Line-ups, rotation, analysis thread.

[DCZards]

It'll probably turn out that we could have drafted someone who is a much greater difference maker
than Davis (yes I know it's early days). A few other franchises manage to do this much better than we do.
Tari Eason....

We really don't know at this point whether Davis or Eason will turn out to be a greater difference maker...could turn out that neither will.

[NatP4]

The rotation is so obvious to me:

Wright
Beal
Kispert
Rui
Porzingis

Morris
Davis
Avdija
Kuzma
Gafford

Barton should never wear a Wizards uniform. The first unit should center around a 2 man game between Beal and Porzingis, with a bunch of off ball shooters around them. The 2nd unit can just let Kuzma and Avdija be the initiators while Davis just hustles and brings energy. Morris and Gafford will play PNR and have good chemistry.

They SHOULD be a pretty solid 40ish win playoff team with plenty of depth and solid starters and bench.

[payitforward]

It'll probably turn out that we could have drafted someone who is a much greater difference maker
than Davis (yes I know it's early days). A few other franchises manage to do this much better than we do.
Tari Eason....

We really don't know at this point whether Davis or Eason will turn out to be a greater difference maker...could turn out that neither will.

Houston plays its first pre-season game on Sunday, & I assume Tari Eason will see the floor. That should tell us everything we need to know! Right?

[dckingsfan]

The rotation is so obvious to me:

Wright
Beal
Kispert
Rui
Porzingis

Morris
Davis
Avdija
Kuzma
Gafford

Barton should never wear a Wizards uniform. The first unit should center around a 2 man game between Beal and Porzingis, with a bunch of off ball shooters around them. The 2nd unit can just let Kuzma and Avdija be the initiators while Davis just hustles and brings energy. Morris and Gafford will play PNR and have good chemistry.

They SHOULD be a pretty solid 40ish win playoff team with plenty of depth and solid starters and bench.

I am going to say that there is no way Davis gets meaningful minutes this year. And I am guessing that Barton will be solidly in the rotation.

What I hope is that they have a good development plan for Davis so that he is fully ready by next season.

[payitforward]

...Barton should never wear a Wizards uniform....

You often have some very strongly expressed opinions, Nat -- but, this one I just don't understand.

I'm not saying Will Barton is a great player or anything -- he isn't. But, he's been in the league a decade, & over the last 7 seasons he's averaged 2000 minutes a year -- for one of the better franchises in the league.

In all, the numbers say he's been a pretty good player. Why are you so down on him? Not looking to argue here, just interested in where you're coming from.

[DCZards]

Morris’ ability to be an oncourt leader and run the offense is the primary reason I want him to start next to Beal. (This came across my newsfeed but it disappeared before I could capture the source. I’m sure it will come up again.)

It has been noted this summer that Morris is the best shooting point guard Bradley Beal has played with so far in the NBA. He finished 4-10 on the day for nine points while going 1-4 from three. Morris didn't shoot the lights out, but he was adept at orchestrating the Wizards’ offense and facilitating opportunities for Beal and Kyle Kuzma to work with the ball in space.

[nate33]

The rotation is so obvious to me:

Wright
Beal
Kispert
Rui
Porzingis

Morris
Davis
Avdija
Kuzma
Gafford

I agree with some of this, pairing Porzingis with Wright, for example; but I don't agree with all.

First, Barton is way better right now than Davis. If the goal is to win games rather than develop talent (and that, sadly, is the goal), then there is no justification to play Davis ahead of Barton.

Secondly, I don't love that starting unit because it has two non-playmakers in Kispert and Rui, and it lacks a true PG. If you are starting Wright, which is fine by me, I think Avdija needs to be in the starting unit in place of one of Kispert/Rui. Avdija gives them one more ball handler and decision-maker so the burden doesn't fall on Beal. I'm not sure which of Kispert/Rui should start alongside Wright, Beal, Avdija and Porzingis. It'll depend on how they developed in the offseason. So far from what we've seen in Japan, I'd say Rui is making a pretty strong case.

So my rotation would be:

Starters:
Wright
Beal
Avdija
Rui
Porzingis

Bench:
Morris
Barton
Kispert
Kuzma
Gafford

The impression I get from the team is that Kuzma is a shoe-in as a starter, unfortunately. If that's set in stone, then I'd do the same rotation with Kuzma and Avdija swapped.

[payitforward]

Nate -- as to who starts at PG, I differ w/ you for some specific reasons. I'd appreciate your comment on my thoughts.

First off, if we're asking who -- overall -- is the better player Delon Wright or Monte Morris, I think it's Wright without question. In fact, I think he's one of the most underrated players in the league. For the usual reason, unsurprisingly: he doesn't shoot a lot, so he doesn't get noticed as much as players who do shoot a lot. Yet, his career TS% is perfectly respectable.

That said, Monte Morris is quite a good player too. But Wright is pretty clearly better. No dispute -- above all, he's a killer defender.

The main reason I prefer to see Morris start is that I want to see both these guys get a lot of minutes. Something like 30 minutes a game. They are, each of them, among our most productive players. Moreover, the more minutes they get the easier it becomes to keep Brad's minutes down to @30 a game.

But, there's another benefit. It's my hope that knock-on effects wind up holding down Kuzma's minutes.

I.e. if Wright starts & Morris backs him up, then Kispert may wind up getting minutes backing up Brad. I want his minutes to be at the 3 not the 2. Why?

First off, it's better for him. But, more importantly to me, it will mean that Deni gets some of his minutes at the 4.

Which would mean, in turn, that Kuzma might get fewer minutes. Kyle's a nice guy, but he really isn't a particularly good player. Plus, he's in a contract year, & I'm hoping that Deni (& maybe even Rui if he plays well on this continent!) can tilt the board away from giving him big money long term.

Does this make sense to you?

[nate33]

Nate -- as to who starts at PG, I differ w/ you for some specific reasons. I'd appreciate your comment on my thoughts.

First off, if we're asking who -- overall -- is the better player Delon Wright or Monte Morris, I think it's Wright without question. In fact, I think he's one of the most underrated players in the league. For the usual reason, unsurprisingly: he doesn't shoot a lot, so he doesn't get noticed as much as players who do shoot a lot. Yet, his career TS% is perfectly respectable.

That said, Monte Morris is quite a good player too. But Wright is pretty clearly better. No dispute -- above all, he's a killer defender.

The main reason I prefer to see Morris start is that I want to see both these guys get a lot of minutes. Something like 30 minutes a game. They are, each of them, among our most productive players. Moreover, the more minutes they get the easier it becomes to keep Brad's minutes down to @30 a game.

But, there's another benefit. It's my hope that knock-on effects wind up holding down Kuzma's minutes.

I.e. if Wright starts & Morris backs him up, then Kispert may wind up getting minutes backing up Brad. I want his minutes to be at the 3 not the 2. Why?

First off, it's better for him. But, more importantly to me, it will mean that Deni gets some of his minutes at the 4.

Which would mean, in turn, that Kuzma might get fewer minutes. Kyle's a nice guy, but he really isn't a particularly good player. Plus, he's in a contract year, & I'm hoping that Deni (& maybe even Rui if he plays well on this continent!) can tilt the board away from giving him big money long term.

Does this make sense to you?

No. I don't really follow your logic.

If your goal is for Wright and Morris combine for more than 48 minutes and for their playing time to bleed into the SG slot, that's fine. But that goal can be met just as easily with Wright starting as with Morris starting. Since you freely admit that Wright is better, then why not start him? It'll likely mean he ends up with more minutes, and it also pairs him with Porzingis, which I think is a better fit. (Morris is needed with the 2nd unit who have a lot more PG-dependent players.)

All that said, I fear that if Wright ends up playing some SG, I seriously doubt those minutes will ultimately come from Kuzma. They'll come from Kispert or Avdija.

[payitforward]

Nate -- as to who starts at PG, I differ w/ you for some specific reasons. I'd appreciate your comment on my thoughts....

Spoiler:

First off, if we're asking who -- overall -- is the better player Delon Wright or Monte Morris, I think it's Wright without question. In fact, I think he's one of the most underrated players in the league. For the usual reason, unsurprisingly: he doesn't shoot a lot, so he doesn't get noticed as much as players who do shoot a lot. Yet, his career TS% is perfectly respectable.

That said, Monte Morris is quite a good player too. But Wright is pretty clearly better. No dispute -- above all, he's a killer defender.

The main reason I prefer to see Morris start is that I want to see both these guys get a lot of minutes. Something like 30 minutes a game. They are, each of them, among our most productive players. Moreover, the more minutes they get the easier it becomes to keep Brad's minutes down to @30 a game.

But, there's another benefit. It's my hope that knock-on effects wind up holding down Kuzma's minutes.

I.e. if Wright starts & Morris backs him up, then Kispert may wind up getting minutes backing up Brad. I want his minutes to be at the 3 not the 2. Why?

First off, it's better for him. But, more importantly to me, it will mean that Deni gets some of his minutes at the 4.

Which would mean, in turn, that Kuzma might get fewer minutes. Kyle's a nice guy, but he really isn't a particularly good player. Plus, he's in a contract year, & I'm hoping that Deni (& maybe even Rui if he plays well on this continent!) can tilt the board away from giving him big money long term.

...Does this make sense to you?

No. I don't really follow your logic.

If your goal is for Wright and Morris combine for more than 48 minutes and for their playing time to bleed into the SG slot, that's fine. But that goal can be met just as easily with Wright starting as with Morris starting. Since you freely admit that Wright is better, then why not start him? It'll likely mean he ends up with more minutes, and it also pairs him with Porzingis, which I think is a better fit. (Morris is needed with the 2nd unit who have a lot more PG-dependent players.)

All that said, I fear that if Wright ends up playing some SG, I seriously doubt those minutes will ultimately come from Kuzma. They'll come from Kispert or Avdija.

Ok... thanks for your thoughts.
I'd say my preference would be for Morris & Wright each to play as close to 30 minutes a game as possible. Thus, with Beal, those 3 guys would eat up virtually all the minutes at guard.

On reflection, that's unrealistic -- above all b/c even w/o considering Barton it would make it difficult to give both Kispert & Avdija the minutes they need unless Avdija played a ton of minutes at the 4. It'll be interesting to see how this works out....

[AFM]

The wizards are in the admirable position of having a glut of mediocre players and not enough minutes for all of them. Wow!

[payitforward]

It'll probably turn out that we could have drafted someone who is a much greater difference maker... Tari Eason....

We really don't know at this point whether Davis or Eason will turn out to be a greater difference maker....

True enough.
Here's the boxscore from Eason's first NBA game:

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401474847

Any comments?

(... only pre-season -- but that is one of the best 21-minute box-score lines I have ever seen!)

[DCZards]

It'll probably turn out that we could have drafted someone who is a much greater difference maker... Tari Eason....

We really don't know at this point whether Davis or Eason will turn out to be a greater difference maker....

True enough.
Here's the boxscore from Eason's first NBA game:

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401474847

Any comments?

(... only pre-season -- but that is one of the best 21-minute box-score lines I have ever seen!)

Very impressive!

[nate33]

The wizards are in the admirable position of having a glut of mediocre players and not enough minutes for all of them. Wow!

Yeah, the Wizards are Porzingis and Beal, plus 8 guys who could be the 5th, 6th or 7th man on a good team:

Kuzma
Morris
Wright
Avdija
Barton
Kispert
Gafford
Rui

The problem is, when you put one of these guys in the role as 3rd best player, they don't really hold up.

If you could take about 4 of these guys, and trade them for one first-rate All-NBA caliber player, the team would be a contender. A true star as the 1st option, Beal and Zinger as 2nd/3rd options, and the remaining 4 guys as role players, would be a real nice team.

Imagine trading say, Kuzma, Rui, Morris and Barton for a healthy Kawhi Leonard:

PG Wright
SG Beal
SF Avdija
PF Kawhi
C Porzingis
6th man: Kispert
7th man: Gafford

Now that's a quality 7-man rotation!

[NatP4]

I think there’s a good chance that Avdija makes that leap to become the 3rd impact player. Gafford, Wright, and Kispert are all really solid rotation pieces. I think it’s a solid team. Really wish they got Dyson Daniels instead of Davis.

They won’t win anything with a Rui/Kuzma rotation at PF. That’s 48 minutes of bad.

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

The wizards are in the admirable position of having a glut of mediocre players and not enough minutes for all of them. Wow!

Yeah, the Wizards are Porzingis and Beal, plus 8 guys who could be the 5th, 6th or 7th man on a good team:

Kuzma
Morris
Wright
Avdija
Barton
Kispert
Gafford
Rui

The problem is, when you put one of these guys in the role as 3rd best player, they don't really hold up.

If you could take about 4 of these guys, and trade them for one first-rate All-NBA caliber player, the team would be a contender. A true star as the 1st option, Beal and Zinger as 2nd/3rd options, and the remaining 4 guys as role players, would be a real nice team.

Imagine trading say, Kuzma, Rui, Morris and Barton for a healthy Kawhi Leonard:

PG Wright
SG Beal
SF Avdija
PF Kawhi
C Porzingis
6th man: Kispert
7th man: Gafford

Now that's a quality 7-man rotation!

Yep. In the old NBA, we’d be primed for a so called consolidation trade. I don’t think that works anymore. When you have a couple of true stars (A listers like Giannis, not b teamers like Brad and Krystaps) you just wait until the off-season or after cuts after the trade deadline and you get the supporting players for league minimum.

You don’t give up assets (apart from say a future second- which we waste anyway) for Kuz, Barton, etc.

[nate33]

Yep. In the old NBA, we’d be primed for a so called consolidation trade. I don’t think that works anymore. When you have a couple of true stars (A listers like Giannis, not b teamers like Brad and Krystaps) you just wait until the off-season or after cuts after the trade deadline and you get the supporting players for league minimum.

You don’t give up assets (apart from say a future second- which we waste anyway) for Kuz, Barton, etc.

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that such a trade was realistic. I was just demonstrating that the players that exist on are team would be real solid, if only there was a true superstar leading them. They're good NBA players. They're just being asked to do too much.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

It'll probably turn out that we could have drafted someone who is a much greater difference maker... Tari Eason....

We really don't know at this point whether Davis or Eason will turn out to be a greater difference maker....

True enough.
Here's the boxscore from Eason's first NBA game:

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401474847

Any comments?

(... only pre-season -- but that is one of the best 21-minute box-score lines I have ever seen!)

DCZ, Eason will be a perennial all star IF NOT A SUPERSTAR.

EASON IS WAY >>>>>>>Better than Davis.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401474844

Disturbing: Kispert's minutes vs those of Davis, Gibson, and others. STUPID.
Encouraging: Lots

[DCZards]

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401474844

Disturbing: Kispert's minutes vs those of Davis, Gibson, and others. STUPID.
Encouraging: Lots

Kispert hurt his ankle in the first half and didn't play after that. Plus, it's a meaningless preseason game...why you sweating it.