JayTWill wrote:I'm not sure we can predict what the available minutes are considering there is a new coach with new pieces. We don't know how deep Brown's regular rotation will be and what the minute distribution will be. I believe he initially started with a 10 man rotation in Sacramento.
Thibs went 7-8 deep most of the year while Hart led the team at almost 38 mpg. OKC went 10-11 deep with Caruso being 9th on that team at 19mpg. Personally I would prefer Caruso over Hart but somehow Caruso received half as many minutes as didn't seem to mind.
Despite Thibs reluctance to playing the bench and having 3 players in the top 6 in mpg he still gave over an average of 28mpg to Sims, Precious, Hukporti, Wright and Kolek none of whom were in the rotation by the start of the postseason. Some of that came in limited garbage time but most of that was due to injuries.
Unless you think this is the year that everyone stays healthy on a team that includes Mitch, KAT, OG, Clarkson and even guys like Brunson and McBride that miss some time there will be a significant amount of minutes available to another player/players throughout the season.
Part of my intrigue with Simmons is the multiple holes he could possibly fill. If Mitch or OG go down someone like Brogdon is not helping to fill much of that hole. If a guard/ball handler goes down someone like Precious would not fill part of that hole. Ben could fill the Sims, Precious, Hukporti, Wright and Kolek roles from last year and potentially be an upgrade. Those players were on the court for a ton of minutes last year.
Yes that is the intrigue including a guy that can play on your 'shutdown' lineup when you have abig lead. You dont necessarily want Clarkson out there when you want to clamp down the other team and we all know Brunson is a pretty bad defender.
(hey, its deep summer boredom).
* We have a Brunson Burner™ *