Klomp wrote:DaKid wrote:I think that they want Wiggins at sg as much as possible. Culver at 6'7 can play sf next to roco at of and Wiggins at sg. Starting okogie puts Wiggins back at sf for the bulk of his minutes.
Culver probably doesn't force defenses to put their SG on Wiggins. Yeah he's taller than Okogie, but he's essentially the same size as Wiggins which allows opponents to essentially pick who they want to defend who. Layman maybe changes that, but the guys who certainly make the decision more interesting for opponents are Covington and Bates-Diop.
And even if it doesn't give Wiggins the better matchup by putting him at SG, odds are it will give a better advantage to someone else.
Just as an example, take a game against Portland. Their most frequent 5 starters last year were Lillard/McCollum/ Harkless/Aminu/Nurkic. Now, let's say Minnesota goes with a starting 5 of Teague/Okogie/Wiggins/Covington/Towns. Aminu may take the toughest matchup in Wiggins, but Portland will gladly play everything else straight-up because McCollum isn't overmatched by Okogie. On the other hand, let's say Minnesota goes bigger on the perimeter with Teague/Wiggins/Bates-Diop/Covington/Towns. If Aminu still takes Wiggins, that gives either Covington or Bates-Diop a considerable size and strength advantage over McCollum. If Portland plays it straight-up, Wiggins has the size advantage over McCollum.
It'll be a similar situation with this year's Warriors, who may choose to simply play things straight up (obviously there's switching usually involved), but to have Russell taking Wiggins rather than Covington or Bates-Diop. Advantage: Wiggins. With Okogie starting, no need for GSW to be concerned about the matchups. Same for Houston, with Westbrook and Harden in the backcourt.
I dont think it matters whether its culver, okogie, or layman next to wiggins next year. The opposing team will always put their best defender on wiggs.
Culver is a rookie
okogie is still okogie
Cov is a spot up guy
Layman is another roleplayer type that isnt really threatening.
None of those can really punish weak defenders in attacks, post ups etc..
What this does though is put wiggs in the on the ball role where he can just attack like he did 2 years ago while the other 4 are better playing off the ball. Okogie, layman, roco can be really useful spotting up in the corners, energy plays for rebounds and lose balls etc.. Culver is still an unknown, so we dont know how he will fit in yet.