Los Angeles Clippers: 2017-18 NBA season preview

Storyline 1: Who will be the starting backcourt?

Doc Rivers, to almost nobody’s surprise, opted to start Austin Rivers at shooting guard in the preseason opener against the Toronto Raptors. He also went with Patrick Beverley as the starting point guard over Milos Teodosic in what will be the most important storyline to monitor to start the season.

Doc might be committed to starting his son at shooting guard. Austin has improved drastically in each year in Los Angeles, and he could easily be worthy of the starting role that Doc appears to be gifting him.

The real debate, it appears, will be for the starting point guard role. Patrick Beverley and Milos Teodosic bring nearly opposite skill-sets to the table, and it will be interesting to see if they switch out as starters during the season.

The two split the 48 minutes at point guard almost evenly; Teodosic played 25 minutes off the bench and Beverley played 23 as the starter. While the two of them could complement each other well as the starting backcourt duo, the first preseason game would indicate that Doc will instead try to have one or the other at point guard for all 48 minutes.