The Clippers may not have the flashiest starting five, but they have a good one combined with Doc Rivers coaching ability. Rookie, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has taken a stronghold on the starting point guard role over Patrick Beverley. This is somewhat of a surprise given Beverley is fully healthy, but there is no doubt he has been the more productive guard. Avery Bradley is technically listed as a starter, but his performance this year has been extremely suspect. Because Lou Williams gets a lot of run off the bench, Bradley isn’t seeing typical starter minutes. Danilo Gallinari and Tobias Harris start at the forward positions, and have been very good for this Los Angeles team. Both are high usage players, and will continue to be for the rest of the season. Losing DeAndre Jordan was a hole they failed to fill in the offseason, leaving Marcin Gortat as a low minute starter.
Preseason Analysis: Scrappy Players Looking to Win on Effort
It has been a rough go for the Clippers in the injury department, but now all three of their recent stars are gone. Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, and DeAndre Jordan are all out of the picture which leaves this team with some scrappy secondary plays. Injuries have to still be a concern with Milos Teodosic, Avery Bradley, and Patrick Beverley all continuously having nagging injuries that force them to miss time. While when healthy they are going to be viable options with some decent usage, but if they miss time there are a few names to keep an eye on. Tyrone Wallace is still on the roster, and showed some promise when filling in last season.
They drafted Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out of Kentucky, and should work his way into some lineups regardless of health. He is a very good offensive player, and if the minutes are there he will bring some fantasy value to the table. Lou Williams has been one of the best scorers off the bench, and he is the offense for the Clippers. His bench role isn’t a knock as he logged over 30 minutes per game last season. Williams saw a huge usage, and while that would go down if injuries do, he still has a lot of value. Danilo Gallinari has not been healthy for a full season in quite some time, but is a solid all-around small forward. Gallinari should see a usage rate over 20% this season. Tobias Harris quietly came into LA and put his head down to work. Harris was in Detroit and got send over via the Blake Griffin trade. Harris is an underrated option at the position and should have a carved out role in the offense. With DeAndre Jordan in Dallas, Marcin Gortat landed in LA and will see an increase in minutes that were not a lock in Washington.
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