What are you hoping the rotation will be for game 1?

[StopitLeo]

Need me some Matt Thomas

I'd love to see Malcolm Miller get some burn.

[everdiso]

IMO there are 5 legit Starter-quality raps, and they should all get starter-quality minuntes(i.e. 30+ mpg) - Gasol, Ibaka, Siakam, Lowry, Fred.

This will create some awkward lineups at times, but i think both the Gasol-Ibaka and Lowry-Fred combos have proven that they can work on the court, in big time matchups, and I have little doubt Siakam can handle a pure wing position.

Obviously this will lead to some vulnerability defensively in certain matchups against long athletic wing players, but when that happens we have all sorts of long athletic guys to match them up defensively in a pinch - OG, RHJ, Johnson, Boucher, McCaw. But imo these guys should only be emergency matchup guys, not guys getting more than 20 minutes.

the one bench guy I want to see get a chance to get real 6 man minutes (i.e. ~25mpg) is Norm, both because I was pretty encouraged by his late season performance and decision making last year, and because of course he fills the biggest hole in the "starting 5" above.

of the other depth guys, the guys i'm most interested in seeing getting some burn are the three guys that imo have real offensive potential - Davis, Boucher, and Hernandez. I think they could all end up earnig real minutes this year if given the chance.

[gerrit4]

I'm most curious to see how some of these guys will perform with the trio of Gasol, Lowry & Siakam. I feel like there will be one player who will really come out of nowhere this year once he gets the benefit of playing with two of the smartest playmakers in basketball, as well as the type of room they'll get from playing with a player I think will really be a good scorer next year in Siakam. It could be Thomas, Davis, Stan,Miller, or Norm (if that counts), but I really feel like someone (or everyone) will really benefit in sharing the court with those 3.

[DonMega]

Raptors are gonna have a hot start but I feel they will fall off the cliff shortly after. Watching preseason, and I know we haven't seen the full lineup yet but I'm not impressed by guys like Matt Thomas, Davis was ok in 1 game but should be developed more in the d league. Lowry is old and injury prone, gasol played all summer, Powell doesn't look like he took a step forward and in og you see flashes of greatness but I've seen those flashes since year one that's why I've been rocking his jersey since then. But I just dont have a good feeling. We'll see, but I feel this will be a rough one. We don't have a legit star on this roster, siakam might be or might not be, he's unproven when all the pressure and focus is on him. I think we'll either get dropped on the first or definitely the 2nd round again. But hell, who the hell knows, hope I'm wrong.

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[J-Roc]

Raptors are gonna have a hot start but I feel they will fall off the cliff shortly after. Watching preseason, and I know we haven't seen the full lineup yet but I'm not impressed by guys like Matt Thomas, Davis was ok in 1 game but should be developed more in the d league. Lowry is old and injury prone, gasol played all summer, Powell doesn't look like he took a step forward and in og you see flashes of greatness but I've seen those flashes since year one that's why I've been rocking his jersey since then. But I just dont have a good feeling. We'll see, but I feel this will be a rough one. We don't have a legit star on this roster, siakam might be or might not be, he's unproven when all the pressure and focus is on him. I think we'll either get dropped on the first or definitely the 2nd round again. But hell, who the hell knows, hope I'm wrong.

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If anything look for a slow start, with Lowry taking 10 games or more to get into game shape. Then, everything else you said could take over.

[libertyYYZ]

I won't be surprised if Masai trades Stanley for a 2nd round pick if he doesn't pan out half way into the season.

Stanley is still in learning mode. He seems afraid to take open shots when available, so the ball sticks and then he attempts to drive into traffic with expected results on contested shots at the rim. He's a project, so it comes down to Masai and Bobby's evaluation of whether they expend the effort with him. So, the acid test question is will he take a G-League stint to work on his game? If the answer is no, then he may just be unteachable and it's time move on from a once-promising talent. Time will tell whether his game can be developed, but he seems to have some long-term habits that need to be broken for him to be a servicable 2nd team member.

[SHFT]

First 10-20 games

Lowry 25 / FVV 17 / TD - 6
Norm 30 / FVV 10 / Thomas 8
OG 30 / Stanley + RHJ 10 / Siakam 8
Siakam 30 / Someone 10 - Serge 8
Gasol 25 / Serge 20 / Boucher 3


Rest of the season (9man rotation)

Lowry 32 / FVV 15
Norm 30 / FVV 15 / Thomas 3 (shooting if needed)
OG 30 / Siakam 10 / SJ 8 (will be better than RHJ who falls off imo)
Siakam 28 / Serge 15 / Boucher (or someone) 5
Gasol - 30 / Serge 15 / Boucher 3

TD goes for 30/20/20 in the G league but comes back for some games here and there. Also, I see a few people with Siakam around 30mpg. He will average 35 no problem. Vets hover around 30mpg once the season is in full swing and get the odd day off.

Playoffs

Lowry 32 / FVV 15
Norm 30 / FVV 18
OG 25/ Siakam 10
Siakam 32 / Serge 15 / OG 5
Gasol 30 / Serge 13

Tight 8 man rotation. Sprinkle in some Matt Thomas for shooting if needed.

[PT416]

Lowry
Green
Leonard
Siakam
Gasol

FVV
Norm
OG
RHJ
Ibaka

[macNcheese3]

I won't be surprised if Masai trades Stanley for a 2nd round pick if he doesn't pan out half way into the season.

While I understand, taking a flyer on a guy like SJ isn’t completely out of ordinary, I just don’t buy into the fact that he will become a productive piece for us. Detroit our of all places, is somewhere he could have proven himself. Maybe I will end up biting my own words but I think the chances are unlikely.

Stanley is playing so badly on offence (although he had 5 assists against the Bulls) that this must be either physical or mental. I expect him to improve. I think Masai picked him up as OG insurance.If OG can play well this season, SJ is redundant. If he does eventually get it together,definitely a trade candidate, likely in a package with one of our big contracts.

Back to the OP, Nurse has to acknowledge that Serge and Fred see themselves as starters and are both in contract years. So they each need - and deserve - 30mpg. Meanwhile, Marc and Lowry need to have their minutes reduced. As we saw two seasons ago, cutting Lowry back to 32 mpg had an amazing effect by the end of the season, being the equivalent of resting 7 games. He played very well in the 2018 playoffs,even during the Cavs sweep when DeMar completely STB. I would cut Kyle back to 28-30 mpg, and Marc to around 24-26 (except against Embiid obviously). Also, I'd like to see Marc, as a natural playmaker, play more with Fred, and Kyle play more with Serge with whom he has such a nice chemistry. Of course, Fred has to be given an opportunity to work on his PnR game before we give him bigger money next summer,and Serge certainly was able to score with Fred in Japan against the Rockets.

Agree that Davis II and Hernandex should start the season with the 905.

Finally, I think we need to "play them all and let God sort it out" at least to begin the season. Both SJ/RHJ and Thomas/McCaw can play alternate games, keeping a 10-man rotation during games. With that in mind, here would be my proposed rotation:

Serge (24)/Gasol (24)
Pascal (28)/Serge (6), Boucher (8), RHJ (6)
OG (30)/Pascal (6), SJ/RHJ (12)
Norm (30), Fred (10), McCaw/Thomas (8)
Lowry (28), Fred (20)

I don’t expect SJ to blow any of us away with his offensive game. Defensive is what he can really help us with.

[Major Giz]

Lowry/Fred/TD
Norm/TD/White Boy forgot his name/ Fred (closing lineup)
OG/SJ (puke)
Siakam/RHJ/Ibaka
Gasol/Ibaka

Ummmm. Is this ok? Can’t imagine saying the opposite would be well accepted.

[Psubs]

Hmmmmm, specifically for game #1, gotta stop Zion from shooting over 70% FG.

PG Jrue - Ball - Jackson
SG Ball - Redick - Hart
SF Ingram - Moore - Kenrich
PF Zion - Melli - Miller
C Favors - Okafor - Hayes

PG Lowry - FVV
SG Powell - Lowry - Thomas
SF Siakam - RHJ - Stanley
PF Ibaka - OG - Siakam
C Gasol - Ibaka - Boucher

If Ibaka gets into foul trouble then put OG on him.

[C_Money]

Every year we have this thread and the starters minutes are always way too low. There’s no way Lowry spends half the game sitting on the bench.

[S.W.A.N]

Don't care. They going to be fluid all year anyways.

I do however want TD to spend lots of time in the G league working on his pg skills.

[TheBoi10]

OG is so overrated

Lowry
Powell
Siakam
Ibaka
Gasol

[VanWest82]

I’m beating a dead horse at this point but really think we need Freddy in the starting line up.

1. This allows Kyle to play off ball more while he’s rounding into form at the beginning of the year. Plus having three ball handlers out there has long been a key to our success. Norm is a spark plug scorer not a play maker.

2. FVV can guard the opponent PGs so Kyle doesn’t have to. It’s unrealistic to think Lowry’s going to be able to turn back the clock and start punking guys like it’s 15/16, especially coming off surgery and a short summer.

3. I’d start Ibaka as well and run everything through Gasol in the second unit. SL will be small be we can always swap Norm + Gasol for Fred + Ibaka against teams like the Sixers.

FVV/McCaw (or TD eventually)
Lowry/Thomas
OG/Norm
Siakam/RHJ (or Boucher depending on Ibaka/Gasol)
Ibaka/Gasol

[Indeed]

I’m beating a dead horse at this point but really think we need Freddy in the starting line up.

1. This allows Kyle to play off ball more while he’s rounding into form at the beginning of the year. Plus having three ball handlers out there has long been a key to our success. Norm is a spark plug scorer not a play maker.

2. FVV can guard the opponent PGs so Kyle doesn’t have to. It’s unrealistic to think Lowry’s going to be able to turn back the clock and start punking guys like it’s 15/16, especially coming off surgery and a short summer.

3. I’d start Ibaka as well and run everything through Gasol in the second unit. SL will be small be we can always swap Norm + Gasol for Fred + Ibaka against teams like the Sixers.

FVV/McCaw (or TD eventually)
Lowry/Thomas
OG/Norm
Siakam/RHJ (or Boucher depending on Ibaka/Gasol)
Ibaka/Gasol

Through out the pre-season, we tried having McCaw or Davis as the only guard, but it was not working very well.
I think it worked better with both McCaw and Davis together.

[Ell Curry]

Lewenberg: "There are 8 players Nurse frequently brings up as locks for the rotation (/potential starters): Lowry, FVV, Norm, OG, Siakam, Ibaka, Gasol, McCaw"

Not surprised by this considering McCaw looked really good defensively against Chicago and everyone else struggled at both ends (Boucher had some great moments but also looked lost at times, Hernandez did well individually but rebounding was a general problem and he's a 5).

Be interesting to see which of Boucher, Stanley, RHJ, Matt Thomas, Terrence Davis, Hernandez (Siakam sliding to the 3) is the first option to play, but as of now I'm expecting 20ish McCaw minutes at the 2 to go with the 60-65 Lowry and Van Vleet will play at the guard spots, leaving about 10 for Powell at the 2 and then another 15-20 at the 3 backing up OG's 25-30, leaving maybe 15 or so minutes for a 9th man to play as a forward, or maybe 2 guys getting 5-10 each, in which case I think Thomas' offensive game and shooting means good chance he's one of those 2 guys.

[Kingsway_fan]

Raps will need to play their top seven players most of the game if they expect to win, imo...