2020 Preseason Speculation - Lineup battles underway

[Saberestar]

I remember now that Galloway is Ayton's friend for some reason. I will search about it.

[BobbieL]

I wonder if we can break the all-time team free throw percentage this year???

Well can only hope DA shoots more so the % might drop overall
(though he is a good FT shooter)

[Blackification]

Read on Twitter

James Jones doing a great job of getting vets and professional mature players that actually want to be here and are excited about it.

[oddity]

Galloway can fit into a Javon Cater type role. I think this solidifies the backup guard rotation.
Carter/Galloway at the 1
Payne/Moore at the 2
Who will be ahead of whom in the rotation is up to what is bound to be a very interesting training camp.

[bigfoot]

I wonder if we can break the all-time team free throw percentage this year???

Well can only hope DA shoots more so the % might drop overall
(though he is a good FT shooter)

Replaced Rubio (84.1%) with Paul (87%)
Replaced Frank (75%) with Crowder (78.6%)
Replaced Oubre (77.8) with Crowder (78.6%)

Galloway is 81% career shooter
Moore is 73.8% career shooter

We did lose a good FT shooter in Baynes but Saric should replace his minutes and he is a better career FT shooter (83.7%).

Last year Frank, Baynes, Okobo, and Tyler Johnson were the worst percentage shooters on the team. Ayton was 5th worst at 75.3%

[Barkley6]

Here is what I really love about this offseason.

1. We were tidy. No long drawn out sagas. No back and forth. No will they wont they stuff. It was down to business.
2. We are CRAZY deep. Probably have 12-13 guys who deserve real NBA minutes, not just garbage time, and can cover for injuries.
3. Because we have so many guys who deserve minutes, the competition will be FIERCE for minutes. If you're not bringing it in practice, you wont play. Take the guards for example. We know CP3 and Book will get 30+ minutes every night no matter what. But Moore, Galloway, Carter and Payne will be fighting tooth and nail to pick up those backup minutes. Same with the wings. Monty always plays the best players, and for the first time since probably the Barkley era we have legit NBA players top to bottom on our roster.
4. I don't see a single glaring weakness on this team. I'm MILDLY concerned about our ability to rebound the ball against teams that go big, but if Smith is who they think he is, that may not be an issue.
5. We don't have any projects on the roster. This isn't a team with a bunch of guys we hope are going to blossom into something great. Sure Jones and Okobo are guys who probably haven't met their full potential and are on the fringe of being in the league, but each of them have an NBA quality skill (Okobo-Shooting, Jones-Finishing), but neither of them is going to play a big role on this team.

All in all, I'm thrilled. Hard to critique what's been the best offseason we had in a long time. That said, I WAS planning on getting a Rubio "The Valley" jersey....so I'm a little sad about that, but oh well.

[bigfoot]

Even with these veteran additions, we are still very young.

Paul (35)
Moore (31)
Crowder (30)
Galloway (29)
Nader (27)
Saric (26)
Payne (26)
Carter (25)
Jones (25)
Booker (24)
Johnson (24)
Bridges (24)
Okobo (23)
Ayton (22)
Smith (20)

[Crives]

Not bad on a min deal

Read on Twitter

?s=21

[Banana Milk]

Even with these veteran additions, we are still very young.

Paul (35)
Moore (31)
Crowder (30)
Galloway (29)
Nader (27)
Saric (26)
Payne (26)
Carter (25)
Jones (25)
Booker (24)
Johnson (24)
Bridges (24)
Okobo (23)
Ayton (22)
Smith (20)

Good even spread, no teenagers. I like it. Shouldn't be any issues integrating new guys in to Coach Monty's culture. Tough group.

[Desertfox]

4. I don't see a single glaring weakness on this team. I'm MILDLY concerned about our ability to rebound the ball against teams that go big, but if Smith is who they think he is, that may not be an issue.

We do have two holes, 1) No true PF on team, everyone is either a C than can play PF (Saric, Smith) or a SF than can play PF (Johnson, Bridges, Crowder). 2) No veteran PG that can play if CP goes down, if he's out, the season is done. Interestingly, we had the same holes last season as well.

5. We don't have any projects on the roster. This isn't a team with a bunch of guys we hope are going to blossom into something great. Sure Jones and Okobo are guys who probably haven't met their full potential and are on the fringe of being in the league, but each of them have an NBA quality skill (Okobo-Shooting, Jones-Finishing), but neither of them is going to play a big role on this team.

That is also a problem, we should have projects to build for the future. Especially at the two positions mentioned above. Hopefully, between Johnson and Smith they can take over the PF spot, but it would be nice to have a project to develop there for the future as well as one to take over CP spot in two years. This was also a problem last year.

[Barkley6]

Even with these veteran additions, we are still very young.

Paul (35)
Moore (31)
Crowder (30)
Galloway (29)
Nader (27)
Saric (26)
Payne (26)
Carter (25)
Jones (25)
Booker (24)
Johnson (24)
Bridges (24)
Okobo (23)
Ayton (22)
Smith (20)

Good even spread, no teenagers. I like it. Shouldn't be any issues integrating new guys in to Coach Monty's culture. Tough group.

That's what I like about this roster the most. Everyone is tough and a fighter. We're going to be a pain to play against and not just on the offensive side for once.

[BobbieL]

Even with these veteran additions, we are still very young.

Paul (35)
Moore (31)
Crowder (30)
Galloway (29)
Nader (27)
Saric (26)
Payne (26)
Carter (25)
Jones (25)
Booker (24)
Johnson (24)
Bridges (24)
Okobo (23)
Ayton (22)
Smith (20)

Still very young team but the veteran depth is nice to have...

[Blackification]

That's what I like about these pick ups, they will be ready to step in when their name is called and will hopefully be more consistent and less prone to mistakes than the younger bench players we had to rely on. I mean hell we had Ty Jerome playing impactful minutes last year (due to injury) and it killed us in games

[Barkley6]

4. I don't see a single glaring weakness on this team. I'm MILDLY concerned about our ability to rebound the ball against teams that go big, but if Smith is who they think he is, that may not be an issue.

We do have two holes, 1) No true PF on team, everyone is either a C than can play PF (Saric, Smith) or a SF than can play PF (Johnson, Bridges, Crowder). 2) No veteran PG that can play if CP goes down, if he's out, the season is done. Interestingly, we had the same holes last season as well.

5. We don't have any projects on the roster. This isn't a team with a bunch of guys we hope are going to blossom into something great. Sure Jones and Okobo are guys who probably haven't met their full potential and are on the fringe of being in the league, but each of them have an NBA quality skill (Okobo-Shooting, Jones-Finishing), but neither of them is going to play a big role on this team.

That is also a problem, we should have projects to build for the future. Especially at the two positions mentioned above. Hopefully, between Johnson and Smith they can take over the PF spot, but it would be nice to have a project to develop there for the future as well as one to take over CP spot in two years. This was also a problem last year.

I think the days of the 'true' PF in the NBA are long gone. A modern PF needs to be able to shoot, cover perimeter players, and rebound the ball at a decent clip. Mikal, Saric, and Cam all fit the mold of a 2020 PF. We've got enough cover if CP3 goes down. Payne, Galloway and Moore can all run point, and Booker can as well. Yeah its a risk if CP3 goes down, but he's an all star and you don't replace all stars with bench players. It's like saying "Oh, well, Portland can't cope if Dame goes down" or "Utah will miss the playoffs if Mitchell gets hurt" like, YEAH. That's why those guys are All-Stars, a major injury to a player of that caliber on any team is going to derail your season.

We had a bunch of projects last year. Jerome, Diallo, Lecque, Okobo.

Projects were a McD thing. Think Archie Goodwin guys. Diamonds in the rough that maybe JUST maybe might turn into an NBA player. But how many of them actually did? If we are in WIN NOW mode, we need to have solid guys off the bench, and guys who are competing at a high level in practice. Not a guy on a 3 year development timeline.

[Revived]

Good, I like this move. He’s a hot shooter off the bench type player, kinda like how we wanted Troy Daniels to be.

Galloway isn’t a 2nd string PG. He can’t handle the ball or playmake but a very good shooter to play alongside another primary ball handler.

Does that mean Payne isn’t coming back? I assume he would cost very cheap so it would be nice to bring him back as well and see if he can repeat the bubble performance.

[bwgood77]

4. I don't see a single glaring weakness on this team. I'm MILDLY concerned about our ability to rebound the ball against teams that go big, but if Smith is who they think he is, that may not be an issue.

We do have two holes, 1) No true PF on team, everyone is either a C than can play PF (Saric, Smith) or a SF than can play PF (Johnson, Bridges, Crowder). 2) No veteran PG that can play if CP goes down, if he's out, the season is done. Interestingly, we had the same holes last season as well.

Saric is a PF. I definitely wouldn't call him a true C. He's a stretch PF that can play C because teams have gone small. He started at PF for us most of the year...started out PF for Philly, played PF for Minny.

He just worked at C in the bubble, largely because Baynes was out.

Crowder is fine at PF...guys like him end up playing almost more PF than SF these days, and a lot of wings these days play PF, like Cam and Bridges.

We are fine there. The old true PFs like Favors or Aldridge are just very outdated.

[Barkley6]

Good, I like this move. He’s a hot shooter off the bench type player, kinda like how we wanted Troy Daniels to be.

Galloway isn’t a 2nd string PG. He can’t handle the ball or playmake but a very good shooter to play alongside another primary ball handler.

Does that mean Payne isn’t coming back? I assume he would cost very cheap so it would be nice to bring him back as well and see if he can repeat the bubble performance.

Payne's option was picked up. I think its insurance if bubble Payne is an anomaly.

Galloway CAN run a little point. He has a fairly consistent 3 to 1 A:TO ratio, and averaged 3.3 and 2.5 A/pg in his 1st and 2nd seasons. He's not a long term PG and you wouldn't want him to play big minutes there, but for 8-10 minutes a night? Definitely can be done.

[Djedefre]

Finally, a top notch signing.

[bwgood77]

Good, I like this move. He’s a hot shooter off the bench type player, kinda like how we wanted Troy Daniels to be.

Galloway isn’t a 2nd string PG. He can’t handle the ball or playmake but a very good shooter to play alongside another primary ball handler.

Does that mean Payne isn’t coming back? I assume he would cost very cheap so it would be nice to bring him back as well and see if he can repeat the bubble performance.

He can play PG and played it his first 3 years in the NBA. He's better off guard but him and Moore can both play it. Maybe better than Payne (or Carter) normally can, but Payne was good at it in the bubble.

They must feel ok with it because really all these guys are combo guards, and then if you stagger Paul and Booker it works.

[Barkley6]

Good, I like this move. He’s a hot shooter off the bench type player, kinda like how we wanted Troy Daniels to be.

Galloway isn’t a 2nd string PG. He can’t handle the ball or playmake but a very good shooter to play alongside another primary ball handler.

Does that mean Payne isn’t coming back? I assume he would cost very cheap so it would be nice to bring him back as well and see if he can repeat the bubble performance.

He can play PG and played it his first 3 years in the NBA. He's better off guard but him and Moore can both play it. Maybe better than Payne (or Carter) normally can, but Payne was good at it in the bubble.

They must feel ok with it because really all these guys are combo guards, and then if you stagger Paul and Booker it works.

We keep saying the same stuff 2 posts apart