Runner300 wrote:You have:
Starters:
Kyle Kuzma, Corey Kispert, Delon Wright
Vets:
Landy Shamet (?), Xavier Cooks, Jay Huff, Danilo Gallinari
Prospects:
Johnny Davis, Patrick Baldwin Jr, Bilal Coulibaly,
Honorary Mention:
Tristan Vukcevic, Eugene Omoruyi
Even Anthony Gill.
Poole, Kuzma and I don't know, Shamet? will take 80% of the shots.
They will develop Coulibaly and Davis, and the rest can run up and down the floor and wait in the corner for an accidental pass.
And yelled at on D for not covering good enough after vets.
I mean, of course, it's mostly up to Deni to show up and turn his career around.
But the team is already there, ready to make him disappear.
? This is the oddest line-up projection I've seen.
You have a true PG in Tyus Jones. On a young team it will be critical to have a floor general who can help players know where to be and what their role is in the game. Whether starting or leading the 2nd squad, Jones plays heavy minutes. On shot distribution/minutes the only question is how well he and Poole coexist on court. When they are on court together you will need size and defenders. Those two will share the majority of the possessions at the lead ball-handling guard role, whether you call Poole a 1 or a 2 in whatever line-up.
I don't see how Delon Wright is on the team at the end of the year. He's a role-playing late-career 3&D wing, a prime trade piece to a contender who needs exactly that. On this team, if he plays, that is his role, he will play next to Poole when Jones is off court. Maybe next to Jones if we need defense and outside shooting. In that case he nibbles at Kispert's minutes.
Kispert is a question mark due to defense. And length/speed. So far he profiles as a 6th man. He scores efficiently but who does he guard at the 2/3 spot? You tend to play most the position you guard best. If his lateral speed has picked up (what he has been working on in offseasons in the past) then he can hang with some 2-guards. But is he displacing Jordan Poole? I doubt it. Looks to me he is an offensive sub at the wing. Like Shamet, only with a better cut game to score efficiently underneath. Shamet is another afterthought, not displacing Kispert under Unseld. A solid trade piece for a team that needs outside shooting and nothing else. (Unless he can continue to develop as a back-up PG option, then maybe he steals minutes here before he is traded). No doubt Kispert earns more minutes than Shamet or Johnny Davis. I'm curious to see CK with Tyus Jones when Poole is out. But defensively a Jones/ Poole/ Kispert backcourt is getting torched every trip down the floor.
If you play Poole and Tyus together you will need length and defense. Your options at forward are Kuzma. Deni. Coulibaly. PBR. Vuk. Cooks. Of those only Kuzma, Deni, likely Bilal, play defense at an NBA level. Cooks might. PBR and Vuk don't. Though Vuk may get minutes at 5 due to depth issues, if they keep him stateside. I expect he seasons in Europe another year.
Bilal is 18, he will play, but he will have to earn his time. Likely at SF not 2-guard. True his talent may squeeze Deni but only at the 3 spot, when he earns it. The minutes at PF look like they will be passed back and forth between Deni and Kuz, with one of the two on court at all times unless we are being blown out or need situational outside shooting.
Gallinari is a late-career vet coming off an injury. He is not in the team's future. Playing him significant minutes would get a coach fired. He's trade bait or a negotiated buy out to end up with the Lakers/Miami/Bucks/Clippers or the like. Gill is headed back to Europe. Omuroyi is a 2-way playing afterthought, mostly on the Go-Go. Jay Huff is gone from the team.
The only player on the team that duplicates what Deni does is Xavier Cooks. If Deni can't beat out Cooks for minutes, then that's on him. But he will surely have every opportunity to do so. I think he is poised to take a step forward personally. He plays a team game that will sinter well with Jones, and possibly a developing Bilal. He patches holes left by Poole on defense.
I'd be curious to see a small ball line of:
Jones
Kispert
Bilal
Deni
Kuz
i like the team play, passing, defense and cut game in that set. Though I think it only really works if one of Bilal Kuzma or Deni develop a reliable outside shot.