Rolo 30 LMA 32 Batum 32 Wes 32 Dame 32 Kaman 22 Barton 17 CJ 18 TRob 10 Wright 6 Blake 9 I'd get our starters more rest so they are fresh for the playoffs and our bench is game tested. I'd vary the bench rotations throughout the year so the team is ready to adjust lineups in a playoff series if matchups dictate it. I'd have an 8 man rotation with the starters plus Kaman, Barton, CJ. Those would be the main guys playing every game. I'd have TRob and Wright alternate playing minutes depending if we want interior power or court spacing 3 point shooting. Each would have a few DNP's. CJ would get minutes at both guard spots. Blake gets minutes if we need extra guards on the court and play small. If we don't need help setting up the offense or shooting Blake racks up some DNP's. I like the versatility our bench has in that we can go small with Wright at the 4 and CJ or Damian at SG; or we can go super big with dual centers, Barton at SG, Wright as a wing and CJ at PG. One thing the Spurs did very well all year is play with a number of lineups so they were ready to play those if need be in the playoffs. The Rockets were not used to playing Asik/Howard together and OKC was not used to small ball or Reggie Jackson at SG with the starters. Both those teams might've won their last playoff series if those units were comfortable.
I don't see Stotts playing LA/Nic/Dame anything less than 34-36 minutes. He relies too much on the starters. Wes and Rolo could do around 32 minutes though. Also, there's no way Blake averages less than 16 minutes per game. Stotts will use him as the backup point, and he'll play him with Dame at times. No way he only gets 9 minutes. I posted my minute breakdown in that other thread, but here it is again. Dame - 36 Wes - 32 Nic - 36 LA - 34 Rolo - 32 Blake - 18 CJ - 10 TRob - 14 Kaman - 16 Wright - 12
This seems more realistic to me. If CJ performs well he'll take minutes Wright first and Blake second. If TRob performs well he'll take minutes from Kaman/Wright depending on who else is on the court.
Stotts is no defensive genius, so games will continue to go down to the wire. So our subs will keep getting few minutes, giving the illusion of being the worst bench in the league.
Dame (34) / Blake (12) Wes (30) / Barton (12) / McCollum (6) Nic (34) / Wright (8) / Barton (6) LA (34) / T-Rob (14) Lopez (28) / Kaman (16) / Freeland (4)
Key for me is Dame/Nic/LA all need to be on the lower side of 35. And I want CJ/Will/TRob to consistently get 15-20, even if it costs us a few wins. Don't run the stars into the ground or play guys like Kaman and Blake extended minutes. In the long run, getting the young guys confidence will make us a better team. I think we can still win between 50-55 games even with that mindset, and if last season was any indication, HCA is mostly meaningless so a few losses here and there will not matter too much.
I have no idea. But I think the minutes I listed will flip flop between them depending on the team we play. Honestly, I hope they both play a lot next season in crunch time because I believe Wes is gone after this season so those guys are our immediate future.
That's very possible. Wes could get some kind of stupid contract offer, like Parsons, and I think it would be hard to match that.
Ignoring foul trouble and blowouts: Dame (35) / Blake (13) Wes (22) / Blake (8) / McCollum (18) Nic (34) / Wes (8) / Wright (6) LA (35) / T-Rob (13) Lopez (28) / Kaman (20) I don't think Kaman and Lopez will play much together. Like it or not, we didn't bring in 2 more vets to not play them.
That looks pretty good. I think Rolo will get at least 30 minutes though, so that would push Kaman to around 18.
If Wes gets offered anything over 8 a year, we have to move on. I love Wes but his production is replaceable (locker room presence isn't though...).
