Clippers Make Willie Warren Their First NBA D-League Assignment

February 3 2011 Last updated at 03:39 PM ET

The Los Angeles Clippers announced today that they have assigned rookie Willie Warren to the NBA Development League's Bakersfield Jam. The assignment marks the first time that the Clippers have assigned a player to the D-League despite there being 141 total assignments since the system was put in place in 2005.

Better late than never, I guess, as now only the New York Knicks and Indiana Pacers remain as teams that have never assigned a player to the D-League.

Warren, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard, was selected by the Clippers with the 54th pick of the second round in this year's NBA Draft after widely being considered a likely top-10 pick had he left Oklahoma after his freshman season. In 15 games with the Clippers this season, he's averaging 2.1 points and 1.3 assists in 7.8 minutes while shooting just 42 percent from the field.

It's really kind of puzzling that it took so long for the Clippers to assign Warren to the Jam considering he went nearly two months -- Nov. 28 to Jan. 19 -- without actually getting on the court for the Clips. Now, when the Clippers could actually use him with Eric Gordon missing time due to injury, they've instead upped Rasual Butler's minutes instead of giving Warren a chance to show what he's learned from sitting on the bench for the past two months.

The timing could certainly help out Bakersfield, however, as they're missing starting shooting guard Trey Johnson now that he's in the NBA on a call-up with the Toronto Raptors. In their most recent game, a 98-81 loss to the Reno Bighorns, the Jam actually led by six points going into halftime before Bakersfield's lack of a go-to scorer slowly took them out of the game.

In that department, Warren should surely help as he was considered him one of the most talented offensive players in the draft last season. Aside from finally getting consistent playing time, though, he'll also have to focus on his shot-selection, defense and consistency while in the D-League if he's expecting to eventually be a rotation player in the NBA.

Warren is expected to join the Jam for the team's home game against the Springfield Armor on Friday where he'll match-up against fellow offensive threats in JamesOn Curry and Scottie Reynolds.

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