After a flurry of offseason moves that included the LA Clippers acquiring Bradley Beal, John Collins, Brook Lopez and Chris Paul, the Clippers have put together a new roster of familiar, yet experienced players.
Of the 14 players on standard contracts, 11 have played at least 17 minutes per game and have played at least eight NBA seasons. Yes, that means the Clippers are going to be one of the oldest teams in the league, as eight of the 11 players are older than 30 years old. But there’s no doubt that the Clippers have upgraded in talent and depth.
“We’re a deep team, with a lot of proven players, one through 11, and reinforcements at every position,” Clippers basketball president Lawrence Frank said this week. “This summer, we were able to add size, athleticism and shooting in the frontcourt, plus playmaking, ballhandling and shooting in the backcourt.”
The Clippers 11-man rotation will be a jigsaw puzzle for head coach Tyronn Lue to figure out. How will it work? All of the veterans spoke this week at training camp about their ideal assignment and expectation for the deep rotation. Here’s what they said and some analysis on what their roles should actually be.
James Harden
What Harden said: “The 11 guys we got, we all got the experience. We’ve all been on really good teams. We’ve all scored the ball. It’s about one thing. And I think that’s a great thing going into the season.”
Analysis: Everything this season has to be about sustainability for Harden, who turned 36 this summer. Only Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker played more minutes than Harden last season. Only Giannis Antetokounmpo and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander attempted more free throws. Only Trae Young and Nikola Jokić had more assists.
The addition of Bradley Beal and Chris Paul, in addition to better health from Kawhi Leonard, is for there to be more scoring and ballhandling relief for Harden when he is on the floor. There should be more opportunities for Harden to rest, or even be out of the lineup, at times. There is more size on the roster with the additions of John Collins and Brook Lopez, so that should reduce how often Harden is guarding bigs as well.
Kawhi Leonard
What Leonard said: “This year is just the same thing that I come into a year: just try to win a championship, do the best I can, try to play as many games as possible, and just go from there.”
Analysis: While the focus of many outside the team is on the allegations that Leonard’s endorsement deal with a now-bankrupt environmental company was made to help his team and its billionaire owner, Steve Ballmer, circumvent the salary cap, Leonard doesn’t seem to be bothered by the perceived distractions.
From a basketball perspective, he is healthy. Lue said Leonard “was the best player on the floor” for the first day of training camp. It’s possible he might be the only Clipper who sees his regular-season minutes average (31.9 last season) increase since he has no restrictions.
Ivica Zubac
What Zubac said: “If you need 48 from me, I’m going to play 48.”
Analysis: Lue said on media day that Zubac played too many minutes last season, and it’s possible Zubac’s minutes might drop closer to 30 this season. But Zubac is still LA’s third-most important player. Lue does intend to increase Zubac’s usage, though. Zubac can expect a healthy amount of post touches to go with his work in the pick-and-roll.
Bradley Beal
What Beal said: “I can showcase that there’s other ways to impact the game outside of scoring. I can score the ball with the best of them, but I can also guard too. JVG’s been on my ass about that since we got here, so yeah, that won’t stop.”
Analysis: Beal will be the starting shooting guard, replacing Norman Powell, which shouldn’t be seen as breaking news. Whatever role Beal fills offensively should help the Clippers, and the one sure thing Beal upgrades on Powell is his ability to be a playmaker. That should help Lue’s lineup optionality.
But what would really help the Clippers is if Beal could rebound and defend at a high level. If the Clippers don’t start Derrick Jones Jr. or Kris Dunn, something they did in every single game last season, that would leave Beal as the point-of-attack defender to start halves. The Clippers seem to believe that Beal is up for that role.
Beal has been limited in training camp as a precaution following a right knee scope this offseason. That’s a reminder of the biggest concern of all with Beal: durability. Powell played in only 60 games last season, but Beal hasn’t reached 60 games since 2021, his last All-Star season.
John Collins recorded 66 dunks in 40 games last season when he was with the Utah Jazz. (Rob Gray / Imagn Images)
John Collins
What Collins said: “I call myself a chameleon. I can change colors, shapeshift into whatever version of myself is needed.”
Analysis: I believe Collins will replace Amir Coffey from last season’s Clippers roster. Coffey didn’t play in the postseason, but he averaged 24.3 minutes in 72 games for the Clippers in the regular season while shooting 40.9 percent from 3 and scoring on the fast break often.
Collins isn’t going to shoot or run as well as Coffey, but he represents what the Clippers have not had since Blake Griffin was traded to Detroit in 2018: athletic size and skill at the forward position. Collins can score outside the paint (38 percent from 3 in Utah the last two seasons) and inside the paint (66 dunks in 40 games last season). He can also rebound and make plays defensively.
If Lue starts Collins, then it would be the first time that he has that kind of size, skill and athleticism next to Zubac. If Collins comes off the bench, then he’d probably get a greater share of touches to dominate second units while playing with more room inside next to Lopez or as a small-ball five against smaller second teams that would be less demanding of Collins defensively. It will all come down to the best fit.
Kris Dunn
What Dunn said: “Just be more of a vocal leader on the defensive end. I think that’s what they emphasized on me during the summer.”
Analysis: Dunn started a career-high 58 games last season and played in his most games overall (74) since his rookie season. He averaged 24.1 minutes. He still wasn’t eligible for an All-Defensive team because he broke 20 minutes only 53 times, a flaw in the collective bargaining agreement. Dunn is probably a long shot to start now that the Clippers have Beal, so his ballhandling next to Harden isn’t needed as much as it was next to Powell. But only Dyson Daniels and Gilgeous-Alexander had more steals than Dunn last season. He needs to be a fixture in the second unit.
Asked Kris Dunn about how the defense has looked so far (“I think it’s going to take a couple more days”) and about being asked to be more of a vocal leader (“I’m an energetic guy. I’m vocal. So use it on the floor.”) pic.twitter.com/kveuvjDhYN
— Law Murray 🎃 (@LawMurrayTheNU) October 2, 2025
Derrick Jones Jr.
What Jones Jr. said: “We can be as great as we want to be.”
Analysis: The role for Jones is simple: point-of-attack defense, run and make 3s. He will be able to do that as a starter or a reserve. The case for him starting is to give the Clippers more size than Dunn and a sturdier point-of-attack defender so that Beal doesn’t have to do it. Jones should be looking at 20 to 25 minutes per game either way.
Bogdan Bogdanović
What Bogdanović said: “It scared me at the beginning, like everybody else. With a partially ruptured tendon, you never know how partially ruptured it is. It can take up to four to six weeks of recovery. Week 5, so I’m good.”
Analysis: Bogdanović left EuroBasket early due to a hamstring injury, a tough pill to swallow as the captain of the Serbian team. Like Beal, Bogdanović is an on-ball/off-ball player with a less-than-stellar track record of availability that has had him limited to begin this year’s training camp. But Bogdanović avoided the worst-case scenario with his hamstring injury, and he has a very important role with the Clippers as the best bench scorer among the guards.
Brook Lopez
What Lopez said: “I’m here to come off the bench, and do that to the best of my ability.”
Analysis: There are some nights where Lopez will spell Zubac, and some nights where Lopez might not play at all. That will be an adjustment for Lopez, who started all but four of his games with the Milwaukee Bucks over the last seven seasons (including playoffs). But there will also be nights where Lopez will be needed to start in place of Zubac, and even times where Lue will try to play Lopez and Zubac together. Lopez is one of the best 3-and-block players in league history, and he might not average 20 minutes, but he gives the Clippers a legitimate backup center. That’s something the Clippers didn’t have last season.
Chris Paul
What Paul said: “There’s a competition aspect, right? You step onto the court at 35, 50 years old, and the youngins are always like ‘Oh, we got him, we got him!’ You know what I mean? So, it’s the competition aspect of it, and it’s a game. It’s basketball. So, I’ve been playing that since I was 4 or 5 years old, and I love it.”
Analysis: Like Lopez, Paul is going from being a starter (all 82 games in Paul’s case last season) to a clear backup role. Paul won’t play at all some nights and shouldn’t play 20 minutes per game at age 40.
Paul essentially replaced Patty Mills from LA’s 2025 postseason roster, and the only point guard insurance the Clippers had a year ago was Kevin Porter Jr. and Bones Hyland. Paul can still run pick-and-roll, get to the elbow, make an open 3 and collect a steal. Most importantly for this Clippers team, Paul is one of the all-time best players in league history at taking care of the basketball; LA ranked 23rd in turnover percentage last season.
Nicolas Batum
What Batum said: “Ask (Tyronn Lue) that question, I don’t know… I mean, I’m here to play basketball.”
Analysis: I asked Batum if he anticipates playing every game this season, and that was his response. Batum is one of Lue’s favorite players that he has ever coached, and part of that is because Batum is low-maintenance. He knows his role, is always prepared and does his job. Batum can play with just about anyone. Like Jones, Batum is just here to defend multiple positions, cut and make 3s; he’s not going to be asked to create shots for himself and others on the ball.
When the Clippers are fully healthy, I’d expect Batum to play the least and be the player most likely out of the rotation. He played only 17.5 minutes per game last season, a career-low, and will be 37 years old in December. The Clippers don’t expect to have all 11 players more than about 25 times this season, though. Batum will be ready when needed, as he was in the playoffs, where his minutes jumped to 24.6 over the seven-game series against the Denver Nuggets.
(Photo of coach Tyronn Lue and Kawhi Leonard: Juan Ocampo / Getty Images )