What is up with your rotation?

[Dome]

Hi guys, Magic fan here dropping by. I'm following some of the young guys on your roster (e.g., Donovan, Scoot, Toumani, Deni) because I both like them as prospects and for fantasy basketball reasons, and lately I am a bit puzzled about what's going on with your rotation.

Most recent example is Donovan Clingan coming back from injury to play a rock-solid game against Charlotte as a starter in limited time, and for him to be relegated to the bench again this last game against Milwaukee and playing just 10 minutes. Perhaps I'm not aware of some kind of nuanced playing style or strategy or something, but this type of volatile rotation management appears to occur for at least Scoot as well. From my perspective, this is not necessarily good for these young players, both from a confidence perspective (you never know what could send you to the back of the bench the next game) and a general player development perspective.

Do you guys recognize what I wrote here, or am I just wrong? If you do recognize it, what do you think is (/ are) the cause(s) for this, and how do you guys view your team's most likely path forward from a coaching and rotation management perspective? Thanks!

[DaVoiceMaster]

No one has a clue. Sharpe starts until a few games ago. Now he comes off the bench and is not as productive. Clingan is not a starter, bit he should get more than 11-minites in my opinion.

[Dome]

Yeah Shaedon should've been in my initial list as well. Interesting that nobody has a clue. Perhaps at least part of this is related to showcasing players for the upcoming trade deadline, and a more consistent rotation will form afterwards. Would be important for their development to provide the youngsters with some kind of consistency either way.

[DusterBuster]

Your guess is as good as us my dude.

Billups’ rotation and use of the players who should be here longer term than the vets has been a source of frustration for fans all year long.

[JRoy]

Billups is hoping he gets another HC job after POR fires him this summer.

[Norm2953]

One does see odd player rotations the closer teams get to the trade deadline

[PDXKnight]

Billups is hoping he gets another HC job after POR fires him this summer.

Pretty sure he could finish 41-41 and make the playoffs and everyone would still know he's a dud

[Myth]

Yeah Shaedon should've been in my initial list as well. Interesting that nobody has a clue. Perhaps at least part of this is related to showcasing players for the upcoming trade deadline, and a more consistent rotation will form afterwards. Would be important for their development to provide the youngsters with some kind of consistency either way.

This plus Billups is probably auditioning for a future job, and using the vets instead of inexperienced players improves chances of winning, youth development and lottery odds be damned. I’m truly pissed at the team for holding on to vets and not developing youth.

[JasonStern]

The "young players need playing time to build confidence" argument is a RealGM myth.

Scoot got immediate starter status and minutes last year. What came from that? The worst +/- in league history and 3 of the worst 5 all-time. And yet, even with playing time, he didn't magically transform into a transcendental point guard. Some players take time to develop. Some never develop.

The Blazers could play Scoot/Sharpe/Deni/Camara/Clingan 48 minutes a game. What would they get? Blown out by 80 every night. I'm sure that's a huge confidence boost and those late minutes while gassed would be huge development opportunities.

What is infuriating is the inconsistency in playing time for the young core. If Scoot is a 16 minutes a game player at this point in his career, then great. Barring injuries or foul trouble, make sure he's getting those 16 minutes consistently. Same with Clingan. If he's a 10-12 minute a night guy as a rookie, make sure he's getting those minutes.

And as for playing vets, I suspect that the Blazers are higher on Ant and Ayton than RealGM are. Whether or not they are long-term pieces depends on how they play. And the only way to determine that is by letting them play.

[Walton1one]

On a OregonLive podcast last night they mentioned how DET took Cade Cunnigham and then started him every single game, even when he struggled and they were getting killed, which I thought was a good observation. You don't invest a major asset (#3 pick) into a player and then not prioritize his development, that is foolish.

BTW, DET record the last 3 years (14-68; 17-65; 23-59)

[zzaj]

Yep, the easy answer is that Billups is trying to win games because he's a 'lame duck'. He's trying to salvage his coaching career to his best ability at the cost of smart moves for the franchise. I don't blame him one bit.

The fact that Cronin hasn't capitulated toward a proper tank coach, and moved to truly bottom out with likely historically good top-end draft talent in 2025 and 2026 shows how inept he is.

[Dome]

Yeah Shaedon should've been in my initial list as well. Interesting that nobody has a clue. Perhaps at least part of this is related to showcasing players for the upcoming trade deadline, and a more consistent rotation will form afterwards. Would be important for their development to provide the youngsters with some kind of consistency either way.

This plus Billups is probably auditioning for a future job, and using the vets instead of inexperienced players improves chances of winning, youth development and lottery odds be damned. I’m truly pissed at the team for holding on to vets and not developing youth.

What makes you think Billups is auditioning for another job? Are there any signs that he may be on the way out?

[Dome]

The "young players need playing time to build confidence" argument is a RealGM myth.

If this was a response to what I wrote; my point was that the (relatively random) inconsistency is likely detrimental to their confidence, not the modest amount of playing time itself.

[zzaj]

The "young players need playing time to build confidence" argument is a RealGM myth.

Scoot got immediate starter status and minutes last year. What came from that? The worst +/- in league history and 3 of the worst 5 all-time. And yet, even with playing time, he didn't magically transform into a transcendental point guard. Some players take time to develop. Some never develop.

The Blazers could play Scoot/Sharpe/Deni/Camara/Clingan 48 minutes a game. What would they get? Blown out by 80 every night. I'm sure that's a huge confidence boost and those late minutes while gassed would be huge development opportunities.

What is infuriating is the inconsistency in playing time for the young core. If Scoot is a 16 minutes a game player at this point in his career, then great. Barring injuries or foul trouble, make sure he's getting those 16 minutes consistently. Same with Clingan. If he's a 10-12 minute a night guy as a rookie, make sure he's getting those minutes.

And as for playing vets, I suspect that the Blazers are higher on Ant and Ayton than RealGM are. Whether or not they are long-term pieces depends on how they play. And the only way to determine that is by letting them play.

Disagree with that first sentence.

It's an example of a 'works when it works' argument. Certain players are further along than others and ready for that leap. Lillard was. Scoot wasn't. Scoot and Sharpe should be getting starter minutes, and despite what players say...being a starter matters to them.

The Blazers staff obviously grossly mis-judged Scoot's ability at the beginning of his rookie season. He never had run an organized basketball team at barely 20. At least Lillard had 4 years of high-end PnR basketball before trying to run a team.

Obviously, no one is going to play a full 48, but being strategic about those minutes so that players can get in a game flow and build confidence with game reps is crucial.

[Myth]

Yeah Shaedon should've been in my initial list as well. Interesting that nobody has a clue. Perhaps at least part of this is related to showcasing players for the upcoming trade deadline, and a more consistent rotation will form afterwards. Would be important for their development to provide the youngsters with some kind of consistency either way.

This plus Billups is probably auditioning for a future job, and using the vets instead of inexperienced players improves chances of winning, youth development and lottery odds be damned. I’m truly pissed at the team for holding on to vets and not developing youth.

What makes you think Billups is auditioning for another job? Are there any signs that he may be on the way out?

Obviously teams don’t directly make statements that a coach is on the way out and nobody has a truly firm grasp on this organization’s overall plan, but everybody who has covered this team has believed he is only around until his contract runs out and has believed this for over a year. Maybe a recent win streak makes them think otherwise? But he has frequently been ranked at the bottom of coaches around the league and the team must also know that fans have been calling for his firing for a long time.