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Now that the final roster is most likely set. What do you think we will run with come playoff time? I think if Gary Harris doesn't find his shooting, he may find his way out of the rotation. I imagine Malone will give him some time to try and figure that out before the playoffs, but if it doesn't happen, I see Torry Craig and MPJ eating up his minutes. I think Grant and Plumlee will be a bit more situational depending on what is needed as to how much time they each get. Here is my current guess:

Murray/Morris
Barton/Craig or Harris
MPJ/Craig
Milsap/Grant
Jokic/Plumlee

DaFan334 wrote:Now that the final roster is most likely set. What do you think we will run with come playoff time? I think if Gary Harris doesn't find his shooting, he may find his way out of the rotation. I imagine Malone will give him some time to try and figure that out before the playoffs, but if it doesn't happen, I see Torry Craig and MPJ eating up his minutes. I think Grant and Plumlee will be a bit more situational depending on what is needed as to how much time they each get. Here is my current guess:

Murray/Morris
Barton/Craig or Harris
MPJ/Craig
Milsap/Grant
Jokic/Plumlee

We've had some discussion on this in the "Nuggets Offense" thread. I posted my thoughts there. I somewhat disagree withyou but I expect Bates-Diop to be the 2nd SF and don't expect Craig to get many minutes. Totally agree with you on Harris though.

If Craig keeps up the energy that he has played with, I see Malone wanting to stick with him a bit unless Harris gets out of it. I guess I haven't seen enough of Bates-Diop but I am excited to hear that possibility.

DaFan334 wrote:Now that the final roster is most likely set. What do you think we will run with come playoff time? I think if Gary Harris doesn't find his shooting, he may find his way out of the rotation. I imagine Malone will give him some time to try and figure that out before the playoffs, but if it doesn't happen, I see Torry Craig and MPJ eating up his minutes. I think Grant and Plumlee will be a bit more situational depending on what is needed as to how much time they each get. Here is my current guess:

Murray/Morris
Barton/Craig or Harris
MPJ/Craig
Milsap/Grant
Jokic/Plumlee

If were up to me, that is the lineup that I would like to see. Malone is not taking any chances though and he sees a starting unit that is intact from last year's playoff run. He is not likely to change it unless Harris continues with his recent woes.

Malone seems to be grooming MPJ for the top bench position. A good sixth man will often play starters minutes and even finish a game (looking at Lou Williams). For this year, I think Malone will have a 9 man rotation for the playoffs out of this grouping:

Murray/Morris PG
Harris/McRae SG
Barton/Porter Jr./Craig SF
Millsap/Grant/Vonleh PF
Jokic/Plumlee C

Hard to imagine that McRae or Vonlah (or KDB) will get playoff PT without even seeing how they play in games during the regular . That said, if Harris plays as bad on offense as he did vs. Utah I could see McRae getting a long look soon.

The most intrigue question is playing time (minutes). I think Malone will use 9 players, so if all be healthy, all new players (from trade), Craig, Cancar, Dozier, and Bol will not play except in garbage time.

PG Murray-28, Morris-20
SG Harris-25, Murray-8, Barton-15
SF Barton-13, Porter-20, Grant-15
PF Grant-13, Millsap-22, Porter-8, Plumlee-5
C ' Jokic-38, Plumlee-10

Jokic-38, Murray-36, Barton/MPJ/Grant-28, Harris-25, Millsap-22, Morris-20, Plumlee-15

THE J0KER wrote:The most intrigue question is playing time (minutes). I think Malone will use 9 players, so if all be healthy, all new players (from trade), Craig, Cancar, Dozier, and Bol will not play except in garbage time.

PG Murray-28, Morris-20
SG Harris-25, Murray-8, Barton-15
SF Barton-13, Porter-20, Grant-15
PF Grant-13, Millsap-22, Porter-8, Plumlee-5
C ' Jokic-38, Plumlee-10

Jokic-38, Murray-36, Barton/MPJ/Grant-28, Harris-25, Millsap-22, Morris-20, Plumlee-15

Given Malone's proclivity to keep mins down, 38 for Jokic and 36 for Murray seems high to me, doubt they average that throughout our playoff run. Do like seeing MPJ getting 28mpg, we should start to see his minutes rise over the last part of the season to help him build stamina for that to happen.

skywalker33 wrote:

THE J0KER wrote:The most intrigue question is playing time (minutes). I think Malone will use 9 players, so if all be healthy, all new players (from trade), Craig, Cancar, Dozier, and Bol will not play except in garbage time.

PG Murray-28, Morris-20
SG Harris-25, Murray-8, Barton-15
SF Barton-13, Porter-20, Grant-15
PF Grant-13, Millsap-22, Porter-8, Plumlee-5
C ' Jokic-38, Plumlee-10

Jokic-38, Murray-36, Barton/MPJ/Grant-28, Harris-25, Millsap-22, Morris-20, Plumlee-15

Given Malone's proclivity to keep mins down, 38 for Jokic and 36 for Murray seems high to me, doubt they average that throughout our playoff run. Do like seeing MPJ getting 28mpg, we should start to see his minutes rise over the last part of the season to help him build stamina for that to happen.

Look at the 2018-19 playoff playing time. Minutes of 'key players' extended (in the meantime Harris and Millsap lose that status) and only 9 players are used. Very different strategy compared to the regular season with full rotation and reduced 'franchise player' Jokic minutes.

THE J0KER wrote:

skywalker33 wrote:

THE J0KER wrote:The most intrigue question is playing time (minutes). I think Malone will use 9 players, so if all be healthy, all new players (from trade), Craig, Cancar, Dozier, and Bol will not play except in garbage time.

PG Murray-28, Morris-20
SG Harris-25, Murray-8, Barton-15
SF Barton-13, Porter-20, Grant-15
PF Grant-13, Millsap-22, Porter-8, Plumlee-5
C ' Jokic-38, Plumlee-10

Jokic-38, Murray-36, Barton/MPJ/Grant-28, Harris-25, Millsap-22, Morris-20, Plumlee-15

Given Malone's proclivity to keep mins down, 38 for Jokic and 36 for Murray seems high to me, doubt they average that throughout our playoff run. Do like seeing MPJ getting 28mpg, we should start to see his minutes rise over the last part of the season to help him build stamina for that to happen.

Look at the 2018-19 playoff playing time. Minutes of 'key players' extended (in the meantime Harris and Millsap lose that status) and only 9 players are used. Very different strategy compared to the regular season with full rotation and reduced 'franchise player' Jokic minutes.

C'mon Joker, you think those numbers weren't SLEWED by that 3OT loss in POR last year ???

skywalker33 wrote:

Spoiler:

THE J0KER wrote:

skywalker33 wrote:
Given Malone's proclivity to keep mins down, 38 for Jokic and 36 for Murray seems high to me, doubt they average that throughout our playoff run. Do like seeing MPJ getting 28mpg, we should start to see his minutes rise over the last part of the season to help him build stamina for that to happen.

Look at the 2018-19 playoff playing time. Minutes of 'key players' extended (in the meantime Harris and Millsap lose that status) and only 9 players are used. Very different strategy compared to the regular season with full rotation and reduced 'franchise player' Jokic minutes.

C'mon Joker, you think those numbers weren't SLEWED by that 3OT loss in POR last year ???

Out of 14 playoff games, 8 was 38+, plus 2 are 18+ blowout wins. In the whole 2018-19 regular season, Jokic played overall THREE 38+ games! Epic 4xOT game up his average from 38mpg to 40mpg, so 38 is a realistic playoff projection for Jokic.