Ty Lue Taps Kobe Sanders to Start for an Injured Rui Hachimura

The Los Angeles Clippers are already playing the rotation lottery. Head coach Tyronn Lue announced that Kobe Sanders is getting the starting nod on Wednesday to cover for an injured Rui Hachimura, according to Underdog NBA.

Swapping a veteran forward for a young guard is the kind of lineup gymnastics that usually happens during a mid-February schedule loss, not right out of the gate. But when the injury bug bites, you just have to grab the nearest guy in a warmup shirt and tell him to stretch.

"Underdog NBA reported the lineup alert directly from coach Tyronn Lue."

Sanders has only logged three games so far this season, putting up a modest 6.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per night. Those are the kind of numbers that look perfectly fine at the end of a bench but suddenly feel a lot lighter when you are asked to tip off against starting units.

This is not exactly new territory for Sanders or the Clippers. Lue has used him as the ultimate plug-and-play emergency valve before, throwing him into the starting five to cover for guys like Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr. over the last couple of years.

For anyone staring at Wednesday's prop markets or setting a daily fantasy roster, Sanders suddenly becomes a massive wild card. He is going to get the minutes by default, but trusting a guy averaging six points to suddenly carry an offensive load is a great way to ruin your Wednesday night.

The real issue here is what this means for the Clippers' frontcourt depth. Losing Hachimura forces everyone else to slide up a spot and play bigger than they want to, which is a dangerous game in a Western Conference that does not care about your medical bills.

We will see how long Sanders actually stays on the floor once the opening tip happens. If he can just keep the offense moving and avoid getting hunted on defense, he will have done his job while Los Angeles waits to see exactly how long Hachimura is going to be wearing street clothes.