After wondering where Bogdan Bogdanovic was and why he, of all the guards in the active rotation, received Tyronn Lue's first DNPs of the season, his presence was made in a surprising way against the Portland Trail Blazers. He went from missing the first three games completely to being a starter, playing 24 minutes, which is a major leap, adding to why he underperformed.
Bogdanovic was finally going to play after Bradley Beal missed his first contest of the year with back soreness, but no one expected him to start; the prediction was Kris Dunn, who has been dominating both sides of the ball on another level this season.
Yet, Lue envisioned Bogdanovic coming in, after playing just two minutes in the preseason, and firing up the Intuit Dome crowd with three-pointer after three-pointer. In summary, the championship head coach was utterly mistaken.
That said, for tonight's contest versus the Golden State Warriors, the starting five is unknown, but Lue should use Bogdanovic's performance versus Portland as a reason to keep him on the bench for now. He should be a starter later in the year, especially if Beal is hurt, yet making this call so early was not the right decision.
Bogdan Bogdanovic needs many more games to find himself
Although highlight reels and reports from scouts say Bogdan Bogdanovic was hooping in the EuroBasket over the summer, he barely played in the preseason due to injury, and did not see the court in the regular season until Bradley Beal hit the sidelines.
Moreover, given all the facts, Bogdanovic's 2025-26 regular-season debut went as expected: rough. He was out of rhythm, did not appear comfortable with the offense, and overall, made it clear that his preseason absences were catching up to him.
Thus, Bogdanovic ended the game scoreless on four attempts, with five rebounds, one assist, and five turnovers.
Although his points will be higher in the next few games than they were against Portland, the veteran guard may be inefficient, and it will be understandable. Every rep in training camp and preseason is valuable, and Bogdanovic did not get as many as the rest.
But when his game is found, and Bogdanovic is consistent, Tyronn Lue will either experiment with a DNP elsewhere or expand his rotation for everyone to fit. This will be best for the Clippers until Lue is forced to shrink his lineups for the playoffs.