Clippers season preview: Intuit Dome is open, but is window to contend closed?

Kawhi Leonard’s right knee is a problem, which means the Clippers’ $153 million star will be on the bench for the season opener Wednesday night and beyond. Make that indefinitely.

Paul George is gone and so is Russell Westbrook, one half of last season’s superstar quartet. Their absence will be noticeable, their roles filled by newcomers, such as Derrick Jones Jr., an NBA journeyman.

But James Harden, Ivica Zubac and Terance Mann are back, and they will be joined by seven new faces and one former player fresh off an Olympic silver-medal winning performance. Remember fan favorite Nicolas Batum?

Nostalgia won’t be enough to raise expectations this season, which kicks off for the Clippers when they host the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night at the new $2 billion-plus Intuit Dome.

Several NBA insiders have the Clippers – 51-31 last season before losing to Dallas in the first round of the playoffs – finishing this season in the bottom half of a stacked Western Conference, and without the star power they had last year, out of the playoff picture.

But don’t tell that to Coach Tyronn Lue and the current crop of veterans and newcomers that will be looking to exceed those predictions.

“Our expectations are always high – and that’s to win,” Lue said. “I mean, we have a great group of guys. We have got guys that play hard and compete.

“We got offensive guys and so when we step on the floor, we prepare to win, and we want to win. With PG being gone, with Kawhi being out right now, we still feel like we have enough, and I believe that.”

When the offseason began, the Clippers were counting on Leonard and Harden to anchor the offense and handle the bulk of the scoring. With Leonard still dealing with swelling in his right knee, the burden lies with Harden, who is beginning his 16th NBA season.

“I love everything that we are doing,” Harden, 35, said. “You know a lot of outsiders, people or whatever you want to call them, don’t really have high expectations for us but we have high expectations for ourselves.”

Harden will have the benefit of going through training camp with the Clippers and playing the entire season. The 10-time All-Star point guard joined the Clippers last season after being acquired in a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers on Oct. 31.

Harden, who re-signed despite the defections, said he’s ready for the challenge to raise lowered expectations. The Clippers will need him to pick up the scoring in Leonard’s absence.

“We’ve got to be smart about it,” Lue said. “Making sure we don’t run him into the ground.”

Harden averaged 16.6 points on 38.1% shooting from 3-point range to go with 8.5 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.1 steals last season.

“For me as a leader, there have been a lot of situations where teams we were ‘quote and unquote’ weren’t good enough,” Harden said. “We made people believe in us, you know what I mean? So, I feel like this is an opportunity. We got a lot of guys in the locker room, that’s our mindset. So, I am excited for what we have.”

What the Clippers have this season is a collection of versatile role players whose skills should fit nicely into Lue’s nine-man rotation.

Jones Jr., a 6-foot-6 forward, and guard Kris Dunn are not flashy players, but their hard-nosed skills will give the team a solid, more defensive-oriented approach. Dunn is expected to see significant playing time off the bench.

“I love playing defense,” said Jones Jr., who came to the Clippers after helping the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season.

Mann, who averaged 8.8 points and 2.1 assists last season, will need to step up in Leonard’s place, increase his shooting and act as a floor leader when Harden sits.

Lue said Mann needs to get into position, advance the ball in transition and get to the basket when he rebounds the ball.

“He’s a good shooter so he can’t turn that over to the shooters,” Lue said.

Zubac, one of the Clippers’ longest-tenured players, needs to be involved on both sides of the court if he aspires to be included in Defensive Player of the Year conversations. He is a capable switch defender and can disrupt any ball handler with his 7-foot frame but is among the best in the league on pick-and-rolls and defending the rim.

“Shooting for Defensive Player of the Year, I think that’s his next step,” Lue said. “Being one of the most elite defenders, he’s already one of the top rim protectors, just continuing to take that next step.”

The key is that Zubac needs to stay healthy until backup Mo Bama gets healthy. The other 7-footer is currently sidelined because of knee soreness.

Norman Powell will be the other starter, a role he has long lobbied for.

The Clippers have learned how to win games over the past four seasons without Leonard (he missed all of 2021-22 because of a partial ACL tear in that same knee), largely because others stepped up. This needs to be one of those seasons.

“People are counting us out and don’t think we’re going to be a competitive team this year,” Powell said. “I think we’re definitely going to prove a lot of people wrong, and people are going to join the bandwagon as the season goes along when they see how we play together, the style and the talent that we do have on this team.”