Projected Clippers depth chart and rotation after acquiring Ben Simmons

The Los Angeles Clippers didn't feature in many NBA trade rumors before the deadline but came away with a surprisingly active week. They sent Terance Mann and Bones Hyland to the Atlanta Hawks for Bogdan Bogdanovic and three second-round picks, and then signed Ben Simmons who had been bought out by the Brooklyn Nets.

Both moves are about depth and bolstering the second unit for the playoffs but they could send ripples through the Clippers rotation, particularly the addition of Simmons.

Projected Clippers depth chart with Ben Simmons

The starting lineup is fairly set, as long as everyone is healthy, and we're dropping Simmons in here as the backup 5. But that may be mostly a semantic label rather than a functional one. His offense role is going to be creating a lot with the ball in his hands but defensively he's going to be matching up with opposing bigs.

Bogdanovic is going to play heavy minutes off the bench because of his creation and shooting ability, and Dunn and Coffey have carved out distinct roles for themselves because of their defense and shooting, respectively. Batum will continue to play minutes because of his experience and versatility which means when Simmons is on the court without Zubac he may be, nominally, the 5.

The backup center rotation for the Clippers so far this year has been a little bit of Batum in small ball groupings and then a touch of Mo Bamba and Kai Jones. The Clippers will keep that in their back pocket for times when size is of the utmost importance but Simmons as a big gives them an entirely different look. He's not a traditional rim protector but he's a very good and versatile defensive player with the size to handle many 4s and 5s. In adition, his ball-handling and passing make much more sense for all bench units with shooters and secondary creators surrounding him.

Again, the Clippers depth chart is going to change a lot game to game, depending on the matchup. But they're going to ask Simmons to use his size and his versatility is going to give them an entirely different look.