The Los Angeles Clippers are heading into the 2025-26 NBA season with one of the deepest rotations in the league. However, 80 percent of their starting lineup is already set.
As long as the NBA doesn't void Kawhi Leonard's contract as punishment for the ongoing Aspiration scandal, he, James Harden and Ivica Zubac are locked in as starters. On Tuesday, Clippers head coach Ty Lue revealed that Bradley Beal would also be a starter, but the final spot in the starting lineup is still up for grabs. (When asked whether John Collins would be the starting 4, Lue replied that he "can't remember.")
As a three-time All-Star, Beal has the most impressive resume among the non-Harden/Leonard Clippers. From that perspective, it's little surprise that he's being handed a starting spot. However, it's fair to question whether it's the Clippers' best option from a fit standpoint.
Can Beal break even on defense?
Beal is fresh off two fairly disappointing seasons with the Phoenix Suns. His numbers look solid on the surface—he averaged 17.6 points, 4.3 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 made threes while shooting 50.5% overall and 40.7% from deep—but he missed 58 games due to an array of injuries and was a mediocre defender at best. He'll give the Clippers some secondary playmaking chops and floor spacing alongside Harden and Leonard, but the Beal-Harden backcourt will be a glaring target defensively.
The bigger question is whether the Clippers need another high-usage player in their starting lineup at all. After all, Harden figures to have the ball in his hands on most possessions, as he largely loses offensive utility as an off-ball player. He typically just stands in the same spot around the perimeter instead of moving around and placing additional strain on the defense.
The Clippers' starting unit figures to be a heavy diet of Harden-Zubac pick-and-rolls and Leonard isolation jumpers. Where does Beal fit into that mix offensively? Does he bring enough to the table on that end of the floor to make up for being a defensive liability?
Granted, the Clippers don't view him that way.
Tyronn Lue says, again, he is trying to get Bradley Beal to "get back" to being an elite-level defender.
— Law Murray 🎃 (@LawMurrayTheNU) September 29, 2025
Which is the thing you say to a player that you're not/can't hide on defense and might need to be a point of attack defender to begin halves
Bradley Beal says that it's not his job to put the ball in the basket every night while discussing how he is up for the task of guarding at a high level, even lead ball handlers
— Law Murray 🎃 (@LawMurrayTheNU) September 29, 2025
"JVG has been on my ass"
Getting back to being an elite defender implies that he was an elite defender at one point earlier in his career, though. When, pray tell, was that?
The irony is that the Clippers do have an elite perimeter defender on their roster in Kris Dunn. He's nowhere near the offensive threat that Beal is, but he graded out in the 99th percentile in Dunks and Threes' estimated defensive plus/minus last season and was in the 91st percentile in 2023-24 with Utah.
Dunn is a far iffier three-point shooter than Beal, so the Clippers may be concerned about the impact that he'd have on their offensive floor spacing. However, he isn't the only option whom they could turn to instead of Beal.
Nic Batum is a do-it-all glue guy, although he's turning 37 in mid-December. The Clippers might be trying to limit his minutes throughout the regular season to keep him as fresh as possible for the playoffs. Bogdan Bogdanović is working his way back from a hamstring strain that he suffered during EuroBasket, but when healthy, he could be a lower-usage version of what Beal brings to the table on offense.
The Clippers could also zig while other teams are zagging toward more small-ball, three-guard lineups by overwhelming opponents with size. In that case, they could start both John Collins and Derrick Jones Jr. alongside Leonard, Harden and Zubac, although that could allow opponents to camp out in the paint and dare them to fire away from deep.
Chris Paul and Brook Lopez should be locked in as the backup point guard and center, respectively. But other than that, the Clippers should be having an open competition for the two other starting spots alongside Harden, Leonard and Zubac throughout training camp and the preseason. Anointing Beal as a starter this quickly sends a message to the rest of the team that the competition was preordained.
Even if the Clippers stick with Beal in the starting lineup, they can get creative with their rotations to ensure he spends time with Paul and Lopez anchoring the reserve unit. Perhaps promising a starting gig was the only way to convince him to sign a two-year, $11 million contract with them using part of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. After all, he bristled when the Suns shifted him to the bench in early January this past season.
"I'm a star in the league, I firmly believe that," he told reporters at the time. "No disrespect to anybody, but I’m a starter. That's what I firmly believe. Coach made his decision. I'm not going to sit here and argue with him."
What's going to happen if the Clippers come to the same conclusion that the Suns did and want to shift Beal to the bench at some point? Are they just delaying the inevitable by prematurely declaring him a starter?
The Aspiration scandal might be the biggest dark cloud looming over the Clippers heading into the season, but it isn't the only one. Their handling of Beal could be a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation if his time in the starting lineup doesn't pan out as well as they hope.