The Clippers open Wednesday at Intuit Dome against a Sacramento team that lost 60 games last season and lists three players out. The week turns on the Lakers, who appear Friday and again next Wednesday, with a Sunday stop in Oklahoma City in between.
The opener is the softest date on the card.
Doug Christie's Kings finished 22-60 last season with a defensive rating of 120.3 and a net rating of -9.7. They come to Inglewood with Ben Simmons out after an Achilles injury, Maxime Raynaud out with a right knee, Dylan Cardwell out with a left calf, and Malik Monk day-to-day with a left ankle. Sacramento last played four days earlier, and Wednesday is the second stop of a road swing. The Clippers have not played since the 122-110 preseason win over Denver, a six-day gap that leaves no fatigue excuse for a home opener against a 60-loss roster.
Five Clippers sit, and four of them share a target date.
Max Strus with a right foot, Brandon Ingram with an Achilles, Yanic Konan Niederhauser with a right foot and Bradley Beal with a knee are all out, each carrying November 8 as the next checkpoint. Jordan Miller's shoulder lists March 2. Ingram resumed on-court work October 15, and he mattered more than anyone last season: 21.5 points in 77 games, with Darius Garland at 18.8 in 45. Arthur Hill of Hoops Rumors listed Isaiah Jackson, 24, as Wednesday's starting center, which places Brook Lopez, 38 and coming off 75 games, in a reserve role for the opener.
The Lakers decide the week, not the Kings.
Two meetings in six days: Friday at their arena and the following Wednesday back at Intuit Dome. Sunday at the Thunder sits between them, the week's only trip outside Los Angeles. There are no back-to-backs, and the Clippers get two days off after the opener. For a franchise still measured against the other tenant of its old building, the Lakers series is where a depleted rotation will be judged, and Tyronn Lue will be running it without Ingram, Strus or Beal.
The cap sheet offers Lue no quick fix for the missing wings.
Payroll sits at $188.9M, beneath the $200.4M tax threshold, with Garland at $42.2M, Ingram at $40.0M and Strus at $16.7M as the three largest figures. The pick cupboard is nearly bare: 2029 and 2030 firsts forfeited, swaps attached to 2027 and 2028. Trent Redden runs basketball operations on an interim basis. So the first week leans on what is already here: Kris Dunn, who played all 82 games last season, Rui Hachimura and his 44.3 percent from three, and Derrick Jones Jr. The Los Angeles Times framed this as developing younger players next to veterans, and a week with five regulars out will test that framing immediately.
When do the Clippers open the 2026-27 season?
Wednesday, October 21 at Intuit Dome against the Sacramento Kings. The next games are Friday at the Lakers, Sunday at the Thunder and the following Wednesday at home against the Lakers.
Who is out for the Clippers' opener against the Kings?
Max Strus, Brandon Ingram, Yanic Konan Niederhauser and Bradley Beal are out with November 8 as their next checkpoint, and Jordan Miller is out until at least March 2. Hoops Rumors listed Isaiah Jackson as the starting center.
