Delon Wright needs to be playing over McBride

[MrDollarBills]

Deuce will not be benched for Delon Wright.

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It doesn't even have to be over Duece specifically. He needs minutes in the rotation period.

Over who? You'd be fighting with Shamet or Payne for Brunson's scraps.

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I would play Wright over Shamet tbh. Shamet has been awful, which honestly doesn't surprise me based on what I saw from him on the Nets awhile back.

[GONYK]

It doesn't even have to be over Duece specifically. He needs minutes in the rotation period.

Over who? You'd be fighting with Shamet or Payne for Brunson's scraps.

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I would play Wright over Shamet tbh. Shamet has been awful, which honestly doesn't surprise me based on what I saw from him on the Nets awhile back.

Shamet doesn't play, so consider the swap made

[MrDollarBills]

Over who? You'd be fighting with Shamet or Payne for Brunson's scraps.

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I would play Wright over Shamet tbh. Shamet has been awful, which honestly doesn't surprise me based on what I saw from him on the Nets awhile back.

Shamet doesn't play, so consider the swap made

That 4.8mins can go to Delon

[Wildcat]

Deuce is struggling but he will bounce back. We will need him if we are going to make a run.

This is how I feel. I wouldn't abandon Deuce but I'd give Wright some minutes just for defense and a change of pace. Maybe play him at PG with Deuce at SG for a spurt or two

Deuce struggling was his theme in 24/25. I'm not forgetting his piss poor Pacer series, either. I was hyped to see him and Josh leading the bench, but that got fudged. I was excited to see him play off Payne/Tyler, but that got fudged because of his early season injury. He hasn't improved between last season and this. Handling is still bad. He can't make layouts efficiently. He goes left to right or right to left with the ball with no obvious idea what his plan is. For some reason, he's channeling his inner DDV this season, because he's gambling far more this year then prior. He somehow is shooting worse this season then last.

In less then a year, his value contract suddenly seems equal to his talent level.

I miss DDV. I miss IQ.

I'm still cheering for him, of course, but the bar is so low right now as what I'd be happy with.

[thebuzzardman]

Deuce needs to change nickname to Dook

[sol537]

I would have short leashes with Deuce and Payne and if they don't have it in the 1st half of any game, then use Wright in the 2nd half of games to give guys like Hart and Bridges some rest. Thibs would never...

[kNicksGmen]

it's a floor vs ceiling decision. thibs usually goes with floor but he's trusting Deuce can get it together.

if he continues to struggle I could see the change made at some point in the boston series.

i would argue if you're not playing shamet either, wright could get some of those minutes.

[spree2kawhi]

I didn’t see that coming…

[HopelessKnick]

If Deuce had played well during the regular season I would have stuck with him but in reality he has been bad the entire season. In contrast, when Wright came in he played solid ball right away.

At this point, when every possession counts, you have to go with your best group of players. Wright definitely needs to be in there. I would trust Wright more right now then Deuce but I do think Deuce can snap out of his funk. Shooting aside, to me a big reason to play Wright is that he is 6'5 with long arms and defends really well. You could easily play Bridges 5-6 minutes less and split minutes between Wright and Deuce and go 8 man deep. Like I would bring them both off the bench in the first quarter and see who has it going....that guy is gonna get more PT in the second half.....

But Thibs is gonna be Thibs and play the shortest possible rotation. Everyone be damned.

[GONYK]

People shouldn't overindex production in the last 3 weeks of an NBA season. That's the Alexey Shved zone when almost nobody is trying.

Wright played well in his role, but that doesn't outweigh the offensive upside Deuce brings as well as the trust Deuce built.

[spree2kawhi]

Give him a shot. He can guard, shoot and has experience. I’d play him.

[MrDollarBills]

How long will Tom watch this before trying something else?

[Iron Mantis]

How long will Tom watch this before trying something else?

Game 7 when the Pistons are on 16-2 run in the 3rd quarter.

[Handledatruth]

Deuce's defense has not been as impactful as usual. That is my only problem with him. Guys like Hardaway, Beasley, and Shroeder should be zeroed out when Deuce is on the floor, but that is not the case. His shooting has always been streaky, but he's good for one those games where he makes like 4-5 threes. If we can't get solid defense from Deuce then the conversation about Wright is valid.

[Jalen Bluntson]

How long will Tom watch this before trying something else?

Tom doesn't try anything else. We play 7 guys and scraps minutes for anyone else for 82 games and then expect adjustments during the playoffs? Nothing ever changes. It's been 5 years and the entire league knows how to beat Thibs. Our record against .500 or better teams couldn't be more of an indictment against Thibs. He's had that problem his entire career.

[Lemmie_live]

How long will Tom watch this before trying something else?

Game 7 when the Pistons are on 16-2 run in the 3rd quarter.

Or when Brunson’s ankle falls off and we have no other choice like usual.

[kNicksGmen]

hard to imagine giving some minutes to shamet and wright would have hurt

[HopelessKnick]

How long will Tom watch this before trying something else?

Tom doesn't try anything else. We play 7 guys and scraps minutes for anyone else for 82 games and then expect adjustments during the playoffs? Nothing ever changes. It's been 5 years and the entire league knows how to beat Thibs. Our record against .500 or better teams couldn't be more of an indictment against Thibs. He's had that problem his entire career.

Like the entire season we were mired in at the 3rd seed. Many even felt falling to 4 would be better. We actually had very little bad injury luck....it was the perfect season to experiment here and there and see if we can find something. Tinker a bit here and there. And yet, even when we were trending down and playing progressively worse....no changes or adjustments made. Just nothing. No coaching, nothing....just continued on.
I warned everybody saying there would not be any magical "we'll shift into another gear in the playoffs" type of thing...that all that was magical thinking...but people just don't know ball...they believe in fairy tales and stuff.....thinking a dude with no game plan, no offensive system is playing 5-D chess and that he will make some huge surprising adjustments in the playoffs to take the opposition by surprise....just really stupid stupid stuff...

[WargamesX]

Don’t expect Thibs to make a roster adjustments to look for a mismatch.

[ScienceOfLosing]

Don’t expect Thibs to make a roster adjustments to look for a mismatch.

Thibs is loyal to a fault.
Only injuries and to a point, fouls, cause him to make changes.