Dipo as our super 6th man

[cedric76]

It s just a matter of time (or get proper coach) before EP becomes our starting PG

I like Evan as our sg next to EP because of his drive and shooting

I think dipo would be a deluxe 6 man, bringing huge energy from the bench

Dipo could easily get as many minutes as EP+Evan, I m not benching dipo cause he sucks, I m benching dipo cause it might be the best for him.

I love dipo but I think he 'll be better off the bench

Most important is who finishes games anyway, not who start it

[shadrock]

I actually agree. I think it w oi jld give more balance to the lineups. Much like Ginobili or Harden in OKC.

[cedric76]

I actually agree. I think it w oi jld give more balance to the lineups. Much like Ginobili or Harden in OKC.

Exactly
Our backcourt is set for the future with those guys
We can get a back up with our next draft pick and we r done

[drsd]

Under a scenario where Payton and Fournier start and play 33 minutes a game a piece, this leaves (48-33)*2=30 minuets of guard time to be allocated. That means that Oladipo is getting ALL backup minutes and that either Payton or Fournier must be on the court at the same time.

How does this compare to the last three 6th man winners: all guards?

Jamal Crawford 30.3 mpg with 24 starts. But has had 30 mpg for about 5 years often with none-to-low starts.
J. R. Smith 33.5 mpg with zero starts. Had been a 25-28 mpg bench payer for five years.
James Harden 31.4 mpg with 2 starts.

The stats support that one can have a guard coming off of the bench and said player can be allocated >30 mpg.


...

How would Oladipo's ego support a Payton/Fournier starting back-court? Probably quite good. The idea "it is not who stats but who finished" will be key.


..

[tooler]

It should still be Fournier. The numbers say Oladipo is a better defender and that seems more appropriate as a starter. But that depends on Jacque letting Payton run the offense when they're both on the court together.

[j-ragg]

Oladipo is the biggest fan favorite. They'd bring Evan off the bench before him.

[MagicStarwipe]

I'm an advocate of starting your best players and Victor is just straight up better than Evan. It's just that peoples perceptions are off because they expected less of Fournier and are pleasantly surprised, and expected more from Oladipo and are disappointed. Despite playing out of position and coming in to the season off an injury Oladipo's numbers are better across the board including shooting percentages from the field, 3 point land and from the line. Evan would be better off the bench.

[cedric76]

EP can't play off the ball anymore, this is as stupid as what Sacramento s owner want to do play 4 on 5 on defense and have the 5th player cherry picking

[cedric76]

Oladipo is the biggest fan favorite. They'd bring Evan off the bench before him.

If it s for the best of the team, I couldn't care less who is the fan favorite

[jgosche]

No, Oladipo is better than Fournier. Right now, they are extremely similar in terms of scoring (Oladipo is putting up 14.7 PPG on .548 TS% and Fournier is putting up 14.4 PPG on .549 TS%). Oladipo plays better defense and he's a better rebounder and passer. Fournier gets a slight edge for spacing but Oladipo's 3pt shooting this year has been great.

I don't know why you guys aren't more excited about the fact that Oladipo has shot 45.5% from three this season. Granted, it's a pretty small sample size, but if he can keep his clip at say, 40%, he's going to be a nightmare to defend. As fast and explosive as he is, defenders aren't going to be able to play him too close but if he emerges as a consistent shooter they aren't going to be able to slack off on him either. It's an exciting prospect.

[Max Power]

Oladipo being a second overall pick, a better overall player than Fournier and arguably the face of the franchise means he starts. Fournier should move to the bench, he'd have a green light to score off opponents second unit anyway. I do agree that Payton needs to start, most rookies in his position tend to start after the All Star break, I think he'll start then but I'd like to see it happen before then.


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[Melvinlocker]

I guess it depends on what you want this season. Now, our management and coaching staff have been clear from the beginning that development is still the main priority, tanking is over, but sometimes losing for the sake of development will happen from time to time.

I think most people agree that a starting combination of Elfrid at either Evan or Dipo starting at the two is the long term solution. At this stage, all three of them have major weaknesses that prevent us from being a great team. Elfrid is a terrible scorer from all levels, Fournier isn't a good rebounder/defensive playmaker, and Dipo is turnover prone and struggles to create as a PG.

Here is how I rank each players ability to improve in their respective weaknesses this season (obviously up for debate, but this is how i see it):

1.Elfrid (success this season= ft% > 60%, TS% > 47)
2.Victor (success = A:TO > 1.4)
3. Evan (improve Reb% and Stl% by 1%)

Defense is always going to be the hardest aspect of a players game to improve. It can be done, but only to a certain point. Our starting lineup will need to consist of defensive and offensive PLAYMAKERS because the starting front court is full of NON-PLAYMAKERS (don't mean that in a negative way, I love our front court). Elfrid and Dipo give us the best chance to do that and will need their weaknesses to improve before they can start together.

We NEED Elfrid to improve his efficiency because we won't be able to win anything significant until he does. In the meantime, we are able to kill two birds with one stone as we are forcing Dipo and Fournier to stretch themselves by learning to run the offense.

It may surprise people to know how Dipo ranks as a better and scorer, including volume and efficiency, (he is within striking distance as a playmaker) than Eric Bledsoe did in his third season with the Clippers when he was 23.

Here is how Dipo measures up against some of the major guards who have played and had success in the league:

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... =roberal01

http://www.basketball-reference.com/pla ... =chrisdo01

Dipo isn't Clyde Drexler, but he might end up better than Bledsoe. What does the end up looking like? I don't know the answer to that, but I sure think it is worth investing some extra time into him to find out (especially since it isn't hurting Elfrid's development as a scorer).

[TreasureCoast]

How about Dipo at shooting guard first?

[Skin]

I think this conversation is great! This season is all about finding our identity and that seems to be what this conversation is focused on. Who starts, what's the best fit, who's egos can remain in check, who is going to lead this team and who is going to come off the bench... and will our coach figure it out...

I'm thrilled to be having this conversation as opposed to the "Let's sign Jimmy Butler" type threads earlier. Fully believe we have the main pieces in our backcourt. Sure, better depth would be good, but we don't need a presence that would subtract from any one of Payton, Dipo or Fournier.

My preference for all of our imaginary prototype line ups (because that's how we all love to think) would be:

PG: Payton
SG: Oladipo
6th Man: Fournier

But in reality, that the names in the starting line up hardly matter. You gotta play match ups and the hot hand. That dictates the minutes and positions being played imo.

[NickAnderson]

This is why I think JV is playing dipo at the 1 so much, molding him for backup pg mintues. So in the future we'd have a Payton and oladipo back court where Payton runs the offense for the most part, then dipo can play some backup minutes, while Fournier plays backup sg

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[Mannchild]

I would much rather have Dipo start and primarily play SG before trying him as a 6th man. I have always felt the best starting lineup would be:

Payton
Dipo
Harris
Frye
Vuc

With Fournier, A. Gordon, O'Quinn as our main people off the bench.

[tooler]

I would much rather have Dipo start and primarily play SG before trying him as a 6th man. I have always felt the best starting lineup would be:

Payton
Dipo
Harris
Frye
Vuc

With Fournier, A. Gordon, O'Quinn as our main people off the bench.

And yet Oladipo has been back a month and this lineup has still only logged 36 minutes together.

One of the few 5-man Oladipo lineups with positive net points, FWIW. Our starting lineup is -10 per 100 possessions. These numbers can be misleading with small sample sizes and different opponents on court, but it might be time for a change. Basically anything except our starting lineup now.

And I was wrong about our original starting lineup working better with Payton and Fournier. That one is -15 per 100 poss over 145 minutes.

[G-Heel]

Stupid idea. If Magic is fighting for a championship, then they can sell him on that idea. Right now it looks like we're a lottery team, what's the point of benching Oladipo? Just focus on growing him as a player. How would it affects Dipo's ego and confidence if he's a bench player for a lottery team, when he should be focusing on getting better and becoming a franchise-caliber player? Magic aren't positioning for a championship anytime soon. We're nowhere near Spurs' level or Thunders when Harden was there.

[Orlwillbeback]

Im up for anything at this point, barring trades to our core pieces. Oladipo needs to move to sg more than anything else.

[Blue_and_Whte]

How about we play him at his natural position before benching him. I'd like to see Payton playing PG with Dipo in the backcourt.