Clippers’ Top Picks Will Wait Until They Find the Right Slot

California forward Lamond Murray and Nebraska swingman Eric Piatkowski, the Clippers’ top draft picks, are expected to sit out the opening of training camp because of salary disputes.

The Clippers, who have available salary slots of $3.5 million, $2.4 million, $1.1 million and $650,000, have offered their two lowest salary slots to the rookies.

Murray, the seventh player selected in the draft, is seeking a multiyear contract that will pay him $2.4 million this season. The Clippers have offered $1.1 million.

“We are in two different neighborhoods,” said Fred Slaughter, Murray’s agent. “To me, the $2.4-(million) slot gets him comparably paid as I look at what’s going on with everyone around him. The $1.1-(million) slot . . . is wholly unacceptable.”

Piatkowski, the 15th player selected in the draft, is seeking a multiyear deal that will pay him $1.1 million this season. However, the Clippers have offered him a multiyear deal that will pay him $650,000 a season.

Jeff Austin, Piatkowski’s agent, said Piatkowski, who has been working out in Los Angeles, may return to Nebraska unless a deal is worked out soon.

“We want these guys signed and in camp, but we’re not going to simply overpay them to do it,” Clipper spokesman Joe Safety said. “They have to want to be here too.”