INGLEWOOD — The Clippers have a 19-year-old rookie and a 38-year-old center. There is a gregarious point guard and a media-reluctant starting forward.
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The team also has a veteran guard who has been put together more times than Humpty Dumpty, an unshakeable forward with a mean fadeaway shot and a guy who has great hair and a knack for knocking down 3-pointers.
What the Clippers lack, however, is a superstar, that one marquee player whose talent can overshadow the shortcomings of a young roster, who can take over when injuries hit and carry a team into the postseason.
The Clippers enter the season with a talented roster, but for the first time in seven seasons there are no headliners, such as Kawhi Leonard, Paul George or James Harden. The first two joined the franchise in the summer of 2019 with multiple All-Star nods, assorted league honors and two NBA championships between them, then the team traded for Harden early in the 2023-24 season. One by one, they have all departed via free agency or trades.
What the Clippers do have is a collection of young All-Stars, veterans and fresh faces who are eager to move forward and put aside the talk of low expectations and the fallout and lost draft picks resulting from the salary cap rules violations involving Leonard – penalties that will keep team owner Steve Ballmer out of his courtside seat all season as he serves a one-year ban.
The organization is ready to move on from the Leonard Era and start fresh, but it won’t be easy.
“I know guys, people have us picked (to finish low in the standings) or whatever, but it’s my job to come in every day, make sure we give our guys confidence, give them the freedom to play, play the right way,” Coach Tyronn Lue said. “I think we can overachieve it.
“That’s kind of been our model since training camp, since Day One. Our goals that we set, personal goals, as far as our team goes, so we’re going to try to make those goals come true.”
Lue said for the Clippers to be competitive and have a chance to finish above .500, they need to be tough and scrappy.
“We got to fly around to cover up for our mistakes with our size and the lack of size,” Lue said. “We got to be tough and bring a physicality to the game, bring speed and try to (create) turnovers. We got to be that type of team.
“So, I like what I’ve seen in the practices. The (preseason) games haven’t been great, so we got to continue to keep getting better at that, but I think we’re trending in the right direction.”
The Clippers, however, can’t get completely rolling until the roster gets healthier.
Two-time All-Star Brandon Ingram, the key piece who came to the team in the trade that sent Leonard to the Toronto Raptors, is coming off surgery on his right heel and Achilles and will miss the first two months of the season.
When healthy, Ingram gives the Clippers a much-needed mid-range game with the trademark fadeaway shots that helped him average 21.5 points per game while shooting 47.7% from the field last season.
Max Strus (the guy with the hair) arrived via a five-team trade this summer, suffered a partial tear of his right plantar fascia in the first preseason game and will not be ready in time for Wednesday night’s season opener against the Sacramento Kings.
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Two other guards who were being counted on are veteran Bradley Beal and Jordan Miller, both of whom will start the season on the injured list.
The oft-injured Beal, who missed all but the first six games last season after fracturing his left hip, is dealing with inflammation in his right knee. The three-time All-Star still hopes to prove he can stay healthy this season after not playing more than 53 games in a season since 2020-21.
Miller had surgery for a torn rotator cuff in August and will miss at least six months, putting his return sometime in early 2027. The 6-foot-5 wing seemed poised for an opportunity at playing time during the Clippers’ rebuild after playing 60 games last season.
Another guard, Kobe Sanders, has missed much of the preseason because of a hip impingement but he has begun to do on-court work and could be back soon.
The Clippers, in the meantime, need to move forward without promising young center Yanic Konan Niederhauser, who continues to recover from foot surgery and isn’t expected to return until at least January.
Power forward Isaiah Jackson is expected to start at center to begin the season with 38-year-old Brook Lopez coming off the bench. Lopez shouldered the burden last season after the team traded Ivica Zubac to the Indiana Pacers with Niederhauser picking up minutes before getting hurt.
But Lue can’t wait for his roster to get healthy before implementing his plans to use a committee-like approach. He said everyone needs to chip in on defense, scoring and rebounding. The spotlight will be on Darius Garland, who is playing his first full season with the Clippers after joining the team at midseason last year in the trade that sent James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Garland, a two-time All-Star point guard, takes on the role of leader, a role he is new to playing. It will be his job to rally the new players and inspire the veterans to overreach and play beyond their potential.
Rookie Keaton Wagler, the No. 5 pick in June’s draft, already has shown the potential to be a star. The Illinois product started one preseason game, showing poise rarely seen in 19-year-olds at this level.
“He’s a fast learner, a confident kid, who can really score the ball once he gets going,” veteran guard Kris Dunn said. “We know he’s going to have ups and downs. I mean, he’s young and the league isn’t easy, as we know.
“But he doesn’t shy away from coming in, putting the work in each and every day. He really cares about the game.”
Another key addition this season is forward Rui Hachimura, who isn’t a high-volume shooter but is a threat with his catch-and-shoot shots. The NBA’s career leader in 3-point accuracy in postseason play (51.6%), he shot 40% from behind the arc in the regular season during his 3½ seasons with the Lakers.
“Starting in training camp just understanding how we got to play, how we need to play. We got to take care of the basketball. We got to be a defensive mindset team and just go from there,” Lue said. “It should be in our nature. I think the guys that we’re starting the season with, they’ve had to play that way, that style of basketball to get to where they’re at right now. So, there shouldn’t be any difference.”
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