Rotation (when healthy)

[TheOneAndOnly]

Williams / Price or Watson
Bell / Miles
Kirilenko / Hayward or Evans
Jefferson / Millsap
Okur / Fesenko or Elson

I like the big starting lineup...good combination of offensive and defensive players. AJ better fit at 4 with Okur in lineup because he'll spread the floor as will Bell and Deron. AK can slash and both he and Bell can defend. Millsap is your ideal 6th man. Along with CJ, can be sparkplugs off the bench and get more touches with the second unit. They've both said they are comfortable with 6th man roles. Hayward and Evans split time as backup 3's, Fesenko gets his minutes and Price is always instant energy off the bench, but Watson may eventually beat him out. We haven't seen Elson much, but I do expect quality minutes from him off the bench, too.

thoughts?

[TheOneAndOnly]

i also like this lineup against the Lakers. AJ can match up better against the Laker bigs than Boozer ever did. Okur spreads the floor and gets either Gasol or Bynum outside to defend him. AK can match up with Artest and Odom. Bell's known for solid D against Kobe and Deron will own whoever LA plays at the point...Blake or Fisher

[qman]

I am pretty sure Memo is not going to be 100 this year. Which means he will probably be coming off the bench.

So I see us healthy at the end of year this season

Deron 38/ Watson 10
Bell 24/ Miles 24
AK 34 / Hayward 14
Millsap 34 / Jefferson 14
Jefferson 21 /Memo 28

[carrottop12]

I would be shocked if Memo is ever more than a bench player for the rest of his career. Nobody comes back from achilles injuries and does anything, my hope is that he can become our 3rd big and play 15 minutes a night and be able to spread the floor.

And even then I think he becomes the back up PF with Fes manning the back up C position.

[Nate505]

Mine would be:

C: Jefferson/Fes/Elson
PF: Sap/Memo
SF: AK/Hayward/Evans (who knows, that could be switched. I also don't know if Evans is more of a 4 either)
SG: CJ/Bell
PG: Deron/Watson/Price

I also see Price as a guy who may get time at the two if the team needs energy.

Elson, Evans, and one of the backup PGs can fight for the inactive spot, although if Hayward doesn't improve he may be fighting for it too.

[The59Sound]

Millsap is your ideal 6th man. Along with CJ, can be sparkplugs off the bench and get more touches with the second unit. They've both said they are comfortable with 6th man roles.

Actually, I think Millsap, while evasive to an extent, has made it clear that his career would be in regression if he came off the bench. To me, it's crystal clear he wants to -- and believes he deserves to -- start. He won't be very happy starting the game on the sidelines.

[BarneyGumble]

Millsap should start....but he should never feel bad if he gets pulled while being ineffective IMO. Sometimes he's great, but until he proves he can be Mr. Consistent the way stars in this league are, then he needs to earn his starter minutes.

Especially if Hayward earns minutes and we can slide AK to the 4.

[Neon Black]

Watson isn't going to have to beat out Price for anything IMO, he's already going to be the primary backup.

[Luigi]

i also like this lineup against the Lakers. AJ can match up better against the Laker bigs than Boozer ever did. Okur spreads the floor and gets either Gasol or Bynum outside to defend him. AK can match up with Artest and Odom. Bell's known for solid D against Kobe and Deron will own whoever LA plays at the point...Blake or Fisher

I expect Pau or Bynum to stick to Al. That leaves Okur with the mismatch inside (if Memo is healthy). In these situations, Sloan tends to call for Memo on the low block for the first few plays to punish the defense for their switch. Memo gets to the line (because he isn;t finishing down low), which gets the job done. Once the defense switches back, Okur gets to hit a few threes on Andrew Bynum's head, and we have a game going.

I really hope Okur is back for the playoffs. Not only is he instrumental to getting mismatches on offense, but he is the best post defender we have. He is going to handle Pau and Bynum better than anyone else on our roster. Get well soon Memo.

Playoff Rotation:
Williams (40) / Watson (8)
Bell (30) / Miles (18)
Kirilenko (38) / Miles? (10)
Jefferson (14) / Millsap (34)
Okur (24) / Jefferson (24)

Millsap is more effective against tired players. He's a perfect bruiser of the bench. If Okur is good for 24 minutes, I'll be shouting for joy (if his shot is falling--not to worry, and it always is). If Okur can't play, then Millsap will get the start, and get out-sized by starting 4s when he should be abusing second string 4s with bulk and hustle.

Watson's ball control and experience is going to win him the backup point spot. It seems to me like he's turning the ball over a lot in the preseason, but he'll get the playbook down in his head soon, and then he'll get the playbook down on the floor, too. He's a starter for a lot of NBA teams.

Miles looked good tonight, but he really needs to become effective as a smaller part of the offense. He took like 15 shot attempts. That spells l-o-s-s in meaninful games. That is way too many for a low level starter. I want those possessions going to the talent, not to the roleplayers. Yeah, you take what the defense gives you, but if we can't run the offense well enough to get someone other than Miles to win it for us, we are doing something wrong in the best execution offense in the league.

I am secretly hoping for Evans to steal the backup SF minutes. With AK and Evans at the 3, we'd qualify as a big team. Both appear capable of defending the perimeter, and crashing the boards. Lovely setup.

[babyjax13]

I think that Fes is earning some minutes in the preseason, as well as Hayward. Once Okur comes back I think that he is more of a situational player and 6th man for us (which is perfect - although he is being payed a bit much to fill that role). At this point we have to decide who deserves the least time out of Jefferson/Millsap/AK/Okur - and I think that the answer is pretty clear. Also, we need to see a lot of Miles-AK-Hayward because they work really well together.

Williams 34/Price 8/Watson 6
Bell 20/Miles 24/Price 4
Kirilenko 18/Hayward 22/Evans 8
Millsap 28/Kirilenko 10/Jefferson 10
Jefferson 20/Okur 20/Fesenko 8

Without Memo I expect it to look more like this:

Williams 34/Price 8/Watson 6
Bell 20/Miles 24/Price 4
Kirilenko 14/Hayward 24/Miles 4
Millsap 26/Kirilenko 14/Evans 8
Jefferson 30/Fesenko 14/Millsap 4

[The59Sound]

Watson isn't going to have to beat out Price for anything IMO, he's already going to be the primary backup.

I'm not sure I agree. Watson hasn't set the world ablaze in the preseason. I feel like he's displayed poor poise and decision-making -- two things that are supposed to be his calling cards. He's not a very good shooter, and he can't match Price's energy, so if he isn't a calming influence who executes the offense with precision, I could see him losing the primary backup spot.

That said, I was thrilled when we signed Watson, so I hope things do slide into place with him.

[UTJazzFan_Echo1]

D-Will/Watsrice (ha)
Bell/Miles/Hayward/Jeffers
AK/Hayward/Miles/Evans
Millsap/Okur/Evans/Elson
Jefferson/Fesenko/Okur/Elson

I like having Jefferson as our Center, it's a great mismatch in our favor. There are no centers outside of Howard that he doesn't match up well with.

I put Okur at the backup 4 alongside of Fes since that would give us a really big lineup off of the bench and Okur can stretch the floor out from the 4 spot. Besides, we don't have anyone dependable at the backup 4 spot.

The Miles, Hayward, AK, Evans combo is one of my favorites.

I also really like having AK on the floor with Millsap and Jefferson to add that extra passer. You can also rotate AK and Millsap between the 3 and 4 spots depending on matchups.

Now if you want to go with a big lineup...
Deron/Wastsrice
Miles/Bell/Hayward/Jeffers
AK/Hayward/Evans
Jefferson/Millsap/Evans/Elson
Okur/Fesenko/Elson