The Rotation: Who Starts, and Who is 6th Man?

[GOBlazers]

I think we have 6 players on the roster who will play starters minutes for us this year:

Dame, CJ, Powell, Covington, Nance, Nurkic.

I argue that Nance starts at PF, and Powell is our 6th man. Nance is taller and heavier than Covington and has a greater player efficiency rating.

Starters:
Dame / CJ / Covington / Nance / Nurkic
Norman Powell can dominate the opponents second unit with Simons, Little and Zeller.

The alternative is to start a 3 guard lineup again.

[Wizenheimer]

what would make most sense if CJ as 6th man, or rather, that option would make 2nd most sense after trading CJ

but it will be the same starters as last season, Dame-CJ-Powell-RoCo-Nurkic and Nance will likely be 6th man. It's pretty pathetic that after all the noise Dame made about the roster being inadequate, the Blazers have exchanged Kanter, Melo, Jones, & Giles for Zeller, Nance, Snell, and McLemore. If there's any real upgrade there it's not a significant one. Nance over Melo would essentially be the upgrade, and that's basically an upgrade of role players

[GOBlazers]

what would make most sense if CJ as 6th man, or rather, that option would make 2nd most sense after trading CJ

but it will be the same starters as last season, Dame-CJ-Powell-RoCo-Nurkic and Nance will likely be 6th man.

So if you think it makes the most sense to start Nance, then why don't you think it will happen?

[Sinobas]

A 3 guard rotation with CJ coming off the bench would be better than our 3 guard lineup I think. But I don't think Billups would do it.

[DeBlazerRiddem]

It will be interesting to see. Olshey was all offense and spacing, the 3 guard gave him the most to work with. Billups seems to be preaching defense, which of anyone would likely send CJ to the bench. I doubt that will happen, the franchise wont let their #2 guy come off the bench (especially if they ever have a hope to move him!).

It will be a battle between Norm/RoCo/Nance to see who can prove the best at the forward spots. I think almost certainly our starting 5 from last year have the inside track on it and Nance will have to really prove himself to shake things up. At least to start the year I would look to have Nance as first off the bench as our 6th man with an early sub for CJ in order to stagger his and Dame's minutes a tad.

The more important question is who is on the floor to end the game, and I would actually expect to see Nance on the floor a fair bit as our small-ball 5.

[GOBlazers]

A 3 guard rotation with CJ coming off the bench would be better than our 3 guard lineup I think. But I don't think Billups would do it.

Why would Billups want to start 3 small guards? I assume Billups will be about defense? No disrespect to our guards, but I want the taller/longer lineup playing together most of the game. But I give respect to CJ as the starter over Norman Powell...

Dame / CJ / RoCo / Nance / Nurkic

[red_power]

Norm stinks as a coming-of-the-bench player so moving him to the bench isn't a good option.
Playing him as a forward doesn't look cool either, but at least it will work against weak regular season opponents.

Moving CJ to the 6th man role is the best and logical idea though. It won't happen immediately, because no one is going to make such a drastic shift with Blazers 2nd highest-paid player. But hopefully it comes to happen sooner rather than later.

[monopoman]

On day one that starting 5 in TC's post has to be it, now if that doesn't work due to any reason then we might see some adjustment over time.

I would be blown away if that is not the starting 5 on game 1 of the regular season assuming no injury woes.

[wjun15]

Blazers would be stupid not to play Nassir Little.

Olshey/Stotts always gave too many minutes to vets like Melo/Hezonja/bazemore with no future. Even CJ wasnt even playing for a few years even though he was busting guys in practice (he shouldve AT least been one of the first guys off the bench the first few years but wasnt). We need to be more like the Spurs and give minutes to young guys so they can develop faster. Little should play 20-25 minutes a game. He has all the tools to be a great player (great strength, athleticism, defense, and even though he shot 35% threes last year Im confident he can be better if given higher volume). I think playing Tony Snell over him would be a mistake unless hes significantly better in training camp.

If we want to take that next step one of Simons, Little has to take a huge step forward and I think Little has more potential than Simons who is just a spot up shooter with nothing else.

Also, their development will help our team wonders by giving us more trading options instead of just trying to improve our team by trading CJ and Nurk.

[GEE]

Dame / Simons
CJ / Mac
Powell / Little
ROCO / Nance Jr
Nurkic / Zeller

Yikes...

[PDXKnight]

A 3 guard rotation with CJ coming off the bench would be better than our 3 guard lineup I think. But I don't think Billups would do it.

Why would Billups want to start 3 small guards? I assume Billups will be about defense? No disrespect to our guards, but I want the taller/longer lineup playing together most of the game. But I give respect to CJ as the starter over Norman Powell...

Dame / CJ / RoCo / Nance / Nurkic

i don’t think billups wants to start 3 guards but the way olshey works if he doesn’t olshey will let all our bigs go or trade them all so chauncey will have no choice but to play his preferred small ball lineup..

[GEE]

A 3 guard rotation with CJ coming off the bench would be better than our 3 guard lineup I think. But I don't think Billups would do it.

Why would Billups want to start 3 small guards? I assume Billups will be about defense? No disrespect to our guards, but I want the taller/longer lineup playing together most of the game. But I give respect to CJ as the starter over Norman Powell...

Dame / CJ / RoCo / Nance / Nurkic

i don’t think billups wants to start 3 guards but the way olshey works if he doesn’t olshey will let all our bigs go or trade them all so chauncey will have no choice but to play his preferred small ball lineup..

It may not matter who Chauncey wants to start, or who Terry wanted to start. Coaches have bosses higher than them, and it's entirely possible that Vulcan bean counters/Statisticians could have a say in who plays and who does not. Coaches hands can be tied.

I've always championed for a lineup like the above. Powell NEEDS to come off the bench. Some will suggest CJ doing so (and that would be preferred), but he makes north of $30mil, and Norm... $20mil(roughly/idk).

Doesn't matter though... I imagine that with now 6 playable guys 6'4 or under, we have no plan to change. Just like last year... Nurkic and ROCO to hold down the painted area, while taking a nightly beating. But now things are fixed with the addition of Larry, so we're good.

Adding Zeller and Chriss is soo ehh, would rather have either, or both of Giles and/or Skal back. K Love too please. And for the record... always loved McGee, and would have made him a target as well.

Not sure what Olshey is thinking with this current roster. If we do go small again, I think we should not expect big differences in success and failures, which should be a concern if, and I stress if... Olshey wants to keep Dame happy in Portland. If it's championship hopes and aspirations, you are trying to convince Dame of, this squad is no closer IMO, and could easily be worse.

[Case2012]

I feel like if we were going to go with the 3 guard line up we should've hired Pringles as coach. If billups is serious about defense then it's obvious CJ needs to come off the bench. He's easily 6th man of the year in that role and that's nothing to cause a stink about, especially if he's getting starter minutes at 30 million a year. Olshey isn't the coach, billups and his staff were hired for a reason so I hope they act with some autonomy. Contrary to what olshey believes, what's important is what's best for the team, not fulfilling his egotistical fantasies about a 3 guard line up.

Lastly, we can't operate under the assumption that we're going to trade CJ, because it's very likely we won't. Therefore, starting him to not tank his value while simultaneously losing games is counter productive.

Dame, CJ, Ant
Powell, CJ, McLemore
Roco, Little, Snell
Nance, Chriss, Brown
Nurk, Zeller

[LAL1947]

I argue that Nance starts at PF, and Powell is our 6th man. Nance is taller and heavier than Covington and has a greater player efficiency rating.

Starters:
Dame / CJ / Covington / Nance / Nurkic
Norman Powell can dominate the opponents second unit with Simons, Little and Zeller.

I think that is Portland's best line-up too. Not only is it your best one... but the size of most rosters you will come up against in the playoffs sort of dictates it too.

Reggie, PG, Kawhi, Batum, Zubac/Morris
Murray, Barton, Gordon, Porter Jr, Jokic
Westbrook, Monk, Ariza, Lebron, AD/Dwight
Harden, Kyrie, Harris, KD, Blake/LMA/Claxton
Jrue, DiVincenzo, Middleton, Giannis, Porter
Lowry, Robinson, Butler, Tucker, Bam

[Wizenheimer]

I argue that Nance starts at PF, and Powell is our 6th man. Nance is taller and heavier than Covington and has a greater player efficiency rating.

Starters:
Dame / CJ / Covington / Nance / Nurkic
Norman Powell can dominate the opponents second unit with Simons, Little and Zeller.

I think that is Portland's best line-up too. Not only is it your best one... but the size of most rosters you will come up against in the playoffs sort of dictates it too.

Reggie, PG, Kawhi, Batum, Zubac/Morris
Murray, Barton, Gordon, Porter Jr, Jokic
Westbrook, Monk, Ariza, Lebron, AD/Dwight
Harden, Kyrie, Harris, KD, Blake/LMA/Claxton
Jrue, DiVincenzo, Middleton, Giannis, Porter
Lowry, Robinson, Butler, Tucker, Bam

easily, Portland's best lineup would be Dame-Powell-RoCo-Simmons-Nurkic or Dame-Powell-RoCo-Nance-Simmons. Won't happen though with Portland's idiot GM

[HoopsFanAZ]

Lillard 34 / McCollum 32 / Powell 32 / Covington 32 / Nurkic 30
That leaves 80 backup minutes.

Zeller 18, Nance 24, Little 20, Simons 18

1. Powell should be exclusively at the 2 -- can switch onto 1-3 [but he'll play 3 just like Eric Gordon did for Houston in a 3 guard lineup]
2. RoCo should be equally at the 3 and the 4 -- very switchable 6'7
3. Nance should be exclusively at the 4 -- very switchable 6'8 [6.7.5 barefoot, 6'9 in shoes ... he's a long, strong PF].
4. CJ should be traded
5. Simons should be developed as a true combo guard working on his handles, playmaking, drives, and D
6. Little should be developed and playing as a 3&D. SIGNIFICANT upside as a 3&D.
7. It's not about wanting to play Powell at the 3 or off the bench or CJ playing the Ginobli role ... it's what is likely.

Little and Simons NEED to make a BIG leap this year. Period.

[BNM]

3. Nance should be exclusively at the 4 -- very switchable 6'8 [6.7.5 barefoot, 6'9 in shoes ... he's a long, strong PF].

I disagree strongly. One of the things that excites me most about the Nance trade is his ability to play small ball center, and pay it very well. As you mentioned, he's long and strong for a PF, which gives him the ability to guard bigger players. Since the trade, I've been watching some video on Nance and his strength, combined with good defensive positioning, footwork and very active hands allows him to do a very credible job guarding bigger centers, like Embiid and Jokic. He is also a very willing and capable distributor. Basically, a very smart player who does all of the "little things" well.

Assuming CJ isn't traded, I'd love to see us run a small ball lineup in spurts, maybe at the end of the 2nd and 3rd quarters. I am NOT advocating a small ball starting line up, or even running it for long stretches, but something similar to GSW's pre-KD small ball Death Line Up with Draymond at the 5. Nance isn't on the same level as peak Draymond, but I envision this line up being able to run opponents bigs off the floor allowing our small line up to dominate theirs (playing to our strength).

Dame
CJ
Norm
RoCo
Nance

Norm, RoCo and Nance are all capable of playing up one position for short stretches. In spite of playing with some truly awful teammates, Nance's advanced metrics have always been surprisingly good. Now, for the first time in his career, he will be surrounded by players that can actually shoot. In fact, in that lineup, all five players are legitimate 3-point threats.

I hope Chauncey has been watching some film on GSW's small ball lineups from the 2014-16 time frame. The key is constant player and ball movement while pushing the pace - never give the defense a chance to get set. Stotts was always a walk it up, slow it down type of coach. I hope Chauncey is more adaptable to the strengths of his roster. I guess we'll see.

[PDXKnight]

3. Nance should be exclusively at the 4 -- very switchable 6'8 [6.7.5 barefoot, 6'9 in shoes ... he's a long, strong PF].

I disagree strongly. One of the things that excites me most about the Nance trade is his ability to play small ball center, and pay it very well. As you mentioned, he's long and strong for a PF, which gives him the ability to guard bigger players. Since the trade, I've been watching some video on Nance and his strength, combined with good defensive positioning, footwork and very active hands allows him to do a very credible job guarding bigger centers, like Embiid and Jokic. He is also a very willing and capable distributor. Basically, a very smart player who does all of the "little things" well.

Assuming CJ isn't traded, I'd love to see us run a small ball lineup in spurts, maybe at the end of the 2nd and 3rd quarters. I am NOT advocating a small ball starting line up, or even running it for long stretches, but something similar to GSW's pre-KD small ball Death Line Up with Draymond at the 5. Nance isn't on the same level as peak Draymond, but I envision this line up being able to run opponents bigs off the floor allowing our small line up to dominate theirs (playing to our strength).

Dame
CJ
Norm
RoCo
Nance

Norm, RoCo and Nance are all capable of playing up one position for short stretches. In spite of playing with some truly awful teammates, Nance's advanced metrics have always been surprisingly good. Now, for the first time in his career, he will be surrounded by players that can actually shoot. In fact, in that lineup, all five players are legitimate 3-point threats.

I hope Chauncey has been watching some film on GSW's small ball lineups from the 2014-16 time frame. The key is constant player and ball movement while pushing the pace - never give the defense a chance to get set. Stotts was always a walk it up, slow it down type of coach. I hope Chauncey is more adaptable to the strengths of his roster. I guess we'll see.

Lol if we are the 2014 warriors i’ll eat my lunch. Seriously though there are resemblances, clearly a poor man’s version but there’s a lot of versatility. Unfortunately no advanced statistic can prove to me that a small ball wing can win in this league so i’m hoping powell doesn’t start at sf

[PDXKnight]

Why would Billups want to start 3 small guards? I assume Billups will be about defense? No disrespect to our guards, but I want the taller/longer lineup playing together most of the game. But I give respect to CJ as the starter over Norman Powell...

Dame / CJ / RoCo / Nance / Nurkic

i don’t think billups wants to start 3 guards but the way olshey works if he doesn’t olshey will let all our bigs go or trade them all so chauncey will have no choice but to play his preferred small ball lineup..

It may not matter who Chauncey wants to start, or who Terry wanted to start. Coaches have bosses higher than them, and it's entirely possible that Vulcan bean counters/Statisticians could have a say in who plays and who does not. Coaches hands can be tied.

I've always championed for a lineup like the above. Powell NEEDS to come off the bench. Some will suggest CJ doing so (and that would be preferred), but he makes north of $30mil, and Norm... $20mil(roughly/idk).

Doesn't matter though... I imagine that with now 6 playable guys 6'4 or under, we have no plan to change. Just like last year... Nurkic and ROCO to hold down the painted area, while taking a nightly beating. But now things are fixed with the addition of Larry, so we're good.

Adding Zeller and Chriss is soo ehh, would rather have either, or both of Giles and/or Skal back. K Love too please. And for the record... always loved McGee, and would have made him a target as well.

Not sure what Olshey is thinking with this current roster. If we do go small again, I think we should not expect big differences in success and failures, which should be a concern if, and I stress if... Olshey wants to keep Dame happy in Portland. If it's championship hopes and aspirations, you are trying to convince Dame of, this squad is no closer IMO, and could easily be worse.

I think what’s best for the team is cj as a 6th man. I don’t think that’d happen since cj is getting paid 30 mil but the way i see it that contract is water under the bridge so unless we plan on trading him might as well use him in the manner that puts the blazers in the best position to win. Powell at sf doesn’t seem like a contender imo, and powell and dame seemingly fit better than cj and dame as then at least there’s less black hole offense with a powel-dame backcourt

[BNM]

3. Nance should be exclusively at the 4 -- very switchable 6'8 [6.7.5 barefoot, 6'9 in shoes ... he's a long, strong PF].

I disagree strongly. One of the things that excites me most about the Nance trade is his ability to play small ball center, and pay it very well. As you mentioned, he's long and strong for a PF, which gives him the ability to guard bigger players. Since the trade, I've been watching some video on Nance and his strength, combined with good defensive positioning, footwork and very active hands allows him to do a very credible job guarding bigger centers, like Embiid and Jokic. He is also a very willing and capable distributor. Basically, a very smart player who does all of the "little things" well.

Assuming CJ isn't traded, I'd love to see us run a small ball lineup in spurts, maybe at the end of the 2nd and 3rd quarters. I am NOT advocating a small ball starting line up, or even running it for long stretches, but something similar to GSW's pre-KD small ball Death Line Up with Draymond at the 5. Nance isn't on the same level as peak Draymond, but I envision this line up being able to run opponents bigs off the floor allowing our small line up to dominate theirs (playing to our strength).

Dame
CJ
Norm
RoCo
Nance

Norm, RoCo and Nance are all capable of playing up one position for short stretches. In spite of playing with some truly awful teammates, Nance's advanced metrics have always been surprisingly good. Now, for the first time in his career, he will be surrounded by players that can actually shoot. In fact, in that lineup, all five players are legitimate 3-point threats.

I hope Chauncey has been watching some film on GSW's small ball lineups from the 2014-16 time frame. The key is constant player and ball movement while pushing the pace - never give the defense a chance to get set. Stotts was always a walk it up, slow it down type of coach. I hope Chauncey is more adaptable to the strengths of his roster. I guess we'll see.

Lol if we are the 2014 warriors i’ll eat my lunch. Seriously though there are resemblances, clearly a poor man’s version but there’s a lot of versatility. Unfortunately no advanced statistic can prove to me that a small ball wing can win in this league so i’m hoping powell doesn’t start at sf

I did not say we are the 2014 Warriors. Our starters aren't as good and our bench isn't close to theirs. And, I did NOT advocate starting Powell at SF. Here's what I said:

"I'd love to see us run a small ball lineup in spurts, maybe at the end of the 2nd and 3rd quarters. I am NOT advocating a small ball starting line up, or even running it for long stretches"

I am suggesting that since our three best players are 6'3" and Nance can play small ball 5, we should try it in short spurts. Doing so means more minutes on the floor together for our best players, it also tends to create open looks leading to easy baskets - something we rarely got under Stotts. Dame and CJ are great at creating their own shots, but that's a lot of work. I'd love to see them get some easy looks for a change, so they won't be warn down come playoff time.