The Clippers reshaped their entire roster in a hurry. Kawhi Leonard is gone following the trade back to the Raptors, with Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick, two unprotected first-round picks, a pick swap and two second-round picks coming back in return.
That move alone already pushed the franchise into a completely different era, but signing Rui Hachimura makes the starting five much easier to picture now. Hachimura signed a two-year, $28.0 million deal with the Clippers after spending the last three-plus seasons across town with the Lakers, posting 11.5 points and 3.3 rebounds while shooting 51.4% from the field and 44.3% from three last season.
The projected starting lineup now runs Darius Garland, Keaton Wagler, Brandon Ingram, Rui Hachimura, and Brook Lopez. There’s shot creation here, real size, rookie upside, and enough shooting to survive most nights, but this is also a genuinely unusual group given how messy the bench still looks and how unclear the defensive identity remains.
The Clippers finished 42-40 last season and lost in the Play-In Tournament, so this isn’t a new contender group by any stretch. This is a reset roster trying to stay competitive while pivoting away from the Kawhi-Paul George-James Harden era entirely.
Starting Lineup
PG – Darius Garland
SG – Keaton Wagler
SF – Brandon Ingram
PF – Rui Hachimura
C – Brook Lopez
Darius Garland Has His Team Now
Darius Garland is the main offensive piece in this entire lineup because he gives the Clippers a conventional point guard structure to build around. He averaged 18.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 6.7 assists last season while shooting 46.0% from the field, and that matters enormously for a roster that just lost Leonard’s isolation scoring and still needs someone organizing half-court possessions on a nightly basis.
His job within this group is fairly straightforward on paper. Garland has to make Ingram’s touches easier to generate, set up pick-and-pop looks for Lopez, feed Hachimura in the mid-post or the corners, and prevent Wagler from being forced into a full-time creator role as a rookie. That’s a lot of responsibility, but Garland is the only player in this starting five who already knows how to run an NBA offense for 32 minutes a night.
Keaton Wagler Is The Fresh Face
Keaton Wagler is the swing piece in this lineup because he’s a rookie, though he’s not walking in as some random developmental project. At Illinois, he ended with 17.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.2 assists on a 45/40/80 shooting split, and he went No. 5 overall in the draft.
That’s a legitimately advanced offensive profile for a player this young. He can shoot from distance, handle secondary pick-and-roll reps, relocate effectively off the ball, and give Garland another guard capable of actually forcing a defense to move.
The most encouraging part of his fit here is the shooting. The Clippers need someone capable of punishing help defense, since Ingram is going to operate frequently from the elbows and the midrange. If Wagler is already a legitimate spot-up threat at this level, that opens up the floor considerably for both Ingram and Garland. The Clippers don’t need him to be an All-Star immediately. They need him to play efficiently, make simple reads, and avoid looking completely lost on the defensive end.
Two Frontcourt Pieces To Replace Kawhi
Brandon Ingram instantly becomes the primary wing scorer on this roster. He averaged 21.5 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists last season while shooting 47.7% from the field, and that’s exactly the kind of production the Clippers needed after parting ways with Leonard. Ingram isn’t the defender Leonard was, and he’s not the same postseason killer either, but he’s younger, taller, and provides a much smoother offensive bridge into this new era of the roster.
Rui Hachimura is the new addition and probably the most straightforward fit in the entire starting lineup. He averaged 11.5 points and 3.3 rebounds across 68 games last season, shooting 51.4% from the field and 44.3% from three.
The real question is shot selection. Ingram still gravitates toward midrange touches, and that tendency can bog down an offense if the spacing around him isn’t sharp. Hachimura and Lopez can both shoot from distance, and the backcourt should be able to shoot. But if Wagler struggles with consistency and Lopez continues to decline with age, Ingram could end up settling for tough two-point jumpers while the offense stalls out around him. That’s the real danger here.
Even with those concerns, Ingram is clearly the best player in this projected starting lineup. The Clippers need him to play like a legitimate No. 1 scoring option, or at the very least a high-level second option capable of carrying games whenever Garland goes cold. And in Hachimura’s case, the Clippers needed a legitimate starting power forward after shifting Derrick Jones Jr. into more of a bench role. He gives them better offense, better outside shooting, and more size than most other cheap options available on the market this summer. It’s not a flawless fit, but the logic behind it holds up.
The Center Spot Is Expected To Swing
Brook Lopez remains the starting center because the Clippers still need size, rim deterrence and outside spacing from that position, though this spot on the roster feels fragile. He averaged 8.5 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.3 assists last season while shooting 42.8% from the field. Those numbers aren’t particularly flattering for a 38-year-old center, but Lopez still offers a specific, valuable skill set built around deep drop coverage, smart shot-blocking positioning, and pick-and-pop gravity that spaces the floor.
The defensive side is more complicated. Lopez can still protect the rim reasonably well if the ball stays in front of him, but this particular Clippers backcourt might not provide enough resistance for that to consistently happen. Garland and Wagler will need real defensive help. Ingram isn’t a primary stopper on the wing. Hachimura is solid but far from elite defensively. That combination could drag Lopez into far more defensive rotations than ideal, which is a genuinely risky formula for a 38-year-old center.
This is exactly why the Clippers’ depth at center matters so much this season. Lopez can handle the starting role, but expecting him to be a complete defensive solution on his own is asking too much. Isaiah Jackson and Yanic Konan Niederhauser need to be ready to contribute immediately, or this frontcourt gets thin in a hurry.
Bench
PG – Kris Dunn
SG – Kobe Sanders
SF – Jordan Miller, Gradey Dick
PF – Derrick Jones Jr.
C – Isaiah Jackson, Yanic Konan Niederhauser
The bench is where this roster starts to look genuinely unsettled. Kris Dunn remains a strong defensive presence off the bench, averaging 7.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.6 assists last season while shooting 47.6% from the field. He provides the point-of-attack defense that Garland simply can’t offer, and he’s capable of closing games if Wagler struggles defensively as a rookie. The issue is spacing. Dunn helps the team guard opponents effectively, but he doesn’t solve the second unit’s scoring problem on his own.
Kobe Sanders and Jordan Miller represent the young wing bets on this roster, but that’s a significant amount of responsibility for a bench that’s supposed to support a legitimate playoff push. Shifting Derrick Jones Jr. to the second unit helps considerably, since he provides athletic defense, transition finishing, and reliable coverage at either forward spot.
But if Jones is clearly the best bench forward by a wide margin, the Clippers still need to find another dependable scorer somewhere in that rotation. Gradey Dick is also part of the roster following the Leonard trade, and it would be strange if he doesn’t eventually earn shooting minutes somewhere, even though he didn’t manage to play at all in the Raptors’ last season stretch.
The depth at center is intriguing but genuinely unstable. Isaiah Jackson averaged 6.7 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting an efficient 63.7% from the field, giving this team someone who can run the floor, finish above the rim, and protect it in shorter bursts. Niederhauser remains the wild card in all of this, as he suffered a right foot Lisfranc injury that required surgery and ended his 2025-26 season entirely. That’s not a minor detail to gloss over. If Lopez continues aging and Niederhauser isn’t fully healthy, Jackson becomes an extremely important piece almost immediately.
Final Thoughts
The projected lineup after adding Hachimura looks considerably better than it did immediately following the Leonard trade, though it still feels like a work in progress. Garland, Wagler, Ingram, Hachimura, and Lopez give this roster shooting, shot creation, and enough size to be genuinely competitive, particularly if Ingram plays at a 21-point level and Wagler’s shooting translates immediately to the NBA level. Hachimura specifically was a smart addition, filling the power forward hole with efficient scoring and that 44.3% three-point clip from a season ago. That part of the roster construction makes sense.
The larger concern remains defense, rebounding, and overall bench balance. The starting backcourt has real offensive skill, but it can absolutely be attacked defensively. The frontcourt provides outside shooting, but it may not rebound at a high enough level. Lopez remains useful in specific situations, but he’s 38 years old. The second unit features Dunn, Jones, Jackson, and Dick, but it still feels like a group missing one more genuine bench scorer and one more stable option at center.
This roster should be entertaining to watch, but it’s far from a safe playoff bet. The offense can be quite good if Garland and Ingram both stay healthy and Hachimura helps the spacing the way it’s projected to. But this roster remains one significant injury away from looking dangerously thin, particularly up front. For now, this looks like a Play-In-caliber team with real upside, not a finished contender in a stacked Western Conference.
