Thought exercise: playoff rotational players

Two-three years from now, who on the current roster do you see as potential playoff rotation guys that the coach would not hesitate to put on the floor?

I think there are obvious patterns emerging among current playoff contributors. Hopefully we can fill the roster with those that fit these archetypes.

 

Only one player currently in the top 15 in salary is in the conference finals. A balanced roster full of contributors appears to be preferable to the superduper 60 mil guy. Playoffs are a battle of attrition, so teams with depth seem to be better positioned than teams that invested heavily on superteams.

On our current team, I like:
- Ayton - two way potential, salary that is not too bad.
- Toumani- if he can figure out his shot to even league average, it will be hard to keep him off the floor.
- Shaedon - we saw signs this year of true two way potential and go to potential before Chauncey drove him into the ground.
- Jabari - again shot dependent. But he doesn't make mistakes. I see him as a good 10-15 mpg player.
- Rob Williams- proven contributor. Obvious health questions.

I don't yet see Scoot not being a liability yet. Perhaps he gets there in time. Ant is a sieve defensively, and improvements on that end have been marginal. Grant and Malcolm work but probably will fall off with age in two-three years.

I hope we use these ideas while drafting and team building.

 

Scoot absolutely HAS to get there given the committment/investment.

How do you compare Rupert to the similar Frenchies in the draft? His stats are shockingly similar to Salaun's (and former lottery pick Ousmanne Dieng).

 

ZR slots in very well in a lineup of the future containing:

Scoot/Shaedon/ZR/Tou/Ayton.

Size and athleticism at every position. One can only hope...

 

That's a mark of the youth-wave (and just an accident of timing) rather than quality. You know players like Tatum, Edwards, Doncic, et. al. are going to be PAID in their next contracts. The one player you mention is Gobert, and he's only got that massive contract because it's recently been signed.

 

I honestly can't see anyone on our current roster being on the team when we make the playoffs next.

 

Camara.

 

So... Having precocious talents on sub- supermax deals allows the team to acquire more meaningful talent?

Sounds like the basis of what should be this team's primary building strategy.

 

I could see Camara, Walker, Scoot, and Shae all being in the rotation on a playoff team. Camara and Walker need to shore up their shooting.

 

playoffs are not good enough. Cronin is building a championship Blazers team just like -OKC- ... errr... just like Minnesota.

 

all four need to shore up their shooting

 

Agreed, but three point shooting specifically is a huge need for Camara and Walker to spread the floor.

 

Playoff Rotational Players at current talent level (2nd round level team):
Ayton (4/5 man)
Grant (4/5 man)
Brogdon (5/7 man)
Williams (5/8 man)

Possibility of becoming Play Rotational Players as they develop:
Simons (5/7 man -> if defense can improve)
Thybulle (5/8 man -> if shooting is consistent)
Scoot (2/4 man -> needs shooting, limit turnovers, defense, etc)
Sharpe (1/4 man -> aggression, confidence, shooting, defense, etc)

Murray, Walker, Camara, and Rupert have possibility, but they are all in the 6/8 man range.

 

How good of a player would they be on a playoff team winning a series;

Today -
5th best player in the rotation - Grant
6 Ayton
7 Brogdon

Not current good enough for playoff rotation but my expectation are they will be;
7 Ant
4 Sharpe

Scoot & others - more likely to not be playoff rotation caliber player

 

I would say Ayton is better now than when he started in the finals.
https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/deandre-ayton-stats-vs-bucks-playoffs-2021

 

Better find the next Luka / Tatum FAST, then.

 

Ayton
Grant
Brogdon
Simons
Williams

Are the only players that could play on a playoff team right now.

And Simons would be in a heater off the bench role. He sucks defensively but when he’s on, he can offset that.

Kind of like Duncan Robinson.