RealGM

Seems like a given that Bullock will be one of the starters. And that Luke likely will be coming off the bench.
So it comes down to these 2 for the other spot. Who you got? https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2018/09/30/detroit-pistons-starting-lineup/1454717002/
https://www.freep.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2018/09/29/detroit-pistons-stanley-johnson/1443054002/

SJ's severe lack of a jump shot is obviously his achilles heal, and should make him destined for he bench. However, given his D ability, ill bet he's on the floor at the end of most games.

I want Kennard to start like Stanley did last year. Give him a chance to prove himself. He might fail like Stanley did but at least we can say he got a shot.

Between those choices? It's hard to vote for a guy I haven't seen yet but I'll go with GR3, since I think Johnson has already had his shot. He's not good enough offensively to justify starting him, he's too big a hole in that regard. He gives opposing defenses a huge advantage that by extension makes everybody else who's starting worse. He's got other abilities that make him worth using in the rotation on our team (not sure he gets off the bench on a better team), but until he becomes at least a slightly below average shooter he can't start.

i know its just a scrimmage but Stanley's jump shot looked broken still. I think GR3 is the better player right now, so I give him the start. Let Johnson prove himself off the bench with the 2nd unit.

I think stanley is going to get the nod opening night, but I think GR3 is a better fit. There is only 1 ball to go around, so there isn't much room for SJ to play to his strengths in the opening lineup. SJ just looks bad spotting up and spacing the floor. He would get more touches in his comfort zones playing with ish and leuer than RJ and Blake.

my preferred lineup:

RJ, Bullock, GR3, Griffin, Drummond (starting)

Ish, Kennard, SJ, Hank (off the bench)

Should be;

Jackson
Kennard
Bullock
Blake
Andre

Having two 40+% three point shooters surrounding the leagues best front-court is a no brainer.

GR3 is a fine defender, and can shoot the 3.

I'm pretty much done with Stanley. He could come around, but he'll never be the shooter or playmaker kennard is. GR3 gives you defense and can shoot so if it has to be one of the two, GR3.

We can't replicate the Josh Smith era again, so SJ has to come off the bench. Between Kennard and GR3? It's kind of a wash for me, but I'd rather give it to Luke to see what he's truly capable of.

I think Kennard takes one of the spots, and then it’s between Robinson and Bullock.

Jimmy Butler

This would be after our trade of SJ, Leuer, and Galloway. Of course I'm dreaming and he would be just a one year rental, so it isn't worth a first round pick (I think the rest of the league is thinking that too). But he would sure make our lineup look a lot better.

zeebneeb wrote:Should be;

Jackson
Kennard
Bullock
Blake
Andre

Having two 40+% three point shooters surrounding the leagues best front-court is a no brainer.

GR3 is a fine defender, and can shoot the 3.

I'm pretty much done with Stanley. He could come around, but he'll never be the shooter or playmaker kennard is. GR3 gives you defense and can shoot so if it has to be one of the two, GR3.

This should be the lineup

theBigLip wrote:Jimmy Butler

This would be after our trade of SJ, Leuer, and Galloway. Of course I'm dreaming and he would be just a one year rental, so it isn't worth a first round pick (I think the rest of the league is thinking that too). But he would sure make our lineup look a lot better.

At this point I'd actually be desperate enough to give up that first round pick, honestly.

One year of Butler in that lineup would be worth it.

That's more a reflection of how tired I am of not being good than anything else though. Rationally of course you're right, and clearly they aren't getting the traction with teams that they hoped.

A trade demand is a good way to nuke your trade value. A trade demand with a specific list of teams does the job even better.

i could see GR3 starting and playing ~15 minutes overall. there likely won't be a lot of touches to go around with reggie and griffin figuring to get most of the usage so there's not much point in kennard starting. GR3 can still give spacing around blake, dre and jackson and has decent size for a starting SF. in fact we'd have a pretty big starting lineup with reggie (6'3, 7'0 wingspan), reggie (6'7, 6'9 wingspan), robinson (6'7, 6'10 wingspan), blake (6'10, 6'11 wingspan) and drummond (6'11, 7'6 wingspan).

kennard and SJ coming off the bench would give ish some playmaking help since bullock and GR3 can do very little of that themselves.

Bullock should be a shoe-in starter.

None of GR3, Kennard, Stanley have yet to legitimately stake claim to the other wing starting slot. Until one of them grabs ahold of it and runs, the 5th starter should be mostly predicated on matchups.

Well, SJ and GRIII are playing most of the time as PF.

Bullock and Johnson. Johnson is a better starter because it means he takes less shots because Jackson, Dre and Griff will all get theirs. Put Johnson on the second unit and he might think it's "his" unit and think he's the #1 option on it.

Kennard off the bench to force him to be more of a scorer than his natural temperament to defer to his teammates.

Ideally I still trade two of Kennard, Bullock, Johnson for Butler. But that doesn't seem to be remotely likely right now.

I’m probably the biggest irrationally hopeful SJ fan on this board... but I’ll admit GR3 is a better option for the starting lineup. GR3 is just as good as a defender and a better 3 ball shooter and slasher.

RJ and Blake need to handle the ball half court in the first unit.
Luke and SJ need to handle the ball halfcourt in the 2nd unit.

Defense is still important so the nod prolly goes to SJ.

Anybody but Stanley

Well? Who are our starters?