Clippers Nightly

Kawhi Leonard is a Raptor now. That is the headline departure, but he is not alone. John Collins went to Detroit, Bogdan Bogdanovic signed with Houston, Bennedict Mathurin landed in New Orleans, and Nicolas Batum remains unsigned. The front office replaced that group with a mix of veterans and young players. Darius Garland is the point guard. Brandon Ingram and Rui Hachimura give the forward line two scorers. Brook Lopez, at 38 and entering his 18th season, anchors the middle. Bradley Beal, 33, is the oldest guard on the roster. Gradey Dick, Isaiah Jackson and Jalen Pickett add depth, and three rookies made the 18-man roster: Baba Miller, Keaton Wagler and Nick Martinelli. Wagler is 19. Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr. return as the defensive glue from last season's group.

Four rotation players are out until an estimated return date of November 8. Bradley Beal is dealing with a knee injury. Brandon Ingram is out with an Achilles issue, though he returned to on-court work on October 15, per reports. Max Strus has a right foot injury. Yanic Konan Niederhauser, the second-year center, also has a right foot injury. Jordan Miller is the longest-term loss. He has a shoulder injury with an estimated return of March 2, 2027. That is roughly the first three weeks of the season without Beal, Ingram and Strus, and most of the year without Miller. Ingram's absence matters most. He led the team in scoring last season. The early rotation will lean on Garland, Hachimura, Lopez, Dunn and Jones Jr., with Dick, Jackson and Pickett asked to fill minutes right away.

The Clippers went 42-40 last season with an offensive rating of 116.3 and a defensive rating of 115.2, a net rating of 1.1. The team shot 55.9 percent effective field goal and 60.2 percent true shooting, and averaged 113.8 points at a pace of 97.3. Brandon Ingram led the scorers at 21.5 points in 77 games with 5.6 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 38.2 percent from three. Darius Garland averaged 18.8 points and 6.7 assists in 45 games while shooting 39.6 percent from deep. Rui Hachimura put up 11.5 points on 44.3 percent three-point shooting across 68 games. Kris Dunn played all 82 games and averaged 7.3 points and 3.6 assists. Bradley Beal appeared in just 6 games last season, averaging 8.2 points in 20.2 minutes. Max Strus played 12 games. Those two low totals explain why the medical staff is the most important unit in the building right now.

The front office spent the last week finalizing the bottom of the roster. On October 17 the Clippers cut Blake Wesley and three others, per reports. A day earlier, Cam Christie was reported to be re-signing on a two-way contract. Christie is 21 and entering his second year. On October 15 the team signed Miye Oni and Nathan Mensah and waived Fletcher Loyer, per reports. None of those moves change the top of the rotation, but with five players on the injury list, the back end of the bench will see real minutes in October. Kobe Sanders is the one young guard with a track record. He played 68 games last season, averaging 7.3 points on 40.8 percent three-point shooting in 19.9 minutes. He is the most likely beneficiary of the open backcourt minutes behind Garland and Dunn.