After losing Paul George to free agency and with the uncertainty surrounding Kawhi Leonard’s injury, it’s tempting to say the Los Angeles Clippers have been hard luck this season. And yet here they are, battling for an outright spot in the playoffs with a third of the season done. That’s largely a credit to a deep, balanced lineup with stars, studs, and role players playing their part. It’s no surprise then the Clips have a pretty defined hierarchy in terms of fantasy.
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Your Main Man: James Harden
James Harden may not be the scorer he once was, but he is near peerless as a playmaker. And he is also a stat sheet-stuffer nonpareil. That’s why we’re going with The Beard, a.k.a. Uno, as our main man in fantasy.
Already 35, Harden still fills up the stat sheet to the tune of 21.9 points, 6.1 rebounds, 7.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks. These numbers are far from The Beard’s prime numbers when he was putting up triple-doubles nearly every game. But fantasy-wise, I think we could live with these stats for a main guy.
Surefire Studs: Norm Powell, Ivica Zubac
Norman Powell is having a banner season, averaging a career-high 23.6 points a game as he alternates with Harden as the Clippers’ main playmaker. But while we’re feeling the points for fantasy, Powell’s 3.3 rebounds and 2.4 assists leave a lot to be desired. The consolation is that he adds 1.2 steals per game.
Ivica Zubac’s upward career trajectory is continuing thus far—with this 2024–25 NBA Season shaping up to be the best. The hulking big man has become a consistent double-double machine, churning out 14.9 points and 12.4 rebounds a game. He tops that off with 2.5 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.0 blocks. Put simply, he has become a stud in every sense of the word.
Low Cost, High-Value Picks: Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones Jr.
One reason the Clippers are very much in the postseason race is they have lots of great role players who play their part. And that means they have several low-cost, high-value players for fantasy.
One of these role players is defensive specialist Kris Dunn. Now, a lot of the great things he does—ferocious on-ball defense, notably—don’t necessarily show up in the box score, but he does give 7.0 points, 3.5 boards, 2.9 assists, and, most importantly, 1.7 steals.
Derrick Jones Jr. is in that same boat, doing a lot of his work as a defensive catalyst and a high-wire lob partner to Harden. But getting 9.8 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 1.3 steals from a role player isn’t bad at all. Jones is also by and large consistent, which means we’re getting something out of him every game.
