What is this craziness. Austin before he was forced to be a full time point guard was the best connective player in the league. This was the reason Kerr took him in USNT and his most trusted guy there.
I think offensively he will be good. He played better without DLo and with good defense around him, so it's sort of going back on that. But Luka is not DLo and I think he will play well. More space inside too and AR is a smart player who will get plenty of feeds from Luka and Bron. But defensively it can be catastrophic. Luka, AR and Bron without a center doesn't sound promising. A 3&D clearly fits better in AR spot, which is why it's reasonable to entertain offers. I don't think anyone is rushing to get rid of AR, but the situation is calling it. You have to give someone to receive good players and trading him for a 3&D and a center, absolutely makes the roster better. At the same time, I also agree he can be the best piece to get another superstar to replace Bron, so it's probably a good idea to hold on to him for the timing being. I don't see any trade out there for AR, most teams are already settled on their top talent. We may revisit later in the summer and see how it goes with these 3
I’m just telling you wait and watch what Redick and Kerr will/would do with the talents of these 3 players together on the same team. Neither one wants the ball being dominated and sticking with any of them as opposed to using their great passing and keeping it flying with constant player movement. JJ is not going to bring Austin off the bench. He will work with the rotations and minutes with flexibility.
Yes, eventually Reaves in a Manu role could be considered. But that only works if we have enough talent to put out on the floor! We aren't going to start Reddish for the sake of roster imbalance. So yeah, I think it's premature to consider benching Reaves. We first need to see how the trio works. If it doesn't, we can find a suitable replacement for Reaves as a starter. Then we can start considering that route.
Schroeder was against NBA trade slavery, then was traded, and will probably be bought out and we can’t get him because of the stupid buyout rules
I'd consider bringing Austin off the bench now, but of course finishing games with him. Start Gabe/Luka/LeBron/DFS/Williams, close with Luka/Austin/LeBron/DFS/Vando or Williams depending on the matchup.
You might consider it like 25 other people here but JJ won’t. The new top Big 3 in the game. https://youtube.com/shorts/DYYJ0M-bmiU?si=4CnrMzx848mWYgnU No one puts HIM in (the corner) any more. Best trio of passers on one team in the history of the NBA. We have a Wemby sized rim protector now. Reaves starts and finishes both halves while JJ can manage the rotations and minutes AS NEEDED.
I understand the sentiment to bring Reaves off the bench, but it's completely unnecessary. Bron typically goes out 5-6 minutes into the game. It's incredibly easy to stagger minutes so at least 1 of AR, Lebron, or Luka is on the court at all times and you can usually have 2. This is not a problem IMO.
Well its not just the staggering aspect, you also want someone in the starting lineup that can handle POA duties. I'd rather not ask AR to do that as a starter AND in the closing lineups (the latter of which he'll almost certainly have to do, unless we close with Vando over Williams). Say the starters play 6 minutes at the beginning of each half, and the closing lineup takes the last 4 minutes of each half. That means for 20 of Austin's 34 minutes he is probably the primary POA guy. I'd rather limit that to the 8 closing lineup minutes, so in the other 26 he's mostly focused on playmaking and scoring like he's been doing before Max got traded. I just don't think having him play that role for 26 minutes is the best use of his talent and the other talent on the roster. All that said, JJ is probably going to keep starting him.
And also, you know, we can't start Reddish because, you know, we traded him. EDIT: Yes, I know it predates the trade.
That's why I like a starting lineup of Luka/AR/Vando/LeBron/Williams. Vando on POA, with Luka, AR, and Bron switching on wings. But it's hard to argue with the starters' results lately with DFS & Rui. I do want to see closing lineups of Luka/AR/LeBron with 2 of Vando/DFS/Williams depending on matchups. Should be both balanced and terrifying.
This is the way. It's like the "start Rui or DFS" debate. Just stagger the minutes correctly, and it's not a problem. If Reaves, Luka, and LeBron all play 36 minutes, then that's 108 minutes, which can be all 48 minutes of 2 of them on the court at the same time, including 12 min of all 3 of them together. (Starting each half for 4 min, and closing game for 4 min.) If you want more min of all 3 together, then just let Luka or LeBron run a heliocentric bench unit for a few min per game, which allows more time for all 3 to start and close together. It's not a big deal.
A quick and easy sample that yields: 12 min of Luka, LeBron & Reaves 12 min of Luka & LeBron 12 min of Luka & Reaves 12 min of LeBron & Reaves 1Q 4 Luka / Reaves / LeBron 3 Luka / Reaves 3 Reaves / LeBron 2 Luka / LeBron 2Q 2 Luka / LeBron 3 Luka / Reaves 3 Reaves / Lebron 4 Luka / Lebron 3Q 4 Luka / Reaves / LeBron 3 Luka / Reaves 3 Reaves / LeBron 2 Luka / LeBron 4Q 2 Luka / LeBron 3 Luka / Reaves 3 Reaves / LeBron 4 Luka / Reaves / LeBron If you need the start of halves to be 5-6 min or to have the Big 3 together more, then at the end of 1Q/3Q and start of 2Q/4Q, you just run a heliocentric LeBron unit and a heliocentric Luka unit, and you can get more minutes of the Big 3 together wherever you want them.
