It was a long NBA offseason for the Los Angeles Clippers, but they did make perhaps the biggest splash of the entire summer by landing Bradley Beal after the star guard was bought out by the Phoenix Suns.
Beal is currently dealing with a knee issue that is expected to keep him out of Wednesday’s preseason matchup against the Sacramento Kings. Beal was consistently injured during his two-year stint in Phoenix and saw his scoring drop from 23.2 points per game during his final two seasons in Washington to just 17 points per game this past season.
Although Beal isn’t the scorer he was when he finished 0.4 points behind Stephen Curry for the 2020-21 scoring title, it’s still reasonable to believe that he could get a team 20 points per game if he is both healthy and in an environment that suits his isolation scoring capabilities.
Beal’s Clippers teammates, specifically Kawhi Leonard, realize just how significant his presence is for the team’s hopes of making a legitimate run this season. Leonard made it clear that Beal’s health for the long run of the season is more important than an urgent return at this point.
“When you’re in that spot, you’ve got to make sure you’re ready for the season,” Leonard said. “He can take the time he needs. Hopefully, sooner than later, but no rush.”
Beal hasn’t played more than 53 games in a season since that 2020-21 campaign in which he averaged 30.4 points per game. Beal has only reached the 70-games played mark in four regular seasons during his career, although he did play all 82 games in both the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons.
No Back-To-Backs?
During Tyronn Lue’s media availability on Wednesday, the Clippers coach said he was unsure when asked whether Beal would play in back-to-backs to begin the season. Lue gave the same answer when asked about Leonard, who, of course, has dealt with his own injury troubles throughout the last handful of seasons since arriving in Los Angeles.
The Clippers have one more preseason game after Wednesday, wrapping up against the Golden State Warriors at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Sunday. They open the regular season on the road against the Utah Jazz on Oct. 22.
The home opener at the Intuit Dome is set for Oct. 24, as Beal’s old Phoenix teammates head to town in what could be Beal’s first home game with the team pending his return.
