LOS ANGELES — Keaton Wagler got his rookie season off to a strong individual start, recording an efficient 15-5-5 debut that joined the ranks of LeBron James en route to five straight games in double-figure scoring to start the season.
And then came the puzzling loss against the Miami Heat. The reason for it's puzzling nature was because, after averaging 25 minutes a night to that point, the fifth overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft played just 15 minutes despite finishing a team-high +15 in the overtime loss.
“It's just what I felt like,” head coach Tyronn Lue bluntly said after the game, shrugging his shoulders after the loss regarding Wagler's minutes total. “It's just what I saw in the game.”
It was a response bred not out of frustration with anything Wagler had done, but out of frustration over the totality of the night's events: His Clippers blew a 10-point lead with under five minutes to play with possession of the basketball and lost Klay Thompson on an out-of-bounds play for a wide open, game-winning three-pointer in overtime.
Despite shooting just 29 percent from the field and 30 percent from three in his first seven games, the process with Wagler had been trending upwards. He's competed hard on both ends of the floor, made the right play for himself and his teammates, and has even extended his range within the flow of the offense.
Upon rewatching the tape, however, Tyronn Lue noticed an error in his ways. He admitted as much to beat writers in the back hallways of Intuit Dome before a game this past weekend and, in what feels like a rare occasion for a head coach, he also apologized to his rookie for the mishap.
“I wanted to let him know he played well,” Lue said of his apology to Wagler. “He played well, and he played good enough to play more minutes. And so sometimes you get caught up in the game, you kind of lose focus on what's going on.
“But he did play well enough to get more minutes. So I just wanted to let him know after the game. Told him, ‘I'm sorry I didn't play you more. You should have played more, you earned it.' But it was just kind of like the flow of the game and what happened.”
The apology came as a bit of a shock to the 19-year old, who says it's the first time he's experienced something of the sort.
“It was definitely surprising,” Wagler told ClutchPoints in an exclusive interview. “I've never really gotten an apology from a coach before, especially the head coach. I think it just gave me a boost of confidence that me not playing as much wasn't because I wasn't playing good. It just helped me keep doing what I'm doing and impacting the game in positive ways.”
There's been a number of things throughout games that have played out in favor of Wagler thus far. Despite shooting poorly from the field, Wagler has shown the ability to confidently take shots all while being a relatively low-mistake player for a team that is among the worst turnover teams in the league.
“Basically, I have to keep making the right plays,” Wagler said when asked what Lue's message to him was. “One thing that he really likes about me is that I'm never trying to make a superhero pass or do anything crazy. I'm always finding an open man and getting in the ball however I can. So just continue to do that, guard well, and when I get the shots, to be confident and shoot them and not worry about making misses, just get good looks.”
As good as he's played, there are also a number of things complicating things for members of the ‘Keaton Wagler Minute-Watchers Club,' of Clipper Nation right now.
To start, the Clippers are trying everything in their power to avoid playing lineups with both Darius Garland and Wagler together. Defensively, it's a lineup that could be potent offensively, but would likely get torched defensively due to their lack of size, strength, and mobility.
Two-man lineups featuring both Garland and Wagler have only played 88 minutes together thus far, but they've boasted a 132.6 defensive rating and a -35.8 net rating. It's a small sample size, but clearly has all the makings of a disastrous lineup right now.
At the moment, that means the Clippers are wrestling with playing their best and most lethal offensive player — not to mention the highest paid — while also getting their prized No. 5 overall pick who plays the same position important developmental minutes early on.
Secondly, the Clippers are incredibly deep at the guard position with players slowly trickling back into the lineup from injuries, not to mention the franchise is putting on a balancing act with minutes as certain guys have to reach certain minutes thresholds as part of their return-to-play processes from injury. This team still believes they have a chance to make the play-in and even the postseason once they get right.
Article Continues BelowAnd we haven't even mentioned the possibilities that, amid a 2-10 start to the season, how much future contracts could be weighing on players minds as essentially everyone outside of Wagler is auditioning for their next deal.
Garland is eligible to sign a contract extension, but there hasn't been much ground made on one during this rough start to the year. Brandon Ingram has a player option for the 2027-28 season, meaning he could become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season.
Derrick Jones Jr., Kris Dunn, Brook Lopez, and Max Strus are significant pieces of the culture the Clippers are building, but all three are in the final years of their respective deals. Each player is beginning to draw trade interest from teams around the league, league sources told ClutchPoints, who feel they could potentially be a piece away from real title contention.
To be clear, none of this means those players won't be on the roster after the deadline or even next season, but it does mean there's a lot on the line for their respective futures. Some guys are better at putting that aside and playing than others.
Keaton Wagler has already lost more games in the first three weeks of his NBA career (10) than he did in his entire college career (nine). It's something he hopes won't continue, but has been learning to manage.
“It's early in my career,” Wagler told ClutchPoints. “It's hard to lose as many games, but I've just got to remember that it's a long season. Hopefully we can get it turned around. You can't hang your head when there's too many games to have your head hanging. I'm just trying to stay even and each day get better.
“We've just got to figure out what we can do better and continue to learn and get better as a group, and get healthy. I think once we get some guys back, we'll get in a better flow and we'll have more people to have on the court, play around, and continuing to learn and get better from these games. Figuring out different ways that we can impact games when we're not making shots like still getting down on the defensive end and getting stops.”