Quick! Everyone go the Millenia mall and run around looking for Ellis
But more seriously, I REALLY think Nelson AND Ellis would be a more effective backcourt for offense. I think Nelson is a true scorer and efficient shooter at any time, scoring at will only at times* but still, and with Ellis, we'd have two of that true scorers.
But if we really do get Ellis without Nelson, I still see J Rich hitting those clutch shots and going for more drives with Ellis, and I would love Ellis playing the PG 30+ minutes. That would allow SVG to stop working so hard to fit him in and running all kinds of SG plays for him, and just let Ellis be Ellis, the scorer with some PG handles playing the point and making the team mesh with him good.
Call me crazy but this is how I'd want my team to be since I'm hearing Liggins is impressing and we had our best seasons with a defender in SG/SF to disrupt, and Harper adjusted well after starting euro ball so he'd probably do the same curve in the NBA with a meaningful rotation spot.
Ellis/Duhon/Hughes/Pruitt
Liggins/Q Rich/Wafer
J Rich/Turk/Clark
Davis/Harper/Clark
Dwight/Biedrins/Orton
J Rich, Q Rich, and Liggins are all listed 6'6. The collective height of starter SFs is around 6'7 - 6'8, but there are plenty of examples of 6'6 and 6'9 SFs. Turk is 6'10 but the other big minutes SF has been Q Rich who did decent despite 6'6. Barnes was 6'7. I read Hollinger's profile on J Rich's bad defense, but he noted he did a much better job with the SF position on D. Liggins is also the same height as Q Rich is. So if Im SVG, Im working the defensive angles here like he's known to do, I know he loves Turk, but I really think he has to 6th man/lower minutes of either Turk or J Rich for the defensive line ups we had before with CLee, Bogans, AJ, Alston on the perimeter.
Play Ellis on PGs bc he is quick and its actually more of a hide position against the other contenders anyways so he saves energy while still playing Magic D. I'd throw Hughes/Pruitt/Duhon as the backup PG depending who's playing good D and having the best statistical team +/-.
Play Liggins and Q Rich who are plus defenders on SGs/SFs the whole game (Wafer is also quite athletic, may surprise with dual defense/offense, and I'd hope for one more defender via FA/trade who is more effective than Q Rich). The line between SG/SF on the team is blurred. On offense, J Rich and Turk would be sought for possessions no matter what regardless of their "position," but on defense, SVG will be having a Liggins/Q Rich rotation cross matching the whole game on the opposing best scorers.
Davis is PF starter, who I'm 90% sure is going to increase our defense more than Bass and Ryan did. As stats and Hollinger noted, I would not seek him out for offense as much as we did with Bass, but otherwise, he's going to be a huge plus with his bigger body and defense than any Magic PF before. I see either Clark or Harper taking backup PF. They're both combo Fs but this roster needs backup PF and both will do good I think.
Dwight is the center of it all of course for the offense and defense. Biedrins is the backup C/twin towers that we once had with Gortat, maybe not as much with defense, but definetly with rebounds and height and smart veteran play. He's basically the new best backup C since he's been a starter usually. Orton is there to try and steal minutes from backup PF/C if he impresses. He might do that with tougher D than Biedrins but Biedrins will probably be too veteran savvy to let Orton steal minutes.
So in the end, we have a lineup where Ellis is doing his own thing as PG, impressing his mark on the team and meshing with them. I know he's not an efficient star like Carmelo, LBJ, Kobe, but he has his own play to make points off his own dribble just like the rest of the stars, and Ellis has the pprating and assists to play like a real PG too. This is something incredible considering the points and impact we'll continue having from the always improving Dwight and the lack of anything like Ellis in terms of self created perimeter offense. We have J Rich and Turk for those other big shots and plays, but in my mind, I want SVG throwing Liggins into bigger minutes and a starting spot to bring back a disruptive defensive force on the perimeter just like we do on the low post and roam with Dwight. I think Davis and Clark or Harper will impress with us for some extra defense and occasional offense.
just saying... and correct me if I'm wrong on that 90 day thing
