Ty Lue's Bradley Beal Delusion Has Gotten Out of Control

Ty Lue called Bradley Beal the Clippers' third-best player after he was ruled out for the season. That is a huge problem.

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The Los Angeles Clippers suffered their sixth straight loss on Wednesday at the hands of Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. The hole the team has dug itself is getting deeper, and head coach Ty Lue still doesn't seem to be able to diagnose the problem. In fact, his analysis of his personnel, and Bradley Beal especially, should terrify Clippers fans.

After the loss to Denver, Lue continued to make excuses rather than offer solutions. He said, "When you don’t have your best player and your third-best player in Brad, it’s tough. When you structure training camp and preseason around certain guys, your core guys, and they’re not there — it takes some time to get used to others taking on new roles," per Clippers beat reporter Joey Linn.

Building your entire team identity on two injury-prone players like Kawhi Leonard and Beal is certainly problematic. Yet, that pales in comparison to the fact that Lue called Beal the third-best player on the team.

Ty Lue Is Still Delusional About Bradley Beal

Beal is now set to miss the rest of the season after undergoing a hip injury, so this will be less of a concern for Clippers fans, at least on the court. However, having a head coach who thinks Beal is a player worth building around and is the third-best player on the roster is the bigger problem.

The Clippers organization obviously overrated Beal when they made the decision to move on from Norman Powell to give the reins at shooting guard to him. Thinking that Beal is a more useful NBA player than Powell at this stage of his career, even if we aren't considering the availability concerns, is an issue. Adding the fact that Beal has missed at least 25 games in each of the last four seasons makes the comparison a no-brainer.

The most egregious part of the statement is how any NBA coach can think Beal is a better player than Ivica Zubac. Over the last several years, Zubac has turned himself into one of the best defensive centers in the league and has taken massive strides offensively. He has anchored an elite Clippers defense and has been a very important part of this team on both ends of the floor. He is closer to being the best or the second-best player on the Clippers than he is to being the fourth, like Lue suggested. Zubac would have every right to be pissed about his head coach's evaluation.

This could just be Lue's way of finding excuses for the team's struggles. Claiming that you are missing your best and third-best player sounds like a more legitimate excuse than saying you are missing your second-best and seventh-best player when you are trying to hold onto your job.

If Lue doesn't believe in what he is saying, he sounds desperate to keep his job. If he believes in what he's saying, that's even worse, as it suggests a complete failure of talent and roster evaluation. Whichever the truth is closer to, it doesn't bode well for the Clippers' future.