Line-ups, rotation, analysis thread.

[payitforward]

IMO, on the assumption that Beal returns to form, our 3 most dependably productive players are all guards: Brad, Wright & Morris. As I've already written, I'd try to 23-2400 minutes for all 3 of them. I don't imagine Johnny Davis will see the floor much as a rookie.

If Deni improves as much this season as he did last, & Kispert improves as much as Deni did last year, we should be quite solid at the 1-3. & I like Will Barton as the "supplemental" guy at both the 2 & 3.

Because KP has been injured repeatedly in his career & hasn't been able to provide heavy, predictable minutes, & because Gafford seems to be a 20-minute a game player, & because Carey is raw/untested, Center is a particularly vulnerable spot for us. A whole lot rides on KP remaining healthy & in play all season. Which would be a surprise based on his history -- a very pleasant surprise! & much to be hoped for!

Note that there have been quite a number of "ifs" & "assumings" already, in just the few lines above.

If KP is healthy, I wonder whether we shouldn't plan on giving extensive minutes to Gill at PF. Actually, I think we should. Based on last year's number's, here's why:

1. On offense, Kuz produces 5 more points every 40 minutes. But...
2. Kuz uses 7.5 more of the team's available shots to post those 5 extra points.

The comparison with Rui is similar. Gill on the floor in place of either of those guys would mean that those 7.5 extra FGAs would go to other Wizards, & you have to assume that we'd get more than 5 points out of them. Of course, we'd have to see how rebounding affected this.

Now, I'm not suggesting we start Gill at the 4 -- though we'd probably be a better team if we did. It just isn't going to happen. But, Kuz's mpg could go down, & for sure Gill was far more productive than Rui (who nonetheless got 2 times as many minutes). &, if Gill plays 1200-1600 minutes (instead of 460 as he did last year), we will absolutely be a better team for it. We'll win more games.

Don't get me wrong -- we won't be "good." I.e. above average. We won't win 40 games. But, we might be better than we were last year.

[payitforward]

I didn't see Dat's previous before writing the above, but even w/o mentioning Anthony Gill he's still throwing logs on the same fire I am.

The simplest way to put it is that Kuz & Rui help you lose games. Lower their minutes, & whoever you put in their place doesn't have to be tremendous in order for you to lose fewer games (also known as "win more games").

But Vanderbilt would be way better than Gill all the same!

I think it'd be fair to say that if Jarred Vanderbilt had played the minutes that, say, Rui & Bertans played last year, we'd have probably posted a .500 record. He is really really good -- & he doesn't need to shoot to win games for you.

[doclinkin]

I didn't see Dat's previous before writing the above, but even w/o mentioning Anthony Gill he's still throwing logs on the same fire I am.

The simplest way to put it is that Kuz & Rui help you lose games. Lower their minutes, & whoever you put in their place doesn't have to be tremendous in order for you to lose fewer games (also known as "win more games").

But Vanderbilt would be way better than Gill all the same!

I think it'd be fair to say that if Jarred Vanderbilt had played the minutes that, say, Rui & Bertans played last year, we'd have probably posted a .500 record. He is really really good -- & he doesn't need to shoot to win games for you.

I think though it would be useful for us to do 3 things: 1) look like we are trying to win 2) showcase young talent for trades 3) lose enough to land in the lottery.

In that respect it seems to me we should play lines that make Rui and Kuzma look tantalizing, while we are still losing. This allows us to swap them out in a mid-season trade, and still earn a chance at a franchise changing player to fill that frontcourt role. Most importantly we keep our draft pick next year which is lotto protected, but otherwise will be lost in the John Wall swap.

Kuzma is expiring it would be useful to swap him out rather than pay his raises. But still, he has a championship resume and makes flashy shots late. Playing him heavy minutes is likely, especially given the scuttlebutt that last year he and Brad were the only 2 Wizards that were not being shopped at the deadline. I get the feeling Ted appreciates his swagger. I'd bet Ted will pay to keep him, unless we are losing with him on court. So, in my estimation, we ride him, live with his streakiness, ride it all the way to a losing record, then swap him mid-year and tank our way to the lottery.

I do think Kuz will play well next to KP though. Good enough to look pretty. The line up below was one of the few lines where the team had a positive +/- with Kuz on the floor:

Neto -shooter & back door threat. Neto actually scored well in the paint, left open often.
KCP - shooter & defense
Kispert -shooter
Kuz - playmaker
Porzingis -Unicorn

This year's version seems like it would have enough offense to look good:

Wright. -3&D replacing KCP. No mistake tall PG.
Beal. -Offball, sometime playmaker.
Kispert. -Offball motion, reliable outside shooting. Defensive minus vs opposing SF's preserves the tank while looking respectable.
Kuz. -Jack of all trades, master of none. Decent enough that he can't be left open. Streaky enough to lose as often as win. 2ndary playmaker.
Zinger. High post floor spacing mismatch. Here with enough spacing on offense to operate.

It would look even better if Beal regained his outside shot. Or if Kuzma found his. Porzingis in a crowd is at risk to step on someones foot, he is better rolling in with a runway. Putting shooters around him will prove key to his health as well as efficiency.

But either way this line has enough defensive question marks that we earn lotto tickets, while providing enough offense to look plausible. WIth Wright less of a creative lead guard, it puts the ball in Kuzma's hands which elevates his profile, threatening for triple doubles at times.

If we sub Rui for Kispert, posted on the left side, we get truly big against teams that rely heavily on a tall SF or a wing PF. Rui looks good in those games, so Eastern playoff teams who have to fight Durant and Giannis may pay a premium for Rui on the premise that they can grow him into a solid role player on his next contract. Though my feeling is Rui will look best with a true playmaker to feed him and show him where to be. In that respect I think we will showcase him better with:

Morris -- playmaker in a high post offense, good outside shooter
Beal -- in motion
Rui -- standstill wing shooter, develop chemistry with Morris to know when to attack the interior
Kuzma -- 2ndary playmaker
Porzingis.

Or even, when we can:

Morris -- high % 3 from up top
Kispert -- high % 3 from the right side
Rui -- high % 3 from the left
Kuzma -- 2ndary playmaker, crashing lanes when Zinger is doubled, kicking to shooters when the middle is clogged
Zinger

In any case, this is a year where there is at least one real franchise changing talent at the top. This is one year when we really can't afford to miss on tanking, even if we still want to look good doing so. So, pour on the offense, lose on defense, swap players mid year, lose a little more, then decide to shut down the Zinger etc in the 2nd half.

[penbeast0]

Let's assume we are Leonsis and want to win as many games as possible with no thought of tanking (in order to sell the franchise to make everyone happy), could we start a regular lineup with Gafford at PF or is he worse than Porzingis at defending 4's out onto the floor?

Morris
Beal
Kispert
Gafford
Porzingis

[nate33]

I didn't see Dat's previous before writing the above, but even w/o mentioning Anthony Gill he's still throwing logs on the same fire I am.

The simplest way to put it is that Kuz & Rui help you lose games. Lower their minutes, & whoever you put in their place doesn't have to be tremendous in order for you to lose fewer games (also known as "win more games").

But Vanderbilt would be way better than Gill all the same!

I think it'd be fair to say that if Jarred Vanderbilt had played the minutes that, say, Rui & Bertans played last year, we'd have probably posted a .500 record. He is really really good -- & he doesn't need to shoot to win games for you.

I think though it would be useful for us to do 3 things: 1) look like we are trying to win 2) showcase young talent for trades 3) lose enough to land in the lottery.

In that respect it seems to me we should play lines that make Rui and Kuzma look tantalizing, while we are still losing. This allows us to swap them out in a mid-season trade, and still earn a chance at a franchise changing player to fill that frontcourt role. Most importantly we keep our draft pick next year which is lotto protected, but otherwise will be lost in the John Wall swap.

Kuzma is expiring it would be useful to swap him out rather than pay his raises. But still, he has a championship resume and makes flashy shots late. Playing him heavy minutes is likely, especially given the scuttlebutt that last year he and Brad were the only 2 Wizards that were not being shopped at the deadline. I get the feeling Ted appreciates his swagger. I'd bet Ted will pay to keep him, unless we are losing with him on court. So, in my estimation, we ride him, live with his streakiness, ride it all the way to a losing record, then swap him mid-year and tank our way to the lottery.

I do think Kuz will play well next to KP though. Good enough to look pretty. The line up below was one of the few lines where the team had a positive +/- with Kuz on the floor:

Neto -shooter & back door threat. Neto actually scored well in the paint, left open often.
KCP - shooter & defense
Kispert -shooter
Kuz - playmaker
Porzingis -Unicorn

This year's version seems like it would have enough offense to look good:

Wright. -3&D replacing KCP. No mistake tall PG.
Beal. -Offball, sometime playmaker.
Kispert. -Offball motion, reliable outside shooting. Defensive minus vs opposing SF's preserves the tank while looking respectable.
Kuz. -Jack of all trades, master of none. Decent enough that he can't be left open. Streaky enough to lose as often as win. 2ndary playmaker.
Zinger. High post floor spacing mismatch. Here with enough spacing on offense to operate.

It would look even better if Beal regained his outside shot. Or if Kuzma found his. Porzingis in a crowd is at risk to step on someones foot, he is better rolling in with a runway. Putting shooters around him will prove key to his health as well as efficiency.

But either way this line has enough defensive question marks that we earn lotto tickets, while providing enough offense to look plausible. WIth Wright less of a creative lead guard, it puts the ball in Kuzma's hands which elevates his profile, threatening for triple doubles at times.

If we sub Rui for Kispert, posted on the left side, we get truly big against teams that rely heavily on a tall SF or a wing PF. Rui looks good in those games, so Eastern playoff teams who have to fight Durant and Giannis may pay a premium for Rui on the premise that they can grow him into a solid role player on his next contract. Though my feeling is Rui will look best with a true playmaker to feed him and show him where to be. In that respect I think we will showcase him better with:

Morris -- playmaker in a high post offense, good outside shooter
Beal -- in motion
Rui -- standstill wing shooter, develop chemistry with Morris to know when to attack the interior
Kuzma -- 2ndary playmaker
Porzingis.

Or even, when we can:

Morris -- high % 3 from up top
Kispert -- high % 3 from the right side
Rui -- high % 3 from the left
Kuzma -- 2ndary playmaker, crashing lanes when Zinger is doubled, kicking to shooters when the middle is clogged
Zinger

In any case, this is a year where there is at least one real franchise changing talent at the top. This is one year when we really can't afford to miss on tanking, even if we still want to look good doing so. So, pour on the offense, lose on defense, swap players mid year, lose a little more, then decide to shut down the Zinger etc in the 2nd half.

No mention of Avdija? Did you trade him somewhere? Or are you basically saying that we should never play him because he undermines your stealth tank strategy?

The way I see things, we have two players suited to play each of the 3 wing roles in our system. One of these guys should start and the other should be his backup.

Playmaking big wing: Kuzma/Avdija - These guys can do a little of everything, including running secondary pick-and-rolls and being extra-pass connectors in the offensive scheme. Kuzma can also provide adequate iso scoring. Both guys will hopefully shoot well enough from 3 to keep defenders honest. Both are versatile, switchable defenders.

Off ball catch-and-shoot wing: Kispert/Hachimura - Both guys are deadly accurate 3-point shooters but neither can make plays off the bounce. Play Hachimura if you need more defensive size. Play Kispert when you need clever backdoor cuts and a quicker release on the perimeter.

Shot-creating wing: Beal/Barton - These guys can shoot and handle the ball in secondary pick-and-roll. Both are serviceable isolation scorers when the shot clock winds down.

And then you put those players around the appropriate PG/C combo.

One PG/C combo should be Wright/Porzingis. This makes sense because you don't really need a pure PG on offense with Porzingis. You run the decentralized ball-handler system we ran late last season with a bunch of guys running high pick-and-roll around Porzingis until you get the switch you want to set up a Porzingis iso against a mismatch (or a successful ball-handler foray into the lane because the defense was afraid to switch). But defensively, you want Wright paired with Porzingis because he can fight through screens in a drop coverage scheme.

The other PG/C combo is obviously Morris/Gafford. This makes sense because Gafford is a much more guard dependent player and needs to be paired with our best pick-and-roll ball handler. You can run conventional pick and roll with that duo with shooters around them. Gafford's greater mobility on defense will allow more defensive flexibility and more switching, to help cover for Morris' less than stellar defense at the point of attack.

[nate33]

Let's assume we are Leonsis and want to win as many games as possible with no thought of tanking (in order to sell the franchise to make everyone happy), could we start a regular lineup with Gafford at PF or is he worse than Porzingis at defending 4's out onto the floor?

Morris
Beal
Kispert
Gafford
Porzingis

No. Gafford has no offensive aptitude at anything except being the roll man at center; so he must play center. Porzingis was misused in Dallas as a PF, which is why he was available for bad contracts in a midseason trade. But when he was placed at center in DC, he played like an All-Star. The evidence seems pretty overwhelming to me that he is much better at center than PF, so Porzingis should play center too.

Also, neither guy is really a heavy-minute player. Gafford seems to tire if he plays more than 24 or so minutes, and Porzingis should probably be load-managed at no more than 30 minutes given his injury history. So even if you wanted to play one of them at PF, there are only about 6 minutes available to do so anyhow. I'm open minded to experimenting with a twin towers lineup in spot minutes against certain matchups, but it's not worth making it part of our normal scheme since we can't really run it for any length of time anyhow.

[doclinkin]

I think though it would be useful for us to do 3 things: 1) look like we are trying to win 2) showcase young talent for trades 3) lose enough to land in the lottery.

In that respect it seems to me we should play lines that make Rui and Kuzma look tantalizing, while we are still losing.

No mention of Avdija? Did you trade him somewhere? Or are you basically saying that we should never play him because he undermines your stealth tank strategy?

Right, the above is not about creating complete line-ups, but about finding lines that look good while losing. Playing Kuz as a high usage playmaking big puts him in a role to rack high point totals, and look good when he is on a hot streak, but when the streak fails we can still ride it out and earn lotto balls.

Likewise playing Rui in a significant role, especially next to a playmaking PG (but who is a defensive minus) can make him look like a reliable scorer, and still be a recipe for landing in the negative in our +/- totals.

Playing Deni appears to be a win no matter who he is paired with. His defense is that significant. Still any wins that Deni earns us will not be as significant as landing this guy:

Watch on YouTube

He is 18 years old. A Unicorn among Unicorns. Ideal to slot into any scheme we devise for Porzingis. Like the Spurs landing Tim Duncan to be mentored by the Admiral. (Okay even if Porzingis is no David Robinson, just saying he is a good fit, as back up or even on court with him given that both have range -- offensively).

[nate33]

Right, the above is not about creating complete line-ups, but about finding lines that look good while losing. Playing Kuz as a high usage playmaking big puts him in a role to rack high point totals, and look good when he is on a hot streak, but when the streak fails we can still ride it out and earn lotto balls.

Likewise playing Rui in a significant role, especially next to a playmaking PG (but who is a defensive minus) can make him look like a reliable scorer, and still be a recipe for landing in the negative in our +/- totals.

Playing Deni appears to be a win no matter who he is paired with. His defense is that significant. Still any wins that Deni earns us will not be as significant as landing this guy:

Watch on YouTube

He is 18 years old. A Unicorn among Unicorns. Ideal to slot into any scheme we devise for Porzingis. Like the Spurs landing Tim Duncan to be mentored by the Admiral. (Okay even if Porzingis is no David Robinson, just saying he is a good fit, as back up or even on court with him given that both have range -- offensively).

I think you are setting yourself up for a letdown if you think any type of stealth tank strategy is in the cards. There are too many competently managed franchises who know how to actually tank who will surely finish well below us.

Our best tank scenario would be Porzingis getting hurt and then the team basically looking exactly like they did last season between after the hot start and before the Porzingis acquisition. That team went 18-31 during the middle of the season - a 30-win pace. But there will be 3 or 4 teams who win less than 25 games and a few more than finish between 25-30 wins. I just don't see how we do worse than the 7th or 8th slot in the draft.

Also, tanking for the #1 pick isn't really that productive of a strategy. Even if you finish dead last, you have just a 14% shot at #1, no different than the 5th worst team who also has a 14% shot at #1. Even if you finish 8th, you still have an 6% shot at #1. Basically, the #1 pick is a pretty random event, only modestly influenced by tanking. Tanking is more effective if you are looking broadly at landing a top 5 pick, but it doesn't help all that much if you are looking solely at #1.

Look at it this way. Do you want to watch the team execute a half-assed stealth tank where they finish with 30 wins, there are zero meaningful games, and end up with the 7th pick and a 6% shot at Victor? Or would you rather try and win games, lose the Play-In but at least have some meaningful games along the way, and end up with the 13th pick and a 1.5% shot at Victor?

If we want to tank, we have to commit. A half-assed tank is barely better than no tank at all.

[doclinkin]

Also, tanking for the #1 pick isn't really that productive of a strategy. Even if you finish dead last, you have just a 14% shot at #1, no different than the 5th worst team who also has a 14% shot at #1. Even if you finish 8th, you still have an 6% shot at #1. Basically, the #1 pick is a pretty random event, only modestly influenced by tanking. Tanking is more effective if you are looking broadly at landing a top 5 pick, but it doesn't help all that much if you are looking solely at #1.

Look at it this way. Do you want to watch the team execute a half-assed stealth tank where they finish with 30 wins, there are zero meaningful games, and end up with the 7th pick and a 6% shot at Victor? Or would you rather try and win games, lose the Play-In but at least have some meaningful games along the way, and end up with the 13th pick and a 1.5% shot at Victor?

Sure, the Process method has been blunted somewhat, and as a year-to-year strategy it has not yet shown fruition in a championship.

Still, there are years where it would be unconscionable to miss the chance. Okay to my understanding the 5th worst team has a 10.5% chance at the top pick. (The top 3 worst are tied at 14%). Still, imagine you had a better than 1 in 10 chance of landing LeBron? How much is that worth to your franchise? A 1 in 10 chance of landing Tim Duncan. Shaq.

When you have a game-changing talent in the lottery, you are failing your franchise if you don't give yourself a shot. This year it would be criminal to risk stumbling into a win in the Play-in games. This year if we aren't in the lottery, we lose our pick.

Given that we are locked in to a Beal frozen franchise for the foreseeable future, we have No shot of being truly competitive UNLESS we land a lucky pick in the right year. We can't afford to miss out on even a 4% chance at dodging a half decade of misery. A 4% chance of a billion dollar swing in fortunes. I'd line up at the 7-11 for a month if they were selling me that ticket.

Still. We have Ted. Ted says we can never tank. The only way I can think of properly tanking is to look like we are trying hard and scrappy and score a lot, while giving up a lot. Okay yes instead we could overload Porzingis and ignore load management and not provide a proper back-up for what he does well and let our coach ride him to whatever wins we can squeeze, and bank on him being injured. This was the Ernie strategy: provide no back-up to our primary stars so when they failed due to work load injuries, we were guaranteed a lotto slot. That way though seems like hopeless misery.

Still, it is fun to watch high scoring teams, even streaky losing ones. And high scoring players earn better value in trade even if they are inefficiently high scoring. If we gun and lose, then swap out those top scorers mid-season due to chemistry issues, then load manage Porzingis the second half while we are integrating new players, seems to me we can manage Ted's expectations, and yes, fall to what, 6th worst? 7th? The six spot has a 9% chance at the top pick. With a nearly 50% consolation prize of a top 4 pick. Instead of losing our pick entirely.

How would you feel if the pick we lost ends up being the one that landed a generational player. Would that not be the most #soWizards moment of all time? Because, Ted. Because Ted likes to sell next year's season tickets on the promise shown in late season runs against tanking teams and playoff teams that are resting.

So. Yeah. This year, with a lotto pick at risk, I will take even stealth tanking. Whatever style of tanking we can manage.

[Dat2U]

Right now I have us at 34-36 wins. Enough to miss the play-in but good enough to try to win as many games as they can late in the season in the chase for the play-in.

Its truly the worst of both worlds.

Injuries to either Beal, KP, Avdija or Wright would likely lower the win total a bit. Its hard to see under 30 wins though unless an injury is significant though and Ted/Shepp realize there's no path forward.

More than likely there will be another in-season trade to attempt to upgrade the roster instead of any sell off.

[tleikheen]

22 pts in 28 minutes for KP last yr ,I expect KP to be around 32 mpg and easily add another bucket to his avg to be 24/25 ppg this yr. Beal with his big contract should be able to level out around 25 ppg himself that is the Wiz two best players putting up 50 ppg ........ This is as good as any other twosome in the League. Avidj and Hachimura are showing early that they are ready to up their game dramatically this season. The health of KP and Beal and the big improvement of Rui and Deni and I see the Wiz being a better than .500 team plus.

[dckingsfan]

22 pts in 28 minutes for KP last yr ,I expect KP to be around 32 mpg and easily add another bucket to his avg to be 24/25 ppg this yr. Beal with his big contract should be able to level out around 25 ppg himself that is the Wiz two best players putting up 50 ppg ........ This is as good as any other twosome in the League. Avidj and Hachimura are showing early that they are ready to up their game dramatically this season. The health of KP and Beal and the big improvement of Rui and Deni and I see the Wiz being a better than .500 team plus.

I think you are probably right but... I could see Gafford earning 18-20 minutes and keeping KPs minutes under 30 (hoping).

I guess the top 10 players are:
Avidja
Barton
Beal
Gafford
Hachimura
Kispert
Kuzma
Morris
Porzingis
Wright

I guess the question is who are your (I guess everyone's) starters and what are their minutes?

With the assumption that Carey, Davis, Gibson, Gill & Todd won't get meaningful minutes.

[nate33]

22 pts in 28 minutes for KP last yr ,I expect KP to be around 32 mpg and easily add another bucket to his avg to be 24/25 ppg this yr. Beal with his big contract should be able to level out around 25 ppg himself that is the Wiz two best players putting up 50 ppg ........ This is as good as any other twosome in the League. Avidj and Hachimura are showing early that they are ready to up their game dramatically this season. The health of KP and Beal and the big improvement of Rui and Deni and I see the Wiz being a better than .500 team plus.

I think you are probably right but... I could see Gafford earning 18-20 minutes and keeping KPs minutes under 30 (hoping).

I guess the top 10 players are:
Avidja
Barton
Beal
Gafford
Hachimura
Kispert
Kuzma
Morris
Porzingis
Wright

I guess the question is who are your (I guess everyone's) starters and what are their minutes?

With the assumption that Carey, Davis, Gibson, Gill & Todd won't get meaningful minutes.

I agree with everything here. Those are the 10 rotation guys, and Davis won't get regular minutes.

We know Beal will get around 34 minutes and Porzingis around 30. And Gafford will get all the remaining center minutes not taken by Porzingis. That's pretty much the only thing set in stone.

Kuzma should be interesting. I think it's pretty likely he'll play 30+ minutes, at least early on, but I'm not 100% certain. Kuzma averaged 33 minutes a game last year, but things are different this year. Last year, Rui missed the first 40 games, freeing up a lot of forward minutes; and just when Rui got back, Beal got hurt (and Dinwiddie was traded), which left a void at primary offensive option that only Kuzma could reasonably fill. Now that Beal and Porzingis are both available as primary scorers, and Avdija and Hachimura are both available to play PF minutes, it's possible that Kuzma doesn't get penciled in for 30+ minutes every night. We shall see.

Wright and Morris will split the PG minutes, obviously. It's tough to say who will get more minutes. It's a good bet that Morris will get the majority of the PG minutes early on because he presumably knows Wes Jr.'s system, but I think over the long term, Wes will just play whomever plays better.

The rest of the minutes are up for grabs. I have no idea who among Avidja, Hachimura, Kispert or Barton will get the rest of the wing minutes not taken by Beal and Kuzma. I know what I would do, but I can't guess what Wes will do.

[dckingsfan]

My guess for minutes to start the season with no injuries - I don't see Wes not playing any of the following 10 but... Avidja definitely got some DNPs last year.

Avidja: 16
Barton: 24
Beal: 32
Gafford: 14
Hachimura: 16
Kispert: 28
Kuzma: 28
Morris: 26
Porzingis: 30
Wright: 24

[Frichuela]

My guess for minutes to start the season with no injuries - I don't see Wes not playing any of the following 10 but... Avidja definitely got some DNPs last year.

Avidja: 16
Barton: 24
Beal: 32
Gafford: 14
Hachimura: 16
Kispert: 28
Kuzma: 28
Morris: 26
Porzingis: 30
Wright: 24

Interesting. I do not think Kispert will play much, but what do I know! If it was down to me I’d swap the minutes of Kispert with Avdija (i.e. Deni would play 28 mins and Corey 16). However, and in reality, I think we are likely to see a lot of Barton at the expense of both Deni and Corey…hope I am wrong..

[dckingsfan]

My guess for minutes to start the season with no injuries - I don't see Wes not playing any of the following 10 but... Avidja definitely got some DNPs last year.

Avidja: 16
Barton: 24
Beal: 32
Gafford: 14
Hachimura: 16
Kispert: 28
Kuzma: 28
Morris: 26
Porzingis: 30
Wright: 24

Interesting. I do not think Kispert will play much, but what do I know! If it was down to me I’d swap the minutes of Kispert with Avdija (i.e. Deni would play 28 mins and Corey 16). However, and in reality, I think we are likely to see a lot of Barton at the expense of both Deni and Corey…hope I am wrong..

I think that Wes is a Kispert fan and wants to put 3 point shooting into the lineup. So, that is where my guess comes from.

Have a guess on Barton's minutes?

[DCZards]

I also don’t expect for Kispert to play 28 mins. I see his minutes in the 18-20 range and Deni’s and Rui’s mins in the 20-24 range.

I’d also expect Kuz to play like 30-32 mins per game.

[nate33]

Avidja definitely got some DNPs last year.

Avdija had no DNP's last year. He was one of just 5 NBA players to play all 82 games last season.

[dckingsfan]

Avidja definitely got some DNPs last year.

Avdija had no DNP's last year. He was one of just 5 NBA players to play all 82 games last season.

Yep, that was in his rookie season after starting...

[AFM]

It says a lot that until I read nate’s post above mentioning Johnny Davis, I had completely forgotten he’s on the team.