Fit defensively next to Wood is my primary concern with Sengun. I think Theis will start with the Rockets trying to sneak in 5-10 minutes with Sengun and Wood against backups. Ideally, the Rockets figure out a way to get both on the court without getting eaten up defensively.
Wall Green KPJ(kid be looking 6’7 or 6’8 recently) Wood Theis KPJ can finish out the 1st quarter when Wall comes out at the 6:00 mark I hate to admit it but we could use Wall & Gordon for a little while to help mentor and take some of the pressure off the kids
Sorry but even in this era where positionless basketball is seemingly the new standard, I seriously do not see any scenario where Green can play at SF with that small frame and his lack of defense right now.
Assuming the roster stays the same Wood Theis Tate KPJ Wall I don't want this to be the case, but I think it will be the case unless there are some trades.
Man this is gonna be tough, with the way Sengun is paying, but we just paid Theis what $36M? I would think it would be Sengun as backup C, Garuba backup PF, idk to be honest, Jalen Green has to start right? 2nd overall pick. I'd love a KPJ-Green-Martin-Wood-Sengun lineup, or add in Tate somewhere either SF or PF, with Wood to C. I just hope rotational wise we use the following to begin, if Wall, Gordon & Augustin aren't dealt. PG John Wall PG Kevin Porter Jr. SG Jalen Green SG Eric Gordon SG Josh Christopher SF KJ Martin SF David Nwaba PF Jae'Sean Tate PF Usman Garuba C Christian Wood C Daniel Theis C Alperen Sengun But likely doubtful we use 12 guys every night, of these, I'd imagine they'd have Christopher & Garuba come in for garbage minutes, you have to play Sengun, Wall & Gordon at their deals should be playing, idk what they'll do with Augustin, guess they'll trade him as the deadline, same with Gordon, despite the fact I love Eric Gordon, the youth movement and all, he should be sent to a contender, I think, if Stone does good by Gordon, then we can see more potential FAs sign here, instead of being seen as just assets like Morey was all about, and I loved Morey. I know I left House off, idk where he fits, maybe of all the potential guys to get traded, he gets traded first before the season.
Wall Green KPJ Wood Sengun That's what I roll out for the first pre-season game and then adjust from there.
KJM might be worth a try at starting SF because if he keep shooting 40% from 3 via catch and shoot. Wall kpj and Tate are all average at best Perimter shooters…. We can’t have Wood out there as the only better than average perimter shooter in the starting lineup. Not with the offensive philosophy we have on offense
A lot of people penciling in Wood at the 4... That doesn't work defensively. Wood is at his best when guarding centers, I think he and Al P can play well together offensively, but the other end could be a problem, and I actually could see Al P being playable at the 4 more so than Wood. I think we need to prioritize putting Wood in a position to succeed in order to 1. see how he can mesh with the other parts of the young core, and 2. showcase him to other teams in case he doesn't fit well with the young guys. (I hold to the belief that outside of PG, positions are pretty meaningless. However I'm really just referring to who guys guard). Right now I would guess, barring trades: Wall/KPJ/DJ Green/EG/Jaygup Tate/House/Nwaba Al P/KJ/Usman Wood/Theis However, I could see House getting traded before the season and Wall, EG getting moved at the deadline. Then would look something like: KPJ/DJ Green/Jaygup Tate/KJ Usman/Al P Wood/Al P That's a fun group, but not one that will stop me from paying close attention to top prospects in the 2022 draft... Which is perfect.
So, I'll preface this by saying I'd be looking to get KP starter minutes off the bench. No need for a lot of our frontcourt to get high minutes so should be workable. With that said, this is the rotation I'd go with: Wall/KP Green/EG/JC Tate/KJ Sengun/Garuba Wood/Theis Wood gets the most minutes for the bigs but you have enough there for both rookies to get a good run without over-exposing them, Theis fills in and KJ can slide up in small ball lineups. Tate and KJ similarly don't command big minutes each and can both get a good run, JC can come in here at times if we need intensity. You can also situationally put out what on paper should be a lockdown defensive lineup with EG/Tate/JC/Martin/Garuba, dogs on the perimeter, Garuba beasting the inside and KJ for help out blocks? Brutal. Seriously, I know we have our pick next year but barring injury we're just too good to tank for a top 5 pick up, and that's real talk. Edit to add: I know the "in thing" right now is unicorns. But what's more important is flexibility across the roster, I think we have that in spades. I don't think there's anyone out of Wood, Wall, EG and the youngsters who I couldn't see play at least 2 positions, and they overlap nicely too, especially defensively. As great as our potential stars are, the biggest strength in the roster might be the dogs. Tate, Garuba, JC, KJ. Throw in a solid defender with experience like EG here and there and once it clicks we're good to go.
Position + Minutes PG - KPJ(20), Wall(28) SG - Green(30), KPJ(10), Christopher(8) SF - Tate(22), KMJ(20), Christopher(6) PF - Wood(30), Garuba(18) C - Sengun(28), Theis(20) That's a 10 man rotation. KPJ, Green, and Wood get 30 mins. Sengun starts and gets 28 mins. Wall should win 6th man of the year getting 28 mins at backup point guard while also upping his trade value. I'd let Tate, KMJ, and Christopher compete all year at the 3. I'd like to see something from Garuba in summer league. So, EG and House need to go ASAP (erase the last two from that regime). Nwaba would get spot minutes because I'm keeping Josh Christopher in the mix unless he falls off big time.
I am going to wait until I see what the final roster looks like, I expect some trades after the SL that might impact things. DD
The starting lineup will be Wall/KPJ//Tate/Wood/Theis. The spacing and Wall are bad enough to get the team off to a beautifully terrible start. I assume Green will be taking someone’s place in the starting lineup by the end of the year and Sengun might too once the team is (hopefully) eliminated from the play-in.
