With the LA Clippers' basketball officially back tomorrow, the roster is expected to be fully healthy. They had a few hiccups in the preseason and training camp, particularly with Bradley Beal and Bogdan Bogdanovic, but everyone should be cleared for tomorrow night.
As a result, head coach Tyronn Lue has too many players who deserve to be playing. These guys were all receiving minutes last season, on the Clippers or their previous teams, but because LA has more than enough depth at each position, someone will receive the short end of the stick each night.
Lue made this clear in a response to a question regarding the rotation. He mentioned, simply and straightforwardly, that 11 players contributing on a game-to-game basis is one too many.
Ty Lue said it’s not realistic for the Clippers to play 11 guys every night, so it sounds like there will be an odd man out of the rotation.
— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) October 20, 2025
He says that player could change game to game, but don’t expect the Clippers to play 11 guys.
The question now is who that player could be for the first game of the regular season?
Tyronn Lue will likely keep Bogdan Bogdanovic out of the rotation on opening night
Had Bogdan Bogdanovic finished the EuroBasket and preseason healthy, he would have easily been in the LA Clippers' rotation. There is no doubt that Tyronn Lue needs his scoring and spacing, as he was a pivotal piece last season after the trade deadline.
In this case, Nicolas Batum may have been the player forced to sit out the first game. This is understandable, as LA has multiple power forwards, and with his age, it would be ideal for Lue to maximize his experience on the sidelines.
But that will not be the case against the Utah Jazz, as Bogdanovic got hurt twice in the last two months. Once to his hamstring over the offseason, and the other to his back within the first few minutes of the preseason opener.
Thus, he might be good to go, but Clipper fans should expect Lue not to play Bogdanovic at all for the first game or two, as it is best to make sure his body is fully healed before playing him, especially when there is enough depth to rest him.
However, on any given night, Lue will have to decide between several veterans like Batum, Chris Paul, and Kris Dunn.
That said, having too many guys in the active rotation can be a problem. The chemistry could get affected, or challenges on one or both sides of the floor may arise, and to prevent any trouble, Lue made the smart choice of ultimately guaranteeing that one player will regularly be on the DNP list.