Who would you start?

[Crackerjack465]

PG - Jose
SG - Shump
SF - Melo
PF - Amare
C- Dally

I want to see Jose and Amare run the PnR with Bargs coming in as the first big man sub and JR/THj as the first guard/SF subs.

[dakomish23]

Please don't start Dalembert. That guy should of been a backup for 5 years now. Is it more important to win games or raise trade value at this pt? If the latter, make sure Bargs and JR get 30 mpg. If you wanna develop young guys and win more now I'd move JR and play the below:

Calderon 23 min / Larkin 20 min / Prigs 10 min
Shump 22 min / THJ 21 min
Melo 32 min / Early 16 min
Amare 25 mins / JSmith 20 mins / Acy 8 mins
Bargs 25 mins / Dalembert 20 mins

[Jalen Bluntson]

Please don't start Dalembert. That guy should of been a backup for 5 years now. Is it more important to win games or raise trade value at this pt? If the latter, make sure Bargs and JR get 30 mpg. If you wanna develop young guys and win more now I'd move JR and play the below:

Calderon 23 min / Larkin 20 min / Prigs 10 min
Shump 22 min / THJ 21 min
Melo 32 min / Early 16 min
Amare 25 mins / JSmith 20 mins / Acy 8 mins
Bargs 25 mins / Dalembert 20 mins

No Aldrich or JR? I doubt that happens. Aldrich showed a knack for the psiton in SL and will get minutes this season. I think we see Acy/Outlaw/Dalembert in streets before we see Aldrich/JR and Outlaw rocking suits.

[Boarder Patrol]

Bargs sucked at PF last year beyond belief, nobody should want him back there. He isn't a floor spacer as a PF. His role is as a C with decent range and good man to man defense. He needs to play next to Smith in the 2nd unit who can do the dirty work for him (of course, then Aldrich is getting spot minutes while he should be a high minute backup but Barg is getting 12 million while he's getting the minimum so I guess you have to do it.

[Jalen Bluntson]

Bargs sucked at PF last year beyond belief, nobody should want him back there. He isn't a floor spacer as a PF. His role is as a C with decent range and good man to man defense. He needs to play next to Smith in the 2nd unit who can do the dirty work for him (of course, then Aldrich is getting spot minutes while he should be a high minute backup but Barg is getting 12 million while he's getting the minimum so I guess you have to do it.

I agree that Bargs should be on the second unit playing C. I don't want to see Aldrich getting BS garbage time minutes. I think he will be a solid contributor for us this season.

The money issue is true between Bargs and Aldrich...but not Dalembert and Aldrich. I see the youth getting a shot and Dalembert being a SOLID insurance policy and someone to practice against as well. If Aldrich can't beat him out that is a different story. I believe he will. Dalembert isn't know as a high IQ player and Aldrich showed he can play in the triangle in SL. He was great with the outlet passes. Defends the rim and the paint and rebounds aggressively. Not a foul machine.

PJ has mentioned Amar'e at C as well. Where are those minutes coming from?

[Jeff Van Gully]

if i were the coach, it would look like this:

jose calderon
iman shumpert
carmelo anthony
amar'e stoudemire
jason smith

i would love to put dalembert as the starting C for dirty work, but someone needs to be able to pass out of the post. it ain't him. maybe cole aldrich gets the job for that reason if coach feels there is enough firepower in the starting lineup. problem is, that 5 needs to be able to hit a 10-footer with regularity. i've seen cole hit a few, but i'm not sure he's polished enough a shooter to rely on for even 4 of those per game.

[Jeff Van Gully]

PF Stat
SF Melo
C Dalembert
SG THJr
PG Calderon

I prefer JR off the bench and I'd use Shump as Melo's backup at the 3. Bargs, Jason Smith and Cole backup the 5, Melo plays a lot of 4, Prigs backs up Jose.

tht backcourt is awful on defense.

atrocious. shumpert absolutely has to start.

[NoLayupRule]

I think its impossible to say before we get to training camp and see both who is in shape and who is working in the triangle and if this team is going big or small, i.e. Melo at the 3 or 4.

for example Bargs may be great in the triangle or he may just suck like always
amare may be the starting center on this team in the triangle
THjr may be our SG/SF with Shump

very hard to tell


However Im assuming we go big since Melo has trimmed down and we do in fact see Amare as a starting center

I think the balance requires a banger and rebounder with Amare so that pushes Jason Smith up the chain
In the backcourt I think Shump is a lock with Jose but JR could be making a case

overall Ill bet we see

Calderon
Shump
Melo
Smith
Amare

bench

Larkin
THjr
JR
Bargs
Dally or Aldridge depending

Prigs and Early and Acy can move up that ladder pretty easily in fact Pablo may play over Larkin especially early on

[Besart19]

Calderon / Larkin / Prigs
Shump / Smith / Outlaw
Melo / THJ / Early
Smith / Bargs / Acy
Amare / Dally / Aldrich

[Brooklyn_Yards]

Smith/Dally/Aldrich
Stat/Bargs/Acy
Melo/THJ/Outlaw/Early
Shump/JR
Jose/Prigs/Larkin

-All of our starting positions are up for grabs with the exception of Melo.

-I'd like to see Smith start at 5 because he can give Melo and Stat decent spacing with his mid-range shot. He is tough and rebounds well. And he can switch to the 4 if Amare is looking better at the 5.

-Shump is there for his D, even if it's not as good as in his rookie year it's still better than Jr and THJ. His ability to hit the 3 ball is also why I give him the starting nod, he just needs to find consistency.

-STat and Melo CAN work IF they are NOT on the same side of the floor unless they are involved in a PnR (which we will hopefully see more of) or playing a post to wing two- man game.

-I have Cole slotted 3rd in the C spot for now but I think he'll see decent minutes (18+) throughout the year because we are sure to have injuries with Bargs and Stat in the same team.

-Because of our glut at SG I currently see THJ backing up Melo and us going small for our second unit.

-JR is a 6th man whether he likes it or not hopefully he just plays his role or is traded.

[dakomish23]

Please don't start Dalembert. That guy should of been a backup for 5 years now. Is it more important to win games or raise trade value at this pt? If the latter, make sure Bargs and JR get 30 mpg. If you wanna develop young guys and win more now I'd move JR and play the below:

Calderon 23 min / Larkin 20 min / Prigs 10 min
Shump 22 min / THJ 21 min
Melo 32 min / Early 16 min
Amare 25 mins / JSmith 20 mins / Acy 8 mins
Bargs 25 mins / Dalembert 20 mins

No Aldrich or JR? I doubt that happens. Aldrich showed a knack for the psiton in SL and will get minutes this season. I think we see Acy/Outlaw/Dalembert in streets before we see Aldrich/JR and Outlaw rocking suits.

My fault about Aldrich. Gotta adjust the numbers because I def want to see him get at least 15 mins. Bringing Bargs down to 20 with some time at the 4, move Acy to strictly limited minutes when needed, Dalembert down to 15 and Aldrich gets 10 there and 5 away from JSmith.

I said if JR gets moved. If not, he'll get mins at the backup SF spot but will push CEarly out then. I want to see our young guys get burn.

[Fat]

i need to see some pre-season games to get a better idea on who should be starting. Right now the only guys that should be locked in as starters is Calderon & Melo.. Maybe even Dalembert considering he's our best rim protector and our defense is already shallow

[Jalen Bluntson]

Please don't start Dalembert. That guy should of been a backup for 5 years now. Is it more important to win games or raise trade value at this pt? If the latter, make sure Bargs and JR get 30 mpg. If you wanna develop young guys and win more now I'd move JR and play the below:

Calderon 23 min / Larkin 20 min / Prigs 10 min
Shump 22 min / THJ 21 min
Melo 32 min / Early 16 min
Amare 25 mins / JSmith 20 mins / Acy 8 mins
Bargs 25 mins / Dalembert 20 mins

No Aldrich or JR? I doubt that happens. Aldrich showed a knack for the psiton in SL and will get minutes this season. I think we see Acy/Outlaw/Dalembert in streets before we see Aldrich/JR and Outlaw rocking suits.

My fault about Aldrich. Gotta adjust the numbers because I def want to see him get at least 15 mins. Bringing Bargs down to 20 with some time at the 4, move Acy to strictly limited minutes when needed, Dalembert down to 15 and Aldrich gets 10 there and 5 away from JSmith.

I said if JR gets moved. If not, he'll get mins at the backup SF spot but will push CEarly out then. I want to see our young guys get burn.

I missed the JR traded part. I also think he should be backup SF with the depth we have at SG. I think Acy/Outlaw/Dally end up as suits. Very limited roles here because we are stacked with bench players but short on starters.

Of course this is all depending what we see in pre season.

[Nazrmohamed]

Calderon- best PG on the team

Shumpert- not most talented but you almost have to sandwich a defender/hustle guy between Calderon and...

Anthony- no explanation needed

Stat- he's still our best PF and sure he gets hurt but you ride the wheels till they fall off. Plus all stats show we're worse with Bargnani starting. Better offensive and defensive eff without him. Plus people forget that Bargs is more injury prone than Amare

Dalembert- our best C period. And if you don't like it then our Cs just suck....and I don't deny that but he's still our best C.

[rajajackal]

Cole/Bargnani
Amar'e/Smith
Melo/THJ
JR/Shumpert
Calderon/Larkin

Reserve: Prigioni, Early, Dalembert, Acy, Outlaw

If players fight it out and shake up the depth throughout the season, so be it. This is the squad I'd give a shot starting out

[Meat]

calderon
thj
melo
smith
barg

[Jalen Bluntson]

Cole/Bargnani
Amar'e/Smith
Melo/THJ
JR/Shumpert
Calderon/Larkin

Reserve: Prigioni, Early, Dalembert, Acy, Outlaw

If players fight it out and shake up the depth throughout the season, so be it. This is the squad I'd give a shot starting out

I agree with the FC But I swap THJr and JR and Shump gets the start. More balance between off/def and Smith is better suited to backup Melo and allow Shump/THJr to grow as SG.

Unless Shump gets a look at PG. Then it really shakes things up. I just don't think he has the vision and passing ability to run a team.

I really want to see Aldrich/Jason Smith in the FC together at some point.

[three2theD]

PG: Calderon or maybe Larkin (depending on who plays better in TC)
SG: Hardaway
SF: Melo
PF: Martin (if he's still here, I think he will be)
C: Bargs

Everyone's going to say horrible defense, whatever, I think this lineup gives us our best shot at wining.

[Jalen Bluntson]

I want to see an all young lineup this pre season. Larkin/THJr/Early/Acy/Aldrich
I also want to see the defensive lineup Larkin/Shump/Acy/Smith/Aldrich
The evr favorite scoring but no D lineup Calderon/Smith/Melo/Amar'e/Bargnani(Switch Bargs and Amar'e if you want)

There is a lot of depth on this team but only one SOLID star. There is Melo and then the rest. That is a really great foundation to build on after the season or mid season. We will obviously see more moves made before we hit FA next year. As of now we are Division contenders and that is our ceiling.

[Ignitowsky]

Fascinating thread. Lots of combinations, and lots make sense. We have more depth this season than in a long time. Other than Acy, Prigs, Larkin, Early and Outlaw you could probably make a good argument for anyone else starting.