For Starters, Dunleavy Is Not Set on Lineup

Sometime between this afternoon, when the club breaks camp at College of the Desert in Palm Desert, and Tuesday at 7 p.m., Coach Mike Dunleavy will determine a starting lineup for the Clippers’ exhibition opener at Sacramento.

Not too much should be read into it, the coach said. His ultimate decision on a starting five will be made later in the month, although guard Quentin Richardson and forwards Corey Maggette and Elton Brand are pretty much locked in.

At point guard, Marko Jaric and Keyon Dooling are the front-runners, and at center, Predrag Drobnjak, Melvin Ely and rookie Chris Kaman are in the mix.

“I’ll change it around the first couple of games,” Dunleavy said of his lineup. “One guy will start one night, another guy will start another night. The first probably three games I’ll move it around, play different combinations.

“I always remember when I was a rookie, they gave me a chance. I got my chance to play great and it helped me make the team. Not that everybody’s going to get the same chance, but everybody’s going to get the chance they deserve.”

Dunleavy, a long shot as a sixth-round draft pick, played 11 seasons in the NBA after making the Philadelphia 76ers as a rookie in 1976.

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Jaric sat out the last day of two-a-days after suffering a sprained right shoulder during a Friday night scrimmage. Setting a hard pick in the paint, Dunleavy said, the 6-foot-5 point guard “took a big hit in his shoulder.”

It was delivered, Jaric said, by Josh Moore or Olden Polynice, two 7-foot centers.

Of the injury, Jaric said, “It’s not bad, but I can’t make it worse.”

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Though they’ll leave the desert this afternoon, the Clippers won’t return to their regular practice site at L.A. Southwest College until Saturday. They’re scheduled to practice Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at Staples Center, with Thursday’s 6 p.m. intrasquad scrimmage open to the public.

“I like practicing on my home court,” Dunleavy said. “I’d practice there every day if I could.”

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Clipper home games against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Dec. 3 -- LeBron James’ regular-season debut at Staples Center -- and the Lakers on Jan. 4 and March 17 sold out Saturday when individual-game tickets were put on sale.