What does our rotation look like?

[boomershadow]

After all these moves we have made, all the new players added and the ones that have departed, we now have a lot more solid of an idea of what our roster is going to look like this season and what the regular rotation might be. I'm not sure that at the beginning of the off-season any of us would have guessed that these are the players we would have to put on the court, but who we have is who we have now. I was listening to 107.5 the other day and heard somebody, and I'm blanking on the name now, project that Monta Ellis might start at small forward. When asked about GR3, he replied that he could work as the start but is a bit too small to play the 3, that he's more of the 2. Pretty crazy if you ask me. Our wing rotation looks thin, but I don't think he could do that.

Anyways, what are we looking at here? Does Lance start? is Seraphin out the door or still in the rotation? Does Al Jef have any future role? Could Lance see time at the 3 instead of the 1? Do our 2 2nd round picks go to the mad ants?

Lance/Collison/Young
Oladipo/?
GR3/?
Young/Leaf/Christmas
Turner/Sabonis/Seraphin/Jefferson

Who am I missing?

[Wizop]

You missed Ellis but we're trying to buy him out. Pretty clear more deals coming.

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[BigBlue]

I really like Leaf so far. I have many questions.

1. Is Olidipo as bad a shooter as people say? I have heard he was not ball dominant at IU, and that his pro 3% is around 37%.
2. Is Sabonis a forward or a center? I like him better at the 5. He is a good rebounder and post defender, and definately an offensive mismatch.
3. What is the deal with Myles Turner? Is he a forward or a center? He blocks shots, but he gets pushed around and is bad at post defense. He is not a great rebounder, and his shot disappeared. What are we supposed to do with that?

On past Pacer teams, I noticed we had a ton of ball dominant players, and few shooters. Ellis, Lance, Stucky, ect. The modern point is a scorer, so why have a team full of wings who can't shoot?

Finally, I've seen great things in Summer League. Leaf looks good, Stokes is a monster, and Mckinney-Jones, and Leslie look like good shooters. Are some of these guys going to get moved up? Even on a fast paced team, don't we need one bully type rebounder like Stokes? We are going to get pushed around, and with guys like Sabonis and Leaf, shouldn't we pair them with a Ben Wallace type tough guy. Somebody has to be the tough guy.

[PerkinsFor3]

Really liked GRIIIas the starting SF last season. Was very good.

[Wizop]

Bruno's Blog speculates that Sabonis could start at center with Turner moving back to power forward and Thad coming off the bench.

[Wizop]

What is the deal with Myles Turner? Is he a forward or a center?

was Dale Davis a forward or a center? did it matter? he started at power forward but played center when Smits rested.

I can see a similar 3 man rotation at 4/5 down the road with Turner/Sabonis/Leaf although I expect Thad Young to start at 4 until the youngsters have more experience. I wouldn't trade him now but might next year when I believe he'll be an expiring contract.

that said, I wonder if Thad can get 12 or so minutes at the 3 as I don't see another backup 3 on the roster not counting going small with Lance at 3.

[Cresy06]

I would like to see a starting five of Lance, Dipo, GRIII, Sabonis, Turner. This is a nice and young lineup, that could really grow together over the season.

Also, I think GRIII is going to take the next step and become a 15 ppg player, he has been working out non stop this summer #overlydedicated. It would be nice to see Lance average close to 8-9 assists, and Sabonis and Turner close to 10 rebounds. Actually all 5 players could average up to 10ppg, with Dipo, Turner and GRII going above 15ppg.
Kinda hope Turner becomes a 20ppg and 10reb beast.

Off the bench, meh, don't really care, give me DC, Young and Leaf, and add some SL or G-League prospects. Maybe even trade Young for a draft pick.

[8305]

I'd guess the starting lineup will
pg Stephenson, sg Oladipo, sf Robinson, pf Sabonis, c Turner
Backups
pg and sg Collison, sf Young, pf Young and Leaf, c Seraphin

I won't surprised if you see Collison, Dipo and Lance on the floor together. When you consider who the five best players on the team are (right now) it would include these three. I would think they would like to get minutes for both Leaf and Sabonis. Right now it would appear Sabonis needs to get bigger before he could do much at center. OKC guys indicated he struggled with strength last year and was only asked to play pf. Seems to me that means Seraphin will get backup minutes at center. Good news is some these guys are pretty flexible. Stephenson could play any of the 1 - 3, Robinson 2 and 3, Young 3 and 4. Decent solution could be bringing back CJ Miles on a short deal. I like that better the Shabaz Mohamid.

[Wizop]

I think we start the year with Thad starting at the 4 and getting around 12 minutes a game at the 3 unless we pickup another 3. I see trading Thad now as a tank move. I know some would applaud a tank move but I don't expect one. However, everything could change in January if we're headed for the lottery. then I could see moving Thad to a contender for a young wing, and giving more minutes to Sabonis and Leaf.

and I'm not sure we should count Jefferson out. he's been told to get in better shape and perhaps he will. we hear we're trying to buyout Ellis but not that we're trying to buyout Jefferson and that could be significant (it could also just mean we're really unhappy with Ellis' suspension). Al like Thad could be a useful part of a 40 win season but expendable if we're in the low 30's even with our veterans playing.

[Global Game]

Lance!!!

It would be nice to add a PF or Center who could shoot 3's.
Especially given Lance and Oladipo are not great 3 point shooters.

Might be interesting/useful to add a PG who can shoot and defend. Then bring Lance off the bench as PG or SG or SF.
Yeah, Pacers need another SF.

[Wizop]

It would be nice to add a PF or Center who could shoot 3's.

We did. Leaf and Sabonis.

[tocooks101]

Collison/Stephenson/Young
Olidpo/Stephenson/Sumner
???/GR111/???
Sabonis/Young/Leaf
Turner/???/Anigbogu

This is how I view our depth chart right now, with holes at starting SF and backup Centre. Wouldn't be surprised if we move Thad to fill one of these holes or acquire a pick.

It's going to be a long year.

[Cresy06]

I think we start the year with Thad starting at the 4 and getting around 12 minutes a game at the 3 unless we pickup another 3. I see trading Thad now as a tank move. I know some would applaud a tank move but I don't expect one. However, everything could change in January if we're headed for the lottery. then I could see moving Thad to a contender for a young wing, and giving more minutes to Sabonis and Leaf.

and I'm not sure we should count Jefferson out. he's been told to get in better shape and perhaps he will. we hear we're trying to buyout Ellis but not that we're trying to buyout Jefferson and that could be significant (it could also just mean we're really unhappy with Ellis' suspension). Al like Thad could be a useful part of a 40 win season but expendable if we're in the low 30's even with our veterans playing.

The thing with the eastern conference right now is that if we're in the low 30's we still might make the playoffs

But seriously, I think it might be good to wait out the first couple of months, and then see where we're at. I think Monta should definitely be bought out. Al Jefferson is still servicable I agree, but the touches he needs on offense are just iso post ups and that is not how this team should be playing. So I hope we can move him somehow. For the rest I am okay with keeping Young, unless we're heading towards the lottery. Seraphin is a good cheap option until Anigbogu is healthy.

[Wizop]

isn't Sumner a big point guard rather than a shooting guard? in any event, he'll be rehabbing for quite a while and will probably spend time in Fort Wayne this year.

I don't know much about Anigbogu's injury other than it kept him out of the summer league. I've been seeing him in Ft Wayne this year too with Jefferson and Seraphin and bit of Sabonis being the backup centers. however, Christmas and Seraphin are non-guaranteed so they could be traded or cut if Ike is ready for training camp.

[Wizop]

Ellis waived.

[Jake0890]

I think we'll see Collison start and Lance come off the bench. Lance at PG is an interesting thought and something that will probably happen down the road but I doubt it'll be the plan to start the season with.

I bet we will come in to the season with GRIII as the starting small forward too.

Also bet we don't see sumner until after the all star break at the earliest.

[Global Game]

It would be nice to add a PF or Center who could shoot 3's.

We did. Leaf and Sabonis.

Nice.

[boomershadow]

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[euphorbus]

Normally, to succeed in the NBA you need to have at least one big star. To really succeed, you need two or three. Right now, without Paul George, the Pacers have none. I can't think of a single player on the team now who is better than Danny Granger at his prime. Maybe Turner will get there in a season or two.

Back to the rotation. Brad Stevens subscribes to the three-position view of the NBA: guards, wings, and bigs. The Pacers have too many bigs and not enough guards and wings. It will be hard to construct a roster out of the available players. No wonder the coach will not commit himself to a starting lineup before training camp. It helps that Christmas and Lavoy Allen are gone. It does not help that Leaf is very young and will not be able to contribute next season. In fact, the entire roster is very young. Next year is going to be frustrating for the fans unless Collison takes the lead, McMillan finds a good starting unit that works together, and some one of the youngsters starts to play like a star.

[Wizop]

The top 10 is balanced now. The problem is we lack a wing in the third unit.

Collison Young (Sumner)
Oladipo Stephenson
Robinson Bogdonovich
Turner Jefferson (Seraphin) (Anigbogu)
Young Sabonis (Leaf) (Niang)

Sumner is on a two way contract so doesn't count against 15. Normally I'd want a third point guard but Lance and Vic can play point. I agree we could use another small forward but a veteran on a short contract can get us to the next draft. I wish I'd spotted someone on our summer league team but I didn't.

Too bad Niang doesn't look like a three.

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