Is COJO or Beef Stew more of a liability in the starting lineup?

[Piston Pete]

Cojo is a vet playing over youngsters like Killian and Lee.

At least Stewart hustles and is still young/learning.

We’re not winning anything this season. I hate watching us lose games with vets while youngsters sit the bench.

[DET_Athletics]

CoJo has switched to make me ‘Pro Ivey’ with our draft pick, so it’s him!

THIS! Could you imagine Ivey and a big like Myles Turner staring at the 5 for this team?

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[Manocad]

Cojo is a vet playing over youngsters like Killian and Lee.

At least Stewart hustles and is still young/learning.

We’re not winning anything this season. I hate watching us lose games with vets while youngsters sit the bench.

My guess, and by all means I could be wrong, is that guys like Cojo and KO were signed not only to have a veteran/teaching presence through development but to be those "gap fillers" should the team perform higher than expectations this season (of course, they have not). So while I am fully on board in principle with seeing young players like Lee, Livers, Garza and hell, even Walton get more minutes than either Cojo or KO, there is the element of professional courtesy involved. It wouldn't be a good look for the organization to sign players under a certain premise then say "Well, since it didn't work out like we had hoped you're now going to be buried on the bench regardless of how you play because we want to develop any and all young players first and foremost. So they're all getting your minutes."

Is Stew what you WANT as a starting center for a championship team? Of course not. But he's not a BAD player, just limited. And by no means would he be the worst starting center on a championship team if the other four starters were Cade, Bey, a high level SG and high level PF. Point being when I look at the starting lineup right now, at this very moment, the SG and PF spots--whether they become draft picks or FA's--are bigger causes for concern than Stew. To me Stew falls under the "So he's not a starting level center. Aaaaaand...what? Send him to the bench so another non-starting level center can play in his place?" principle. He still needs to develop. So give him good minutes until it's clear that another player--be it a draft pick, Bagley, or a free agent--is the better option in the starting lineup.

[Piston Pete]

Cojo is a vet playing over youngsters like Killian and Lee.

At least Stewart hustles and is still young/learning.

We’re not winning anything this season. I hate watching us lose games with vets while youngsters sit the bench.

My guess, and by all means I could be wrong, is that guys like Cojo and KO were signed not only to have a veteran/teaching presence through development but to be those "gap fillers" should the team perform higher than expectations this season (of course, they have not). So while I am fully on board in principle with seeing young players like Lee, Livers, Garza and hell, even Walton get more minutes than either Cojo or KO, there is the element of professional courtesy involved. It wouldn't be a good look for the organization to sign players under a certain premise then say "Well, since it didn't work out like we had hoped you're now going to be buried on the bench regardless of how you play because we want to develop any and all young players first and foremost. So they're all getting your minutes."

Is Stew what you WANT as a starting center for a championship team? Of course not. But he's not a BAD player, just limited. And by no means would he be the worst starting center on a championship team if the other four starters were Cade, Bey, a high level SG and high level PF. Point being when I look at the starting lineup right now, at this very moment, the SG and PF spots--whether they become draft picks or FA's--are bigger causes for concern than Stew. To me Stew falls under the "So he's not a starting level center. Aaaaaand...what? Send him to the bench so another non-starting level center can play in his place?" principle. He still needs to develop. So give him good minutes until it's clear that another player--be it a draft pick, Bagley, or a free agent--is the better option in the starting lineup.

Teams do that all the time - well, teams as bad as us. Teams in the bottom 10 of the NBA.

Is it wrong? I dunno, maybe? But it makes sense for a team to try and gauge where the young kid is and how they fit before they, too, are cast away in a year or two. Second rounders only get 2-year deals. And if they spend that entire time in the NBDL, then it’s a total waste. We still have barely seen Garza, Livers, or Smith play and this season is 75% done. The vet still gets their money while they coach from the sidelines.

[Cowology]

Cojo is a vet playing over youngsters like Killian and Lee.

At least Stewart hustles and is still young/learning.

We’re not winning anything this season. I hate watching us lose games with vets while youngsters sit the bench.

My guess, and by all means I could be wrong, is that guys like Cojo and KO were signed not only to have a veteran/teaching presence through development but to be those "gap fillers" should the team perform higher than expectations this season (of course, they have not). So while I am fully on board in principle with seeing young players like Lee, Livers, Garza and hell, even Walton get more minutes than either Cojo or KO, there is the element of professional courtesy involved. It wouldn't be a good look for the organization to sign players under a certain premise then say "Well, since it didn't work out like we had hoped you're now going to be buried on the bench regardless of how you play because we want to develop any and all young players first and foremost. So they're all getting your minutes."

Is Stew what you WANT as a starting center for a championship team? Of course not. But he's not a BAD player, just limited. And by no means would he be the worst starting center on a championship team if the other four starters were Cade, Bey, a high level SG and high level PF. Point being when I look at the starting lineup right now, at this very moment, the SG and PF spots--whether they become draft picks or FA's--are bigger causes for concern than Stew. To me Stew falls under the "So he's not a starting level center. Aaaaaand...what? Send him to the bench so another non-starting level center can play in his place?" principle. He still needs to develop. So give him good minutes until it's clear that another player--be it a draft pick, Bagley, or a free agent--is the better option in the starting lineup.

Teams do that all the time - well, teams as bad as us. Teams in the bottom 10 of the NBA.

Is it wrong? I dunno, maybe? But it makes sense for a team to try and gauge where the young kid is and how they fit before they, too, are cast away in a year or two. Second rounders only get 2-year deals. And if they spend that entire time in the NBDL, then it’s a total waste. We still have barely seen Garza, Livers, or Smith play and this season is 75% done. The vet still gets their money while they coach from the sidelines.

What you see the last 10-20 games of the season is a little different. That's where teams typically send their vets to the bench. I'd assume the coaching staff/front office have some pretty direct conversations about the direction of the team at that point and why they are doing what they doing. It can also be a little different if those guys are playing for contracts or if they're already locked up for another year or two, but regardless I think you get a little looser with those rotations at the end of the year once you know your season is done and you need to seriously start evaluating talent in preparation for your off-season.

[Manocad]

My guess, and by all means I could be wrong, is that guys like Cojo and KO were signed not only to have a veteran/teaching presence through development but to be those "gap fillers" should the team perform higher than expectations this season (of course, they have not). So while I am fully on board in principle with seeing young players like Lee, Livers, Garza and hell, even Walton get more minutes than either Cojo or KO, there is the element of professional courtesy involved. It wouldn't be a good look for the organization to sign players under a certain premise then say "Well, since it didn't work out like we had hoped you're now going to be buried on the bench regardless of how you play because we want to develop any and all young players first and foremost. So they're all getting your minutes."

Is Stew what you WANT as a starting center for a championship team? Of course not. But he's not a BAD player, just limited. And by no means would he be the worst starting center on a championship team if the other four starters were Cade, Bey, a high level SG and high level PF. Point being when I look at the starting lineup right now, at this very moment, the SG and PF spots--whether they become draft picks or FA's--are bigger causes for concern than Stew. To me Stew falls under the "So he's not a starting level center. Aaaaaand...what? Send him to the bench so another non-starting level center can play in his place?" principle. He still needs to develop. So give him good minutes until it's clear that another player--be it a draft pick, Bagley, or a free agent--is the better option in the starting lineup.

Teams do that all the time - well, teams as bad as us. Teams in the bottom 10 of the NBA.

Is it wrong? I dunno, maybe? But it makes sense for a team to try and gauge where the young kid is and how they fit before they, too, are cast away in a year or two. Second rounders only get 2-year deals. And if they spend that entire time in the NBDL, then it’s a total waste. We still have barely seen Garza, Livers, or Smith play and this season is 75% done. The vet still gets their money while they coach from the sidelines.

What you see the last 10-20 games of the season is a little different. That's where teams typically send their vets to the bench. I'd assume the coaching staff/front office have some pretty direct conversations about the direction of the team at that point and why they are doing what they doing. It can also be a little different if those guys are playing for contracts or if they're already locked up for another year or two, but regardless I think you get a little looser with those rotations at the end of the year once you know your season is done and you need to seriously start evaluating talent in preparation for your off-season.

Yep. And with 21 games left we may see that happen with this team pretty quickly.