I agree that he should at least finish games. It gives us the best chance to win. Like tada is saying, over and over and over in preseason I keep seeing the same thing - the starters are getting outscored whether it's the first quarter or the third or the end of the game on a few occasions. We don't have enough fire power out there. Yes, I know we are missing Ball but Lonzo is not a big scoring threat himself and he's going to be dishing the rock mostly. We need some folks out there with him to actually shoot when he does so. Nance just doesn't help in that department. Randle won't be a long distance shooter either but at least he is a threat to score in other ways if he does see the ball. Bottom line is we need to see Randle with Ball and Lopez and the rest before we anoint Nance as a better fit. I don't think he is a better fit from what I've seen. He's not starting material at all actually. I'd rather see Kuzma and Randle out there as starters than even think about Nance being there. We've seen enough of a sample size now that Nance doesn't cut it at all. And it was nice to see Randle score 15 points in 13 minutes last night. Larry? 4 points in 21. Just hustle isn't enough.
Right, but then what I’m saying is that bench production from Randle disappears. Then our bench is awful aside from good nights from Clarkson and if Kuzma can keep up half of what he’s doing. Teams do use players that deserve to start off the bench to keep their bench from losing leads, to be a stabilizer, like Odom, Lou, Crawford, etc. I think Randle is thriving in this role, while Nance is allowed to hide in the starting lineup and set screens and grab boards. Put Nance on the bench and he looks even worse. I’m not sold on one way or the other, just making a case for why it’s working ok, why I get it, I’m torn as well.
I don't think our bench production will suffer greatly if Nance goes back to the bench where he belongs. He shouldn't be playing more minutes than Randle no matter what. Nance isn't hidden with the starters, he's being exposed as not starting material time after time after time.
Lopez plays most of the time in the perimeter to drag opposing centers out...more room for Randle to drive, rebound and operate in the paint. We'll see what Nance can do with Ball setting him up. If the former takes or makes some shots besides lobs or put-backs to make defenses account for him then it could work. Caruso has been able to hit Randle for gimmes...
I get what you're saying, and I don't disagree. I'm just sick of giving up leads in the 1st quarter. Like you mention, the 6th man role works great for teams that have starters that can create leads in the first place. With Lopez as our only reliable scorer, that can be difficult. We're going into battle handicapped, and more often than not we're digging ourselves a huge hole by the time the bench comes in. It sucks the momentum out of our entire team, and 5 point leads quickly turn into 20 pt leads. We don't have the luxury of starting Nance. We need to put our best talent out on the court from the getgo.
But Nance runs fast. And he jumps high. And he's the only NBA player to be on the same roster as his son. Starter!
Randle vs Nance (PER36) thru 6 preseason games. 22.1 ppg -- 8.7 ppg 50.0 FG% -- 40.7 FG% 12.1 reb -- 8.7 reb 2.5 ast -- 3.0 ast 1.4 blk -- 1.0 blk 2.5 stl -- 1.3 stl
The fact is having the best bench in the league didn't translate into to wins for us. When other starters get us so far back they can rest their guys and let our bench get some stats. Our bench is not what is going to transform us into a playoff team. If Jules is the best man for the job then he gets it, the bench will take care of itself especially since one of Jules, Kuz, Ingram is coming off the bench. 'Cept for some real small units with Jules/Kuz/BI I don't expect to see that much at all though.
In an ideal world Randle gets shipped out at the trade deadline for a high first rounder or a package to get rid of Deng.
We don't need another frst rounder, he won't be better than Jules (cheaper, yes). As for getting rid of Dung, it won't hurt to try...
I agree that a first rounder wouldn't be better than Julius but I would rather have a first rounder than let him walk for nothing at the end of the season. He will have a cap hold which is going to be big. The Lakers will have to rescind his rights and make him unrestricted FA in order to sign others and he could walk away for nothing. In this scenario a first rounter and a deadline trade makes perfect sense.
