What do we do with our upcoming guard logjam?

[DetroitPistons]

Should've taken a screenshot before it was deleted, but somebody earlier today asked Jennings on Twitter what day he would be coming back and he replied Sunday (against the Celtics at the Palace).

That would be awesome. The sooner he gets back the better. Hopefully we can pull out a tough win against the Griz on the road and get Jennings back against a terrible Celtics team on Sunday to put us at 3-0.

[Han Solo]

Will Bynum is better than Stuckey.. that's all I know.

[Han Solo]

Bynum is so underrated.. He produces plain and simple. He penetrates better than anyone on our team and can throw lobs from everywhere on the court. He also finishes around the rim. I'm a Will Bynum fan. **** Stuckey.

[Cowology]

Bynum is so underrated.. He produces plain and simple. He penetrates better than anyone on our team and can throw lobs from everywhere on the court. He also finishes around the rim. I'm a Will Bynum fan. **** Stuckey.

The problem with Bynum is that he plays like a SG the vast majority of the time. It's kinda like playing with Iverson-lite; he'll get his and look good doing it...but how is he making his teammates better?

The lob pass thing is so overblown it's ridiculous. How many of those does he really have each game, compared to how many times he pounds the rock while his teammates stand around watching him? To me it's kinda like pointing to steals and arguing that makes somebody a good defender.

The real shame is that Bynum has the talent to be a true playmaker and make the guys around him better. He just doesn't have that consistent mentality. It's not really in his nature and that isn't going to change at this point in his career. The way he plays makes him a "spark plug" off the bench type guy. Which is why he's used as a spark plug off the bench type guy.

[tmorgan]

Will Bynum is better than Stuckey.. that's all I know.

Will Bynum is definitely NOT better than Stuckey, but Bynum, playing correctly (which he's capable of), offers something this team needs -- a quality backup PG.

Stuckey does not. We don't need another player that operates best in the lane, with limited court vision, that doesn't really have a position. He's a better defender, bigger guy, better rebounder, and gets to the line better, but we literally don't need ANY of those things. A PG that can't create for others, a SG that can't shoot from the perimeter, and a SF that's too small and isn't effective on the break are all on the "doesn't help" list.

He really could help a number of teams with championship aspirations -- not sure on all of these, but he seems like an upgrade for the bench of Memphis, San Antonio, Indiana, Chicago, and maybe others. He's expiring and generally is a team player (Kuester notwithstanding). Seems like he'd be relatively easy to deal.

[piston1423]

Trade Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson...that's all I got.

[Q00]

I think I'm going to withold my judgement on Stuckey until I see him play with this new team. I have a feeling having billups and Rasheed here now is going to result in a more focused and determined Stuckey. Plus he's going to be playing with a great frontcourt now. When he excelled as a rookie it was with a great frontcourt and veteran leaders to keep him in check.

Not to mention its just going to be different now because he's not asked to be the #1 focal point of the offense anymore. All the attention will be up front and he can just fill in the gaps where necessary and stick to his strengths.

I don't know what role he's going to play, but I think there's a need for a guard like him on this team and I think we can use his scoring. The more scoring threats we can put on the court at the guard position, the better its going to be for our frontcourt.

[ElectricMayhem]

Game 1: 38 minutes for Bynum
31 minutes for Billups
27 minutes for KCP

None of those 3 needs to be getting that many minutes. Getting Jennings and Stuckey back will help much more than it will hurt. There are about 35 minutes that could easily get cut off those 3's minutes alone. You'll have to cut off a few extra minutes from a couple of the guards beyond that, but nothing unmanageable.

[rmfc]

Jennings and C-Bill should be the starters. Stuckey should be the the backup PG until he gets traded and KCP should be the first SG off the bench. Will Bynum becomes the 3rd PG on the team and should return to being the backup PG after Stuckey is gone.

[imagump1313]

No to Stuckey. Just please no.......

The more minutes he gets, the less you will get out of everyone else on the floor. Just no..... enough already.
I really don't like Billups and Jennings on the floor at the same time but I'll keep an open mind for awhile. I think it's dangerous territory to try relying on Billups for more than 20 minutes a night.

[Dre Drummond]

I think if Billups does start he should be in the 7-8 minutes to start the 1st and the 3rd quarters only... and than situational after that towards the end of the game if we want his vet experience of FT shooting out there.

I certainly agree I don't want Billups playing over half the game on a regular basis for 82 games.

[Snakebites]

I think given what we saw from Billups its a given that he will be starting with Jennings, and this makes more sense when one considers they are far and away our best ranged shooters.

Bynum is far from a perfect player but I feel like he at least has some degree of chemistry with some of the other players. KCP should be getting minutes so he can develop. Shelving rookies has been demonstrated again and again to be a poor means of player development.

We could also see Stuckey playing some small forward some if Singler looks like he did the second half of last year.

[tmorgan]

Billups and Jennings can start together with the three monsters as long as Billups gets pulled with Andre, if not sooner. Once a reserve wing with a shot (Singler, Datome) is in at the 3 and Smith and Monroe shuffle over, then you can play Stuckey at the 2 if you want.

Been said many times already, but gotta have 2 shooters on the floor. I want Josh Smith to count, and I'm starting to believe, at least a tiny bit, but for now, no, he doesn't count.

[dVs33]

If bynum keeps putting up numbers, i find it hard to see where stuckey fits in initially.
I think Billips will start with jennings once he gets back and Bynum and KCP will back them up.
there's been talk of a 3 guard line up being used and that would be nice if Stuckey plays with KCP and Billips, but That won't be used too often.
I really have no idea, so i'm looking forward to see how Cheeks manages this one.

[dan2314]

pope has just been so much better than bynum. i really really hope that bynum is the one getting DNP's. something tells me pope might be left out though. cheeks doesnt seem to mind bynum. although in the last game to prove themselves, pope had a nice game against memphis, whereas bynum stunk it up. please play the youth coach!

[Brapman]

If you look at a single game, it's hard to predict how Cheeks will dole out minutes between our top five guards. Jennings is likely to get the lions share of PG minutes every game he's healthy. That we know. However, the question will be at that position, how many minutes Bynum will get leading the second unit, how many minutes Stuckey might get there, and how many minutes Chauncey might get there. (Siva is going to be on the outside looking in all season, so let's forget about him for now, unless we have a bunch of injuries).

At SG, who plays in a particular game, Billups, Stuckey or KCP.

The thing is, it's a mistake to look at this from a single game perspective. The truth is we've got 82 games, and all 5 of our guards will get plenty of minutes. Some games Billups will not even be dressed. Some games, Chauncey will play limited or few minutes - especially if the team is playing really well. There'll be the inevitable games lost to injuries. So, they'll all play quite a bit. Cheeks will have the option, always, to ride the hot hand, or to make situational substitutes: Billups or KCP if we need to spread the floor. Stuckey or KCP for defensive purposes or to have our thoroughbred run the floor team in there with Bynum running the second unit.

Hell, there'll be some games where Cheeks moves Singler back to SG for some minutes.

It's an interesting juggling act. The fans will probably spend a lot of time arguing about Cheeks' rotations - especially after losses, (and probably even after wins).

[Notanoob]

Apparently Jennings has lost weight while he's been recovering from his broken jaw. He couldn't eat much, so he's not going to be in shape. Even if he's cleared to play soon, it should take him some time to get back into shape to play big minutes. It looks to me like we'll be going with a big rotation of guards. Chauncey can't play a lot of minutes on a regular basis, and Jennings won't be able to either, but those guys are our starters. Cheeks will have to give them regular rest using Bynum, Stuckey, and KCP.

It's too bad that he won't use a 5 guard rotation though, because with Chauncey being old, that would work well. He'll see limited minutes, so you'll be able to fit in a fifth guard comfortably IMO.

In any event, the real solution to this problem is to trade Stuckey, but that won't be for a while, so KCP or Bynum will be hitting the bench. Still, Stuckey actually played well last night, so it's possible that this could work.