The Los Angeles Clippers have had an amazing offseason, improving their depth chart and giving their rotation plenty of flexibility. After adding size with players like Brook Lopez and John Collins, they added veteran leadership and playmaking with Chris Paul and Bradley Beal. Right now, it seems like the Clippers could have an 11-man rotation. Head coach Ty Lue will have plenty of work to find lineups that work. But here is the good news. He has never had as much flexibility with the Clippers as he has now.
How Clippers Can Maximize Their Rotation After a Great Offseason
If we assume a starting lineup of James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Ivica Zubac, Beal, and Collins, the Clippers can field another five-man unit that can challenge some of the starting lineups in the league. The Clippers can play a bench unit of Paul, Lopez, Nicolas Batum, Derrick Jones Jr, and Bogdan Bogdanovic. Kris Dunn might be the odd man out right now. But he is one of their best perimeter defenders. This summer, the Clippers put an emphasis on size and complementary skill sets. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a couple of different rotations that the Clippers can play. Of course, we expect Ty Lue to find even more good rotation options for the Los Angeles Clippers to use.
The Defensive Menace
In the playoffs, the Clippers were seen using a lineup at times of Dunn, Jones, Leonard, Zubac, and Harden. That was their best defensive unit. They didn’t have much success offensively. They can take things even further with Paul instead of Harden, who is a better defender even at his age. That lineup will have trouble with spacing, but for quick bursts, they can throw it at teams to try and get some easy buckets in transition.
Lob City Part Two
When CP3 joined the Clippers many years ago, he dubbed the team Lob City. At the time, he had DeAndre Jordan and Blake Griffin. Now, he can feed Zubac and Collins for some easy buckets. Collins is an underrated lob threat. People have forgotten how good he is because he spent the last few years playing for the Utah Jazz. Add in some spacing with shooters like Beal and Kawhi, and this lineup can get plenty of alley-ops.
Five Out
Ty Lue has played a lot of five-out units during his Clippers tenure. They have used such lineups in the playoffs against teams like the Utah Jazz with Rudy Gobert. Now with Lopez on the team, the five-man shooting lineup can be scary dangerous. With Harden at the point, and shooters like Lopez, Beal, Batum, and Kawhi, the Clippers can stretch any defense in the league.
The Two Bigs
One of the trends this summer is that teams are loading up on the frontcourt. With the Oklahoma City Thunder pounding everyone with Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, teams look to adjust. Playing two bigs might be more common next season than in the previous several seasons. The good news for the Clippers is they have two defensive bigs, one of which can shoot. Lopez and Zubac might complement each other on the offensive end. On defense, it will be a bit harder, since neither is mobile enough to guard quick wings. But for short bursts, they can throw out this lineup. They can be even bigger by playing Collins at the three at times.
Playmaking Kawhi
It will be interesting to see whether the Clippers will use Kawhi as a playmaker now that they have Beal and CP3 on the roster. While Leonard is not a traditional point guard, he is a good passer, can make smart reads, and can initiate the offense.
For example, having Kawhi initiate the offense, with players like Beal, Bogdanovic, Collins, and Lopez, can be a dangerous weapon. A two-man game between Beal and Kawhi can be lethal, as both are capable shooters and can drive to the basket. Plus, they will have plenty of space to operate with Lopez stretching the floor.
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