LA Clippers lineup: This player should be concerned about starting spot

When it comes to the LA Clippers starting lineup options next year, there’s not a lot of ways they can go wrong.

My starting lineup would be:

PG: Reggie Jackson

SG: Paul George

SF: Nicolas Batum

PF: Marcus Morris Sr.

C: Serge Ibaka

While there are plenty of different combinations that could work for the Clippers, there’s one player in particular in this starting lineup who I think has the highest chance of resorting to a sixth-man role off of the bench, and that’s Nicolas Batum.

Nicolas Batum may have more competition than expected for an LA Clippers starting spot.

I definitely do believe that Nicolas Batum should be starting on the LA Clippers come Game 1.

However as the season goes on, there are a lot of other wings on this team that will be playing with a chip on their shoulder.

Justise Winslow is going to be out trying to prove that he was worthy of his top ten draft selection. He’s very capable of playing very good defense, and the talent on offense is certainly there.

When comparing Batum’s 2020-2021 season with the last season that Justise Winslow was healthy, it looks like this:

Batum: 8.1 PPG/4.7 RPG/2.2 APG/1 SPG/46.4 FG%/40.4 3PT%

Winslow: 12.6 PPG/5.4 RPG/4.3 APG/1.1 SPG/43.3 FG%/37.5 3PT%

Other than who they were as shooters, Winslow was better. If Winslow can stay healthy this year, he could absolutely become a better player than Batum.

Also, the Clippers drafted Keon Johnson. He’s more of a guard than a forward (obviously Batum plays both), but if the Clippers want to go with a wing heavy starting lineup, it may not matter than Batum is the bigger player. They showed last year that they’re not scared to go small.

Johnson is ferocious on defense, and one of the biggest cases for Batum to have a starting spot will be defense. If Johnson develops quickly, he could enter starting discussion due to that defense and his quickness.

He’s not a great shooter, but his speed could make him a fast break nightmare for opposing defenses. His elusiveness could possibly force him into the starting lineup if he develops quickly.

If Ty Lue wants to start Johnson, he’d likely swap him for Batum. There’s no chance he’d take Paul George out of the lineup of course, and neither Morris nor Ibaka/Ivica Zubac would come out because that would make for too small of a lineup.

Of course, if Lue wants to go small he could start both Johnson and Batum. If he wants to go with a more traditional starting five like the one I have listed above, Batum may have to be the odd man out if Winslow or Johnson takes their game to the next level.

I love Batum. There’s not really anything to not like about him. This team is so deep, however, that he may not be able to maintain his starting status all year.