Playing with better players (starters) would certainly make the game easier for him where he can play off the talent surrounding him. Aminu has no untapped potential. That's literally all Zach has. Starting accelerates his growth and likely maximizes his contributions - win/win. Therefore, Terry will start Aminu.
Like what exactly does Harkless do that makes him such a better fit at SF than Aminu? He doesn’t handle the ball any better. He doesn’t really create for himself. He’s not a better defender. Put Aminu at SF, start Collins, and let Harkless expand his offensive game with the second unit.
Another idea would be to make Aminu the backup center and make use of the surplus of guards. Most second units around the league don’t have a legit low post threat and go small anyway. So something like Curry Trent/Simons Stauskas Turner Aminu Gets Leonard the fuck off the court. I know I’d rather see Trent/Simons out there and I bet Aminu is a better rim protector/rebounder.
Harkless thrives when he has a smaller guy on him. He isn't as effective against bigger guys because it's not like he blows by people off the dribble. Playing him at PF is basically saying that you want the bad Harkless all the time instead of just half of the time.
Zach played his best along side Ed. Zach can play PF or C. The kid is 20, it's not as though we had an immediate need to hand him a 30 mpg role. If he proves he is ready let him push Aminu out of the starting SF spot. Now when one of Nurk Aminu Zach miss time, a virtual certainty over 82 games, we won't have any backup big. Leonard and Caleb are below replacement value. If one of those three miss 20+ games we are really screwed. I don't believe handing bad players roles makes them good. I see this as a risk like you say with downside but no reward.
I didn’t say I wanted Harkless starting at PF, but he’d be fine playing the four on the second unit since most teams go small.
We have two out of four of the worst??!! What is PIPM and is he also taking account of how much they are (over)paid?
Totally disagree here. Harkless may not be great at anything, but he's certainly equal to or better than Aminu in most areas. Harkless has also shown to play better as a starter, whereas Aminu's best role was when he played off the bench in DAL. Unless and until we get someone better, Harkless is our starting SF. Aminu should be our back-up PF - that's his ideal role on any team. Collins should be our starting PF because his development is our only hope of being a good team anytime soon.
I mean a good Harkless is better than a good Aminu, maybe, but what does it matter when that guy only shows up periodically? Consistency matters. Harkless doesn’t deserve to start over Aminu.
I think the question is does Harkless deserve a chance to show whether he's matured as a player this year? If he starts the year like he played in the 2nd half of last year then in my opinion he should be the starting SF.
If he can't get healthy enough to get on the court, it really won't matter. I'm more than a little discouraged by the fact that he's still not game ready 5 months after his knee procedure.
In the scenario where Collins starts? I don’t know how you can justify benching Aminu when he was pretty much the only guy that showed up in the playoffs. It’s not like the good Harkless is that much better than the good Aminu either.
Originally, he had his knee scoped in March to clear out a "loose body". After he came back for games 2 & 3 in the playoffs, he sat out game 4 after he "irritated" the knee in game 3. AFAIK, there hasn't been any other information given about his knee. And I guess this makes it nearly 7 months since his procedure, not 5 as I originally posted, and nearly 6 months since he further "irritated" it in the playoffs. One has to wonder, if he was cleared to get back on the court just two weeks after being scoped, why is he not yet able to play now 6 months later? Is there something more serious wrong with his knee than any of us know?
Hmm that timeline is more concurrent with an ACL tear but I’m no doctor. Maybe he tore something after he came back? Or maybe he just had setbacks since he rushed back? Either way, it sucks. It sucks that our X factor is someone so unreliable, whether it’s his fault (play) or not (injuries)
