Clippers projected lineup and rotations heading into 2023-24 season
Los Angeles Clippers starting shooting guard: Paul George
Despite being 6-foot-8, Paul George has primarily been the Clippers’ shooting guard for the last four seasons. Last season for the Clippers, George averaged 23.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.1 assists on 46/37/87 splits and was selected to the All-Star team.
George can do everything on the basketball court for being 6-foot-8. He is a great scorer, has a great ball handle, plays great defense, and is an above-average playmaker. He does miss the superstar X-factor, which makes him the perfect No. 2 option on a championship team.
The only question mark that surrounds George is that he has been injury prone his entire time in LA. In his four seasons with the Clippers, Paul George has missed 119 games out of 308, which means he’s missed 39 percent of games due to injury.
George is an unbelievable talent which makes his injuries all the more costly to the Clippers. Being one of the two stars on the team, the organization has taken it perhaps too easy with him where he is allowed to take load management spells, even if the team has desperately needed him. George needs to start taking the regular season seriously so the Clippers are able to earn good matchups in the playoffs and not be bounced early again.
Primary backup shooting guard: Norman Powell
The Clippers getting Norman Powell in 2022 was one of the best things they could have done for their team. He was a backup for them last season and, off the bench, he averaged 17 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.8 assists on 48/40/81 shooting splits while finishing fourth in the Sixth-Man of the Year voting.
Powell is one of the best bench players in the league and having him on an already deep team makes the Clippers more dangerous. Powell is a pure and efficient scorer who can give the team a nice kick if the starters are struggling.
Every great team has had a pretty good sixth-man, but the Clippers have a great one. When either George or Leonard inevitably gets hurt, Powell is a more than suitable scoring replacement. He has countless games in his time with this club where he’s taken over when the Clippers stars have been hurt. He proved this in the postseason where he averaged 21.8 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.2 assists on 47/41/77 shooting splits.
Others who could receive minutes: Terance Mann, Nicolas Batum, Amir Coffey, Brandon Boston Jr.
The thing that makes the Clippers very unique is that they have great wing depth where almost all of the wings can play the two, three or four. It is more than likely that either Amir Coffey and Brandon Boston Jr. will be the other two players who will receive minutes if someone gets hurt. Coffey got more playing time last year than Boston Jr. but expect to see them both on the court at some point during the season.