Slartibartfast wrote:cloverleaf wrote:Slartibartfast wrote:
It's also that they have the least competition. There isn't a true 4 on the roster and I think Smart will end up starting at 2-guard and not seeing much time as the 1.
Really? You think they're going to bring Brown off the bench? That would be interesting. I think Grant's main competition will be with Theis backing up Tatum at the 4. And there wouldn't be enough minutes for Smart and Brown if they were both just squeezed in at the 2 anyway. Certainly easy enough to stagger Kemba and Smart for PG coverage, even if Brad were to start Smart at the 2. But I expect Smart's time to be split between the two guard roles. And because of that Wanamaker in the default 3rd PG role this year (whereas last year he was really 4th, which Waters on the 2-way will effectively have this season). Yeah, they'll talk about and try to fit Carsen into the PG role, but I think he'll end up like AB, in the 2 position--with Smart helping to make that work because they can switch defensively.
I think they will end up bringing one of JB/Hayward off the bench. Probably Hayward since he's the most capable of functioning as a 6th man.
We have too little defense on the floor with Kemba/JB/Tatum/Hayward/Kanter. And you get diminishing returns offensively from playing three scoring wings with Kemba (and by extension Kanter as his roll man) eating up a lot of usage. There's room for a 2nd banana, sure, but not for 3 of them!
So putting a guy like Smart, who will do the dirty work for all those offensive players, pass the ball and only take open 3s makes a lot of sense. Then you have Hayward as the #1 option for the 2nd unit (though he didn't really embrace that role last season, preferring to work more in the background).
So something like this:
Kemba
Smart
JB
Tatum
Kanter
Then you filter in the following 5
Hayward (probably for Tatum, to keep the small-ball and spacing going)
Poirier (for Kanter, to keep size and rebounding on the floor)
Grant (for JB, pushing us back to a more traditonally sized line up)
Carsen and Romeo (for Kemba and Smart)
So no Theis, no Bob Williams, and no Wanamaker?