The New Orleans Pelicans drafted former Maryland basketball center Diamond Stone with the 40th pick in the second round of the NBA Draft on Thursday night before trading him to the Los Angeles Clippers.
He becomes the first player drafted from Maryland since the Phoenix Suns selected Alex Len with the fifth pick in the 2013 NBA Draft. Seven picks later, the Orlando Magic selected former forward Jake Layman before trading him to the Portland Trailblazers for $1.2 million and a 2019 second-round pick.
Former forward Robert Carter Jr. went undrafted.
As a freshman, Stone entered Maryland will high expectations. He was a McDonald’s All-American, and ESPN ranked him as the No. 2 center in the country. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Stone spurned the in-state school and joined coach Mark Turgeon’s squad.
It took Stone a little while to settle in during his only season. He failed to reach double digits in both points and rebounds in Maryland’s marquee games against Georgetown and North Carolina. At Madison Square Garden in early December, though, he scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds against Connecticut.
Stone’s breakout performance came in Maryland’s first conference game against Penn State. Stone set the record for Maryland freshmen by scoring 39 points and helped lead Maryland to a 70-64 win. His 39 points were also the most anyone has ever scored at Xfinity Center.
Stone continued to perform well in Big Ten play following his 39-point showing. In the regular season he scored 22 points at Michigan as well as providing an 18-point performance on the road against Purdue. He averaged 13.7 points and 6.1 rebounds in conference play.
CORRECTION: Due to a blogger error, a previous version of this article incorrectly said the Los Angeles Clippers drafted Stone. The New Orleans Pelicans drafted him and traded him to the Clippers. This article has been updated.
