Clippers risking their defensive identity with new additions

So far this summer, the Clippers have added a number of veterans on bargain contracts. They got Chris Paul for the veteran's minimum, Bradley Beal for two years and $11M and Brook Lopez for one year and $8.75M, along with trading for forward John Collins.

The problem is that none of those additions are a defensive upgrade. Paul made nine All-Defensive teams in his career, but none since 2017. He's six feet tall and 40 years old. Lopez is 37, and his defense has declined precipitously since he was second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2023 — his defensive rating rose to 114 points to per 100 possessions, while his blocks and rebounds have declined by more than 25 percent.

As for Beal and Collins, they've both been liabilities on defense for nearly every year of their career, with Beal logging a negative in defensive box score plus/minus for each of the last 10 seasons while Collins was a negative in six of his eight NBA seasons.

The Clippers had the NBA's No. 3 defense last season, led by elite defenders Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones. Jr., as well as center Ivica Zubac. "Big Zu" has his starting spot locked down, but the new additions might severely cut into the minutes for Dunn and Jones.

Dunn and Jones certainly have their limitations on offense, and the Clippers want to have plenty of depth on a roster where seven of their 11 expected rotation players will be 34 or older and two more are over 30. But the Clippers made it to the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference last season on the back of their defense, and that may be flawed in 2025-26.

It's nice to have depth, but players like Beal, Lopez and Paul didn't choose the Clippers without expectations of playing time. ESPN projects the Clippers to start Beal, Collins and James Harden, a lineup where 60 percent of the players are mediocre defenders at best.

Will the Clippers' offense be better next season? Almost certainly. Will it be enough to make up for their likely defensive decline? That remains to be seen.