C: N. Vucevic / D. Dedmon / J. Smith
F: T. Harris / C. Frye / A. Nicholson
F: A. Gordon / M. Hezonja / M. Harkless
G: V. Oladipo / E. Fournier / D. Marble
G: E. Payton / C.J. Watson / T. Harvey
...seems to be the rotation until further notice.
The backcourt and wings look solid, but that frontcourt is really puzzling. Dedmon is the only rim protector (unless you buy into the flashes Nicholson showed in January), and Nicholson is the only post-up player (besides Vucevic). The starting lineup is full of scorers that make their living inside the three-point line, and the second unit is replete with three-point bombers with shaky defense (Frye/Hezonja/Fournier/Watson). I assume Jason Smith was brought to be injury insurance and to have a mock Vucevic/Frye to run sets with the third unit in practice.
So the question for the second unit is: which kind of one-dimensional "conventional" big do you slot beside all those shooters? A rim protector with no post game (Dedmon)? Or a post-up scorer (and jumpshooter) with questionable defense (Nicholson)?
Fans that have been here long enough might be able to guess my own personal answer to this question...
But I would contend that having Nicholson would improve that unit's offense more than Dedmon would improve its defense.
1. Skiles is known for being a meticulous defensive instructor, teaching his players the positioning and schemes they need in order to be effective help defenders within the team concept. Some have cited that Skiles was able to put out solid defensive teams with Eddy Curry at center. I believe Frye and Nicholson are cerebral enough guys to be able to pick up on Skiles's defensive schemes and run them the way he wants. Not to say that they'll have as many highlight reel blocks as Dedmon would, but I think they can still be reasonably effective defending against opposing second units.
2. The offensive effectiveness of those three-point shooters is limited by not having credible inside scorers. Consider this combined 2014-15 shot chart of those five players minus Hezonja (Watson/Fournier/Frye/Dedmon).
...
...Now compare the career shot charts of Dedmon and Nicholson. (Neither attempted many shots in 2014-15 alone).
Dedmon
Nicholson
Nicholson would provide that essential missing piece for the team's overall spacing. As Frye pointed out at Media Day, Frye enjoyed (more) success in Phoenix playing at center, and Nicholson is a player that commands double teams in the post.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Demm3UkYfpM[/youtube]
Watch from (1:04-1:46)John Denton: They want you to have a trickle-down effect on Victor and give him more lanes, and keep double-teams off Nik. That's what you can provide, right?
Channing Frye: Right, that's definitely what I can provide, and I think it's just a different look. I think for me, it's kinda, the way I've been used in Phoenix, that was pretty effective, was especially when I go to the five. You can play with Drew Nicholson or I can play the four with Vooch, and give them both space; they're down at the block. It's not like I don't like the block, they just don't pay me to go down there. Y'know, hey threes are more than twos anyways. For me, it's like Andrew is one of the toughest guys I've ever played against on the block. So for him to not get double-teamed... I mean, last year when we played him, we wouldn't even let him catch the ball without a double team. So, if he gets to play one-on-one, it's gonna create paint touches-...So instead of having a bunch of predictable shooters heaving contested threes or forcing predictable 1-5 pick & rolls with Dedmon, suddenly you have someone drawing double teams in the paint, swinging it around for open threes like the Dwight/SVG days...
