Nick Martinelli was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers as the 55th pick in the NBA Draft’s second round on Wednesday. After four years at Northwestern, Martinelli is headed out West to continue his basketball career on the biggest stage.

The 55th pick, which originally belonged to the New York Knicks, is being routed to the Clippers through the Houston Rockets via trade. 

A Wildcat has now been picked in two consecutive drafts, as the Oklahoma City Thunder drafted Brooks Barnhizer with the 44th pick in 2025. Barnhizer’s selection ended a 26-year-long drought of NU players taken in the draft, with the New Jersey Nets picking Evan Eschmeyer in 1999.

At a media availability during the NBA Draft Combine in May, Martinelli said “it would mean a ton” to hear his name called during the draft at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. One month later, it is now a reality.  

The 6-foot-7 forward joins a Clippers team that finished ninth in the Western Conference with a record of 42-40. Along with Martinelli, the Clippers drafted Illinois guard Keaton Wagler, Cincinnati forward Baba Miller and forward Narcisse Ngoy from France. 

Martinelli engaged in workouts, meetings or interviews with a few teams prior to the draft, including the Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks, organizations he mentioned by name at the combine.

Experts placed the Glenview, Illinois native across the back half of the second round in various mock drafts from the days leading up to the draft. ESPN’s NBA Draft analyst Jeremy Woo projected Martinelli to land at No. 57 to the Atlanta Hawks, while USA Today’s NBA draft expert Bryan Kalbrosky wrote the NU veteran in at No. 50 to the Toronto Raptors. 

Sam Vecenie, a senior NBA Draft writer at The Athletic, listed Martinelli to the Knicks at No. 47 on his mock draft.

“I’m higher on Martinelli than most because of the reviews of his work ethic,” Vecenie wrote in his profile of Martinelli. “You can rely on him to keep trying to improve.”

Martinelli demonstrated Vecenie’s analysis after his final collegiate game, the ’Cats’ season-ending Big Ten Tournament loss to Purdue in March. In the postgame news conference, he mentioned how as a freshman, even when he didn’t receive much play time, he tried to “listen to as much as possible and do it the right way.” At the end of his career, he said he wants to be remembered as “a coachable guy who worked his butt off.” 

Though his mentality stands out, Martinelli also packed the stat sheet while at NU. During his senior season, he averaged a Big Ten-leading 23.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game on 51% shooting and earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors. His 759 points set the single-season program record, surpassing his own total from the 2024-25 season, and mark the 15th most in a season in Big Ten history. 

After making an impact as an underclassman on the ’Cats’ NCAA Tournament teams, Martinelli continued to progress as a scorer during his junior season. In the back half of the year, Barnhizer and guard Jalen Leach suffered season-ending injuries, making the need for a new leader clear. In the final 10 games without the veteran duo, Martinelli averaged 22.3 points en route to making the Second Team All-Big Ten list. 

After the loss to Purdue this season, coach Chris Collins spoke in depth about Martinelli’s work ethic, personality and impact on the program. 

“(He set the) example of showing up every day as a senior and not making it just about him and not making it just about scoring records and winning a scoring title,” Collins said postgame. “It was always about winning. It was never about the individual stuff.”

As Martinelli enters the next chapter of his basketball career, his attitude will be key as he looks to progress and earn minutes for the Clippers. 

Charlie Perlman contributed reporting.

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