Ty Lue: ‘We know he’s a point guard’ as the Clippers plan to move Keaton Wagler on and off the ball

The Los Angeles Clippers have Darius Garland running their offense, but Tyronn Lue made one thing clear on Tuesday: Keaton Wagler is a point guard too. At the team’s last practice before Wednesday’s opener against the Sacramento Kings, Lue was asked how the rookie fits next to Garland, and he said the Clippers will use him both on and off the ball.

“Just seeing how he played in college, I think he started playing off the ball and then they took off when he was on the ball,” Lue said. “So he’s gonna have a little bit of both. You know, I think with his size, he can play some two. We know he’s a point guard.”

The plan, Lue said, is to keep defenses guessing: “having him on the ball when we need him to, come off screens when we need him to, just give him a different look and move him around a little bit so defense just can’t lock in on him.”

Ty Lue said the Clippers see Keaton Wagler as a point guard, and noted Illinois took off when they moved him on the ball.

“In college he started playing off the ball, and then they really took off when he was on the ball. He’s gonna have a little bit of both. With his size he… pic.twitter.com/0XCPRcb6UK

— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) October 20, 2026

‘His confidence never wavers’

Wagler was the No. 5 pick in June out of Illinois. He is 19 and listed at 6-foot-6. He came off the bench in his first preseason games and then made his first start on Oct. 14 against Denver, with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes of a 122-110 win.

Lue pointed to that Denver game when he was asked about Wagler and Garland on the floor together. His main reason for trusting a teenager with the ball was simple. “I know he’s young, but his confidence never wavers,” Lue said. “He had one turnover the whole preseason, and he played the most minutes. So we can trust him with the basketball. He can make plays, he can make shots.”

The Clippers need that. Brandon Ingram (Achilles) is out to start the season, and Bradley Beal (knee) has been held out of five-on-five work and is not expected to be ready for opening night. That puts more of the early ball-handling on Garland and Wagler.

Isaiah Jackson brings a three-point shot, and a bigger frame

Isaiah Jackson came to the Clippers from Indiana in February, with Bennedict Mathurin, in the trade that sent Ivica Zubac to the Pacers. On Tuesday the big man said he plans to shoot a lot more threes this season.

“I’m very confident,” Jackson said when asked about the shot. “I think that’s one of the main things me and the coaches here have been working on, just trying to expand my game.” He said he had worked on it all summer: “I feel very confident in it. And I feel like when opportunity presents itself, I’m gonna take it with confidence.”

Jackson also brought up the night he first played the Clippers. On Jan. 31, 2022, as a Pacers rookie making his first NBA start, he scored a career-high 26 points with 10 rebounds against them, on 12-of-19 shooting, and made a three. He said he last watched the game a year ago, after someone brought it up. “It surprised me, the amount of confidence I had back then,” Jackson said. “And I think I continued to have that confidence, and I feel even more confident this year. I’ve just been working on my three ball non-stop, and so, yeah, I mean, I think I’m gonna take a lot more threes this year.”

He is also bigger. Jackson said on Tuesday that he now weighs 240 pounds, well above the 205 he has been listed at.

Isaiah Jackson is very confident in his 3-point shot and expects to make that part of his game this season.

“I’m very confident. That’s one of the main things me and the coaches here have been working on. Just trying to expand my game. My rookie year I had a game against the… pic.twitter.com/oJBlaEGFdd

— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) October 20, 2026

The Clippers host the Kings at Intuit Dome on Wednesday at 10:30 p.m. ET, which is 5:30 a.m. Thursday in Cairo.