once headed to the Clippers, Evans probably began planning a relationship with his supposed role model and a perfect mentor in Chris Paul. But those plans would also change. The face of the Clippers’ organization fled in the first of several blockbuster deals. The Clippers sent Chris Paul to Houston for several pieces, including two that may very well sit ahead of Evans on the depth chart. Now he is slated to fight for a spot behind the likes of Lou Williams, Patrick Beverly, Austin Rivers and newly acquired Serbian point guard, Milos Teodosic.

Evans wasn’t able to officially join his new team until the day before his Summer League debut so practice and prep time were limited. That led to him playing just nine minutes in his first professional outing. He scored three points on 1-of-4 shooting but played some impressive defense against second-overall pick, Lonzo Ball.

He also showed he could take it to the Lakers’ prized point guard.

.@j3vans1_ out here runnin’.#SummertimeGrind pic.twitter.com/nKzX7URUwc

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) July 8, 2017

On Sunday, in his second game as a Clipper, Evans seemed to hit his stride chipping in 5 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists in the win over Utah.

Here’s a look at Evans’ after his second game from a Clippers fan point of view.

Jawun Evans almost doubled his minutes from Game 1, and looked quite a bit more comfortable this afternoon. He hit a three off the dribble in the 1st quarter when the Clippers were struggling, and had a really nice drive to the basket in the 4th quarter. Evans also demonstrated nice instincts on the defensive glass, adding four rebounds, and had four assists to only one turnover. There are times where he’s still clearly struggling with NBA length and athleticism, but he has good point guard skills, and just zooms with the ball in his hands. [ClipsNation.com]

Evans and the Clippers continue Summer League play against the Milwaukee Bucks at 9:00 p.m. CDT on Monday on ESPN2.