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Hello! What do y'all think are the best lineups the Raptors should utilize?

Here's mine:

IQ (32) | Davion (8) | Shead (8)
RJ (32) | Dick (16)
Battle (26) | Bruce (22)
Scottie (34) | Ochai (14) [Against bigger lineups: Kelly (14)]
Jakob (28) | Kelly (28) [Against bigger lineups: Bruno (20)]

Reasons for my choices
- Battle at the starting 3 because we need good shooters around Scottie and he's a very solid shooter. He has good size at 6'7.
- RJ at the 2 because we all seen that he's been able to use his size more effectively against other guards.
- Gradey off the bench because I would like RJ at the 2 and I'm not sure if Gradey would be best playing against other larger wings
- I would prefer Kelly at the 4 because I don't think he's well suited at the 5. So an alternative could be to have Bruno Fernando at the 5 and Kelly at the 4 against bigger lineups.
- I love the defensive intensity that Davion and Shead play with; would prefer if they both play at the same time like we did against the Nets but makes it trickier to set a lineup for that

What are your thoughts? What do you think is the best?

Quick/ Mitchell/ Shead
Brown/ Dick/ Walter
RJ/ Ochai/ Battle
Barnes/ Boucher
Poeltl/ Olynyk/ Fernando

* Gradey is 6th man. Comes in with full green light.

Beside our bigs, this team is very young. Everyone besides Poeltl, Boucher, Olynyk & Temple is below their prime years (I consider prime to be 27-32ish)

Starting Battle over Gradey after a handful of decent preseason games is pure insanity

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Jtoneller1 wrote:Starting Battle over Gradey after a handful of decent preseason games is pure insanity

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It's more so to balance it out and give the bench more scoring.

Jtoneller1 wrote:Starting Battle over Gradey after a handful of decent preseason games is pure insanity

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Only slightly more crazy than Dick only getting 16mpg. Dick shows real improvement and gets his minutes reduced?

IQ/Shead/Mitchell
RJ/JKW/Brown
GD/Ochai/Battle
SB/Boucher/Olynyk
JP/Fernando

IQ gives Scottie a great outlet for 3's, between RJ/GD you have lots of scoring versatility, and Scottie+Gradey look to have some serious chemistry so I want to see that continue to improve.

For the backups I have JKW/Shead above Brown/Mitchell cause I see this as a developmental season, not a chase every win season. So I want to see them get more minutes to see what they've got. Brown/Mitchell are known quantities and very unlikely to be here much longer.

The SL will be pretty bad defensively, but shifting Ochai into the starting spot isn't changing that enough for it to matter. Scottie needs shooters and scorers, the defence will come, but for now, this is an offence first league so we need to get those ducks in a row first.

Given that we're projected to end up in the lottery again, it would be a crime to not start Dick. He's got great size as a wing and given he's starting next to RJ and Scottie, he's going to get hidden defensively.

On paper, he's also the ideal fit next to our core 4 with his size and shooting ability. He only converted 34.2% of his 3pt looks in the 5 preseason games but Darko has clearly drawn up set plays to free him open. It's his starting position to lose as we continue to try and develop our young talent.

IQ/Mitchell
RJ/Brown
Dick/Ochai
SB/Boucher
Poeltl/Olynyk

I think we need to bring Bruce off the bench so he can lead that 2nd unit and reset his value going into the trade deadline.

I'd be surprise if Battle becomes part of the rotation after RJ comes back.

Everyone in the organization is saying we're prioritizing development, therefore I want to see Dick start, not bum ass Bruce Brown or Ochai

IQ/Shead/Mitchell
RJ/Ja'kobe/Mitchell
GD/Ochai/Brown
SB/Brown/Olynyk
JP/Olynyk

The hard part is finding minutes for Boucher, especially since we are looking to build for the future.

IQ / Davion / Shead
RJ / Dick / Walter
Ochai / Brown /
SB / Boucher / Mogbo
JP / Olynyk / Bruno

Saying start Battle is wild. Only way that happens is if you wanna split up the talent a bit more and want to give Battle the first 6 minutes of each half which I dont hate. That being said, I wish more teams would play their "worst" rotation player with their starters more and split up the breaks in talent. We used to do that with Malcolm Miller when injuries happened and IMO it always worked fine.

This is a fun question. I have to approach it from a developmental POV rather than a wins/losses perspective because that's the focus of the season. And given that the future seems to be Barnes and Gradey, how do you build around them?

Ideally...

IQ / Shead
Dick / Davion / Brown
Ochai / RJ / Brown
Barnes / Boucher / Mogbo
Jak / Olynyk

I like RJ. He's looked really solid under Darko but his lack of defense and shooting cause me to project him as a 6th man. He needs the ball and has demonstrated that he deserves opportunities. I just can't see his offensive production working synergistically with Barnes without a 5 that spaces the floor. And there's hardly more than 5 high level 3 and D centers in the league so...limited options. Additionally, most competing teams need big defensive wings. If Gradey is one of the future starting wings RJ can't be the other. All said, his individual scoring ability could really bolster a bench. And he can absolute play well with the starters. It's just a limited ceiling.

I think the best version of the team this season requires a POA defender.

I would not be surprised if the starting lineup consisted of:

Davion
IQ
RJ
Barnes
Jak

phanman wrote:Given that we're projected to end up in the lottery again, it would be a crime to not start Dick. He's got great size as a wing and given he's starting next to RJ and Scottie, he's going to get hidden defensively.

On paper, he's also the ideal fit next to our core 4 with his size and shooting ability. He only converted 34.2% of his 3pt looks in the 5 preseason games but Darko has clearly drawn up set plays to free him open. It's his starting position to lose as we continue to try and develop our young talent.

There's only one ball and IQ/Scottie/RJ all need to get theirs. We also need defense with that line-up. If Scottie/RJ have improved in their 3 point shooting, I could see Darko starting Ochai. Gradey will get more touches off the bench.

YogurtProducer wrote:IQ / Davion / Shead
RJ / Dick / Walter
Ochai / Brown /
SB / Boucher / Mogbo
JP / Olynyk / Bruno

Saying start Battle is wild. Only way that happens is if you wanna split up the talent a bit more and want to give Battle the first 6 minutes of each half which I dont hate. That being said, I wish more teams would play their "worst" rotation player with their starters more and split up the breaks in talent. We used to do that with Malcolm Miller when injuries happened and IMO it always worked fine.

That was exactly my thought process in putting Battle in there.

Spates wrote:This is a fun question. I have to approach it from a developmental POV rather than a wins/losses perspective because that's the focus of the season. And given that the future seems to be Barnes and Gradey, how do you build around them?

Ideally...

IQ / Shead
Dick / Davion / Brown
Ochai / RJ / Brown
Barnes / Boucher / Mogbo
Jak / Olynyk

I like RJ. He's looked really solid under Darko but his lack of defense and shooting cause me to project him as a 6th man. He needs the ball and has demonstrated that he deserves opportunities. I just can't see his offensive production working synergistically with Barnes without a 5 that spaces the floor. And there's hardly more than 5 high level 3 and D centers in the league so...limited options. Additionally, most competing teams need big defensive wings. If Gradey is one of the future starting wings RJ can't be the other. All said, his individual scoring ability could really bolster a bench. And he can absolute play well with the starters. It's just a limited ceiling.

I really like that lineup too. Good balance and it helps the bench significantly in terms of scoring. Also playing Davion and Shead together sounds sick. Could work since Manu was RJ's favorite player.

RaptorLakerJay wrote:

Spates wrote:This is a fun question. I have to approach it from a developmental POV rather than a wins/losses perspective because that's the focus of the season. And given that the future seems to be Barnes and Gradey, how do you build around them?

Ideally...

IQ / Shead
Dick / Davion / Brown
Ochai / RJ / Brown
Barnes / Boucher / Mogbo
Jak / Olynyk

I like RJ. He's looked really solid under Darko but his lack of defense and shooting cause me to project him as a 6th man. He needs the ball and has demonstrated that he deserves opportunities. I just can't see his offensive production working synergistically with Barnes without a 5 that spaces the floor. And there's hardly more than 5 high level 3 and D centers in the league so...limited options. Additionally, most competing teams need big defensive wings. If Gradey is one of the future starting wings RJ can't be the other. All said, his individual scoring ability could really bolster a bench. And he can absolute play well with the starters. It's just a limited ceiling.

I really like that lineup too. Good balance and it helps the bench significantly in terms of scoring. Also playing Davion and Shead together sounds sick. Could work since Manu was RJ's favorite player.

Lol RJ ain't coming off the bench


Davion/ Shead / brown
IQ / Dick
RJ / Obaji / Brown
Barnes / Boucher / Mogbo
Jak / Olynyk


This.

RaptorLakerJay wrote:

Spates wrote:This is a fun question. I have to approach it from a developmental POV rather than a wins/losses perspective because that's the focus of the season. And given that the future seems to be Barnes and Gradey, how do you build around them?

Ideally...

IQ / Shead
Dick / Davion / Brown
Ochai / RJ / Brown
Barnes / Boucher / Mogbo
Jak / Olynyk

I like RJ. He's looked really solid under Darko but his lack of defense and shooting cause me to project him as a 6th man. He needs the ball and has demonstrated that he deserves opportunities. I just can't see his offensive production working synergistically with Barnes without a 5 that spaces the floor. And there's hardly more than 5 high level 3 and D centers in the league so...limited options. Additionally, most competing teams need big defensive wings. If Gradey is one of the future starting wings RJ can't be the other. All said, his individual scoring ability could really bolster a bench. And he can absolute play well with the starters. It's just a limited ceiling.

I really like that lineup too. Good balance and it helps the bench significantly in terms of scoring. Also playing Davion and Shead together sounds sick. Could work since Manu was RJ's favorite player.

Spacing is likely atrocious but they could wreak havoc defensively. Could be a lot of fun for sure.

RJ should emulate Manu the way Kobe did Mike.

Snappycoocoo wrote:

RaptorLakerJay wrote:

Spates wrote:This is a fun question. I have to approach it from a developmental POV rather than a wins/losses perspective because that's the focus of the season. And given that the future seems to be Barnes and Gradey, how do you build around them?

Ideally...

IQ / Shead
Dick / Davion / Brown
Ochai / RJ / Brown
Barnes / Boucher / Mogbo
Jak / Olynyk

I like RJ. He's looked really solid under Darko but his lack of defense and shooting cause me to project him as a 6th man. He needs the ball and has demonstrated that he deserves opportunities. I just can't see his offensive production working synergistically with Barnes without a 5 that spaces the floor. And there's hardly more than 5 high level 3 and D centers in the league so...limited options. Additionally, most competing teams need big defensive wings. If Gradey is one of the future starting wings RJ can't be the other. All said, his individual scoring ability could really bolster a bench. And he can absolute play well with the starters. It's just a limited ceiling.

I really like that lineup too. Good balance and it helps the bench significantly in terms of scoring. Also playing Davion and Shead together sounds sick. Could work since Manu was RJ's favorite player.

Lol RJ ain't coming off the bench


Davion/ Shead / brown
IQ / Davion
RJ / Obaji / Brown
Barnes / Boucher / Mogbo
Jak / Olynyk


This.

I agree, he's not coming off the bench this year. Did you forget to include Gradey in your rotation?

Fully healthy, I would start Ochai or Mitchell. They need someone to pressure the ball carrier on the opposing team.

Obviously the team will start Dick for the vibes but starting Dick puts a lot of pressure on Scottie on the defensive end.

Spates wrote:

Snappycoocoo wrote:

RaptorLakerJay wrote:
I really like that lineup too. Good balance and it helps the bench significantly in terms of scoring. Also playing Davion and Shead together sounds sick. Could work since Manu was RJ's favorite player.

Lol RJ ain't coming off the bench


Davion/ Shead / brown
IQ / Davion
RJ / Obaji / Brown
Barnes / Boucher / Mogbo
Jak / Olynyk


This.

I agree, he's not coming off the bench this year. Did you forget to include Gradey in your rotation?

Davion/ Shead / brown
IQ / Dick
RJ / Obaji / Brown
Barnes / Boucher / Mogbo
Jak / Olynyk