Which 2 lineup options would you like most moving forward?

[bwgood77]

You could have various lineup options at each spot. I will give option to vote top two choices since it might be tough to decide.

I think we should keep Chriss for potential but I will leave him out for now with so many down on him.

1. Doncic/Booker/Jackson/Warren/Bender with Payton first off bench to lead second unit or swap Payton and Doncic and have Doncic play Ginobili roll for a while.

2. Payton/Booker/Jackson/Bender/Ayton with TJ off bench. Will spacing work?

3. Payton/Booker/Jackson/Porter/Bender with TJ off bench.

4. Payton/Booker/Jackson/JJJ/Bender with TJ off bench.

5. Payton or Young/Booker/Jackson/TJ/Bender with Payton/Young off the bench but great guard rotation...use FA or 2nd pick for another C plus Sauce. Payton could be great leading second unit with Young helping out spacing big time in first unit.

6. Payton/Booker/Jackon/Warren/Bamba with TJ off bench. Will spacing work?

7. Payton/Booker/Jackson/Bagley/Bender with TJ off bench.

[JMac1]

I said 2 then 4. Reason being, Ayton is better than JJJ, although I think JJJ and Bender provides better spacing.

[bwgood77]

I think all are good options. I really love JJJ and almost picked him but it's hard to justify him top two...I think him and Bender in the frontcourt could work really well.

I think though that with our lack of pg depth and dynamic scoring, the Porter fit with Bender at C (and us also drafting a C with Miami pick/using Sauce and or a reasonably priced FA C works well) could really work well with spacing and dynamic scoring.

Then I just can't justify passing up on Doncic just because we have Payton. I'd hate to know we passed up a potential Larry Bird type player because we signed Elfrid Payton and he looked good for 20+ games. I like him and want to keep him but don't think he should impact the pick. Of course Chicago passed on Jordan because they had Drexler, and this isn't a great comp for Doncic, but obviously not for Payton either...but I'd hate to look back on this like a Bowie type decision and not going BPA.

JJJ might be third most appealing to me, though I still think Young could be special and of course Ayton could help with interior scoring, though that doesn't seem to be as important...most of the great bigs these days do a great deal of their scoring from 3 (which Ayton might too). I think a big just has to play D. And he may get there but I just don't know.

Bagley could be a great roll man and maybe Bosh type player...I have asked some Duke fans if they see an Amare comp and they say he is more finesse..more Bosh-like on offense.

[kennydorglas]

I'd be fine with pretty much any of this lineup, minus the Porter Jr one.
Doesnt make much sense to add another dynamic scorer who cant pass and is limited defensively

That Bagley/Dragan frontcourt is growing on me tho. Seems like a pretty good fit...
Bagley with his killer instinct, fantastic motor and Dragan unleashing 3's and being the initiator in some high/low sets.
Bagley is younger, bigger and more versatile than Porter.

[Saberestar]

I'd be fine with pretty much any of this lineup, minus the Porter Jr one.
Doesnt make much sense to add another dynamic scorer who cant pass and is limited defensively

That Bagley/Dragan frontcourt is growing on me tho. Seems like a pretty good fit...
Bagley with his killer instinct, fantastic motor and Dragan unleashing 3's and being the initiator in some high/low sets.
Bagley is younger, bigger and more versatile than Porter.

I think the same.

Bagley is growing in me, I think he is the most sure thing in the draft. His motor and his skillset are great. He has post moves, mid range game, good and versatile defender... I really think that he can be like Bosch/Amare in the NBA.

Playing against Bamba he showed that he knows how to play against a big defensive player. He destroyed Bamba who is raw at the same age.

Next to Bender he can be perfect.

[darealjuice]

While I like what I've seen from Payton a lot more than what we had before him this year, I'm still not at the point where I'm anointing him as the point guard of the future. He helps solve a lot of Ulis' defensive issues just by not being tiny, but spacing is still going to be a problem with Booker and Bender being the only starters comfortable consistently hitting the 3. Outside shooting is just too important right now, and we need as many perimeter players that can hit the 3 as possible to open up the paint.

I'm a believer that Doncic can be a primary ball handler and play multiple positions, so I wouldn't mind playing him and Booker together as our back court going forward and making it work around them. His game feels very balanced and complete for someone that'll just turn 19 in a few weeks, and his production in Europe is great regardless of his age. I'm also still very high on Trae despite his recent efficiency drop. His game is tailor-made for the NBA, his amazing passing is wasted on a team that routinely blows layups and open shots, and he's dying for a guy like Booker to take the defensive pressure off of him. I also think his ball handling and quickness are bit underrated. Defense would suffer, but Jackson and Bender should help with that and we have the assets to add rim protector.

I see the upside, but Porter Jr is scary to me right now because we've seen so little of him against top competition and back injuries tend to linger. I also think his ball handling is a bit overrated right now, from what I've seen he's got a pretty loose and high dribble. He's definitely got big time shot maker/creator potential though, and putting him at the 4 with Bender at the 5 would seriously open up the paint for us, especially if Jackson develops into a solid 3 point shooter. The jury's out for me with Porter, I would definitely be fine ending up with him but he worries me too.

Bamba feels a bit underrated on here. His defensive potential is easily DPOY, and that kind of length, mobility, and shot blocking/defensive instinct just doesn't come along often. He's made pretty big, visible improvements in his game through this season. He's gone from averaging 10.9/9.8/4.2 blocks on 50/16/61 shooting in non-conference play to 15.2/11.3/3.8 blocks on 56/34.6/67 shooting in Big 12 conference play. His offensive game still needs work, but he's definitely showing improvement and that's something you like to see.

I'm up and down on Bagley. He feels like a PF/C tweener sometimes size-wise, so I'm curious what his height/wingspan are now (not that we'll see it). He was 6'9.5" without shoes with a 7' wingspan in 2014, but it doesn't seems like he's grown too much since then. He has a great motor though, and I have no doubt in his ability to find a way to put the ball in the basket. His shot is pretty good looking too, I think he'll develop 3-point range in the NBA just fine. I can see him developing into something like Toronto Bosh with Miami Bosh's 3-point shot, but I don't think he has the same length that Bosh did.

Ayton has the ability to become the next dominant big man on both ends of the floor, but so far the dominance is only showing on offense. I just wish he has the same shot block instinct that Bamba has, because he's definitely flashed the ability to step out on the perimeter and stick with college guards. Ayton would be huge for our rebounding, gives us an offensive force in the paint that we haven't had since Amar'e, and has shown potential to face up and hit jumpers. I've felt like he's shown some improvement on defense under Miller through the year, though he's still not quite where I want him to be. It'd be pretty hard for me to choose between Ayton and Doncic if we had the #1 pick.

I like Jaren Jackson a lot, but he's got that super-role player vibe that I got from Isaac last year. His form is a bit funky too, so I'm not sure how much his perimeter game will develop past being a catch-and-shooter and attacking the rim on closeouts. His efficiency is ridiculous though, and his defense and shot blocking is elite at the college level. He honestly feels like what we wanted Quese to be: a big 3-point shooting, shot blocking, perimeter defending beast . Definitely wouldn't be mad to end up with him and can see the huge upside, but he's still toward the back end of the top 7 for me right now.

I went with 1 and 2, with the 5 being my next option.

[Walt_Uoob]

This is such a great question for adding perspective to the draft. I like Doncic and JJJ the best and ended up choosing 1 and 4, but I actually think I get more excited about 2 and 3 as lineups.

The poll also really shows how Payton is changing our thinking already. If he wasn't here right now it would be awfully hard to vote against 1 and 5.