Hope the 5 of you that hate me on here don't think I'm bragging when I tell the following story...... Was with the family at the zoo yesterday and ran into Ed Davis. Looked fantastic, said he couldn't wait to get back at it. A lot of us forget 2 years ago, he played very well for us at times. Really hoping he is back and healthy to back up Nurk this year. Said he feels great! My daughter actaully Snapchatted it.......
Based upon what we saw in Summer League and subsequent trade of Crabbe......I see the rotation as follows: Starters: Lillard - CJ - Harkless - Vonleh - Nurkic (note: I could see Swanigan take PF from Vonleh initially if he's really ready) Bench: Napier - Connaughton/Goodwin - Turner - Swanigan - Leonard (note: I would like to see motivated Goodwin beat out Pat C for SG time) Not getting much time: Collins - Aminu - Davis - Layman
Haven't forgotten Ed's first season in Portland. If he can get back to this level backing up Nurkic this year, that's big.
nevermind the summer league, I want to see Collins and Swanigan playing serious basketball with serious players, and Im hoping to see that this preseason
There's zero percent chance Aminu is at the end of the bench. If he doesn't start, he'll still play starter type minutes.
And THIS is the reason why I was so blown away that a bunch of you on here claim we will have home court advantage in the playoffs!
I agree with you on the starters, but I don't see much time for Connaughton, Goodwin, or Napier. I see Lillard, McCollum and Turner being used in a three guard rotation with those other guys only getting spot minutes. Chief will get some minutes at 3 and 4. Swanigan will get time at both 4 & 5. Leonard, who the heck knows? Like most around here, I hold out little hope for him in rehabbing his game, but would be thrilled if he did. Collins is going to have to earn any minutes he may get.
Collins is a better defensive player than Leonard and Swanigan. That alone should put him right in the mix for playing time. Summer league didn't tell me anything except he needs to get stronger. Everything else is there. It's only natural that Swanigan looked more refined, he's a year older.
In my ideal world where both Collins and Biggie are contributors.... Dame/CJ CJ/Turner Harkless/Aminu/Turner Collins/Aminu Nurkic/Davis/Collins With Biggie and Layman/Connaughton as your fringe 9th and 10th guys. Clutch Lineup: Dame/CJ/Harkless/Aminu/Nurk I'd be totally fine with giving all the front court minutes To Nurk/Collins/Aminu/Biggie though. I just expect Ed Davis to be too good not to be played his usual 17-20 minutes per game if he's healthy and available. Looks like he's dropped all that weight that he put on last year and when he's right, I think he's clearly better than Leonard and Vonleh. And I know I talked about the Vonleh situation earlier, but it really seems that if he doesn't separate himself as the clear 5th starter, he's going to struggle to find minutes. Ed Davis is a better player and I prefer Swanigan's skill set with most all potential bench units as long as he's not a complete liability defensively.
