Post#42 » by TheHartBreakKid » Fri Jul 28, 2017 8:45 pm
very basic Rotation 9 man rotation until the Allstar break, where I'll expect Clarkson to be moved. As a result, I have him playing a lot of minutes right now to increase his value. Randle and Deng are prioritized for the similar reason.
Lonzo 34/Clarkson 16
Pope 34/Clarkson 14
Ingram 34/Deng 14
Randle 20/ Deng 10 / Kuzma 18
Lopez 24/ Randle 10/ Nance 16
Barring a huge break out by Randle, I see him as very tradable in the deadline, same with Clarkson. Deng will probably not be tradable even playing 24 minutes, but this would be the last chance he gets.....if he fails to produce, he's a goner next season via stretch, and no minutes should be wasted on him past the deadline.
Past deadline stretch assuming we trade Randle/Clarkson, and give up on Deng:
Lonzo 36/ Ennis 12
Pope 34/ Hart 14
Ingram 36/ Brewer 12
Kuzma 30/ Nance 18
Lopez 24/ Zubac (or Bryant...whoever looks more ready) 18/ Nance 6
My thought process:
First half of the season- Regarding the backcourt, I obviously want Lonzo to get the most minutes he can handle. Also, I really don't see Clarkson having afuture in this team. With 30 minutes a game and his scoring ability, I could see him having a season similar to Lou did last year, and get a similiar type of return from a contender (an expiring and a late pick). Given our FO's success with late picks and the fact that we are planning on signing two max guys, that pick could be very valuable to get another useful piece.
Regarding the front court, I think Kuzma is the future barring substantial improvements by Randle. I want Randle to get a decent number of minutes in favor of Kuzma/Nance in the first half of the season, so we can see if these substantial improvements have occured. If not, he should put up well enough numbers to be traded for a future pick.
In the center position, I simply see us going small often, and Zubac or Bryant aren't really ready for major minutes, and Lopez traditionally never plays too many minutes.
Deng is simply getting his last chance to show that he can be traded, rather than stretched.
In the second half, Hart is likely to be ready to handle more minutes and take over the backup 2 from Clarkson, while Ennis on a contract year can play the backup 1 while hopefully having a similar type of finish as he did last year. Brewer, also an energetic player on a contract year, would take over any of Deng's minutes at the 3, and Kuzma and Nance officially grab the torch on the 4. Any remaining C minutes is probably an audition between Zubac or Bryant for the starting C position for next year assuming our two max guys aren't C's. Whoever outperforms the other in practice/ dleague should get the minutes.
Basically, my goals are simple with these rotations:
A. Showcase Ingram/Lonzo as viable future star prospects to attractive the 2 max FA's.
B. Showcase Randle/Clarkson in the first half of the season to get the necessary cap space for the aforementioned max players, and to get additional assets for them that will be useful for depth when our cap space is used up.
C. Allow other young players such as Nance/Kuzma/Hart/Zubac/Bryant to slowly demonstrate their ability to be solid contributing role players in the very near future.
D. Utilize smart/hard working veterans on expriing contracts to both create an enviornment that'll help the kids/assets succeed, and to win as many games possible both to impress future FA's and to avoid the Celtics getting our pick.
and
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Q. Give Deng a chance at the start of the next season to possibly become worthy of getting dumped with a future first rather than having to stretch him.
Best case scenario heading to the FA period-
Lonzo has a promising ROY type rookie season, removing most of the doubt around him, and proves himself to be a player stars want to play with right now.
Ingram takes significant strides in his sophmore year, additionally proving himself as a future allstar player.
Kuzma shows that his shooting and role as a stretch 4 was not a fluke in summer league. Other young guys show flashes/promise of being rotational players.
Randle and Clarkson are traded for mid to late first round picks.
Deng shows himself worthy to be dumped with either one of the picks gained from Randle/Clarkson, or with a future first rounder.
All of this resulting in us going into FA with two emerging stars, 3-5 emereging roll players, and atleast one more late first rounder used in a position of need (probably the backcourt).
We would have 8 players on board, with 2 max spots (and some change). Sign PG alongside another max player, or PG and keep Lopez and KCP, and fill out the rest of the roster with ring chasers/ savy vets/ Dleague sleepers, and be back in the playoffs by 2019.
