[1] The Clippers won the Draft Lottery,[2][3] and selected Danny Manning from the University of Kansas with the first overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft, then selected Hersey Hawkins out of Bradley University with the sixth overall pick, but then traded him to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Charles D. Smith from the University of Pittsburgh, and acquired rookie guard Gary Grant out of the University of Michigan from the Seattle SuperSonics.
[4][5][6][7][8] However, Manning would only play just 26 games due to a right knee injury,[9][10][11][12] as the Clippers continued to struggle posting a dreadful 19-game losing streak between January and February, and a 13-game losing streak between February and March.
Head coach Gene Shue was fired after a 10–28 start, and was replaced with assistant Don Casey.
[17] Second-year forward Ken Norman showed improvement, averaging 18.1 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, and finished tied in fourth place in Most Improved Player voting,[18] while Manning averaged 16.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game, and Smith provided the team with 16.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game, and was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.
For the season, the Clippers changed the jersey number colors on their road uniforms from blue to white.