pancakes3 wrote:nate33 wrote:I like Temple because he is versatile, he doesn't make mistakes, and he can be used as a defensive stopper in certain matchups, but let's not kid ourselves into thinking he's a rotation player. He should be our 5th guard.
A versatile, smart, defense-playing 44% shooter can absolutely play sg for the wizards. With Wall/Beal as the backcourt, we don't need a Jason Terry or Jamal Crawford level talent coming off the bench. I think with Wall/Beal/Price/Temple, the 5th guard would be Santoranksy or whatever 2nd-rounder/camp invite player we can find. Temple is a rare d-league keeper imo. I think given a shot, he can improve his range nicely and be counted on for 15ish minutes of solid backup basketball next season (and beyond).
I couldn't disagree more. Temple is a replacement level player. He's done a commendable job but he brings nothing to the table that you can't find out on the street for cheap.
We need quality depth. I don't think you can categorize Price or Temple as quality depth. Price has been OK as a stopgap but in terms of backup PGs, but you can do a lot better. There are some nights where you can't depend on Price or Temple to provide anything. Some nights, Price is overwhelmed at backup and our offense looks terrible.
Instead of replacing both Price & Temple, I'd suggest finding one good 3rd guard or combo guard that can fill a role as lead guard or scoring guard when Wall or Beal needs are breather & can step into a bigger role if either are out. One of the things that killed us in our 5-28 beginning was the fact that A.J. Price couldn't get the job done when Wall was out.
Another thing to keep in mind is the Beal is a bit reckless out there and has shown no ability to stay on the floor just yet. Getting quality depth to protect us against injury just seems like a no-brainer after what we've gone through this year.
