Kobe Sanders is the one sure thing on a Clippers bench full of new faces.
Kobe Sanders was the 50th pick in the 2025 draft, and by the end of his first season the Los Angeles Clippers trusted him enough to start him 16 times and then hand him a four-year, $11.2 million contract in July.
He is the right place to start with this bench, because almost every other name behind the starters is new, hurt, or both.
Who Is Actually on the Second Unit
The trade that would send Kawhi Leonard to Toronto for Brandon Ingram, Gradey Dick and draft picks was agreed to on June 30, but it is still frozen, so Leonard remains under contract in Los Angeles.
Gradey Dick, who would slide straight into this second unit, is still technically a Raptor.
Either way, the bench pulls from Sanders, Max Strus, Derrick Jones Jr., Keaton Wagler, Isaiah Jackson and Johni Broome, plus whichever of Bradley Beal and Kris Dunn does not start.
Shooting will not be a problem, since Sanders hit 40.8 percent of his threes and averaged 7.3 points in 68 games as a rookie and Strus came over from Cleveland in an August trade.
Strus is a career 37.0 percent three-point shooter who can play with either group.
Beal is back on a two-year deal after a hip injury held him to six games last season, but the front office also ended up losing Bennedict Mathurin for nothing when he signed with New Orleans, so the wing depth is thinner than it looks.
Where the Holes Are
The frontcourt is where it gets thin, and it was thin before anyone looked closely at the West.
Jackson is the backup center by default after he averaged 6.7 points and 5.3 rebounds in 55 games while shooting 63.7 percent last season.
Yanic Konan Niederhäuser is still working back from right foot surgery and is questionable for the start of the season, and Broome played only 11 games as a rookie in Philadelphia, so Brook Lopez has no reliable backup.
The wings took a hit too, because Jordan Miller re-signed and then tore his left rotator cuff in a workout, and will be out at least six months.
He averaged 10.0 points in 60 games last season, and those minutes now fall to Jones Jr., Sanders and Cam Christie, whose salary is not guaranteed until October 15.
Who Ends Up Playing
This is a guard-heavy bench that can shoot and defend on the perimeter but will get pushed around inside.
Wagler, the No. 5 pick out of Illinois, should get real minutes right away, and Lawrence Frank told reporters after the draft, "We put a big premium on positional size. Keaton can play both on and off the ball."
The preseason opener against Golden State in Hawaii on October 4 is his first audition.
Strus and Dunn will hold it together, Sanders keeps the job he earned, and Beal is the one I cannot call, because he could make this a top ten bench or spend another year fighting his body.
Add one more big man and this second unit is solid, but as it stands the Clippers are one Lopez injury away from a real problem in the middle.
