It was more what I thought it would happen (with some personal bias for sure). I think we will continue to have the Russ/Schroder(/Bev?) runs unfortunately. Maybe it stops with Reaves and Lonnie back Yeah, it may very well happen that one of Lonnie or Troy gets all the minutes. Another thing I thought is that if we trade Bev we really don't have a defensive stopping guard. Schroder can make guys uncomfortable with his pressure but he's not stopping anyone. Reaves struggles with quicker guards and Russ/Lonnie don't strive in that end of the court. Makes me even more certain that we are definitely trading him for a guard or not trading him at all (I'm slowly becoming a supporter of this idea). Maybe if the right deal appears but I don't imagine many teams looking for him and would most definitely require a FRP to get anyone better than him. Tough case I think
Don't think Reaves is a liability on defense at the 3. Have the impression he struggles more with quick guards or bulky wings. He has quick feet and great fundamentals, most of the times he still holds his own anyway
Agreed. I would probably do Lonnie + Jones for Burks. Simplified rotation: Schroeder (20) / Russ (28) Bev (20) / Reaves (22) / Schroeder (6) Rui (28) / Burks (20) Lebron (34) / Gabriel (8) / AD (6) AD (28) / Bryant (20) Something like that? Gabriel loses minutes in the post season to Lebron (36), AD (36) & Bryant (24). As for the guards, Schroeder, Russ, Reaves and Bev split minutes depending on who is playing best.
Once the trade is finalized, we look like this (no minutes, I think it's too early for that, but you guys feel free to add to this): PG: DLO (26, 6-4)/Schroeder (29, 6-1) SG: Beasley (26, 6-4)/Reaves (24, 6-5) SF: Bron (38, 6-9)/Brown (23, 6-6) PF: 8mura (25, 6-8)/Vando (23, 6-8) -C: Davis (29, 6-10)/Bryant (25, 6-10) And we still have PatBev, Lonnie & Gabriel. Some of them could still be traded, correct? That team is actually loaded (and certainly much bigger), but it desperately needs a training camp and a better defensive coach. EDIT: I also added players' age and height in parentheses, just so you can see how much we actually improved here, in case it is not obvious right away.
I would consider swapping Vanderbilt to start at PF and Rui off the bench. Vand would give a defensive player next to AD, a stronger rebounder and a player for the starters that doesn't need the ball. Then turn Rui loose off the bench where we need some scoring punch.
Finally the trade some of us have been waiting for since the summer. Conley would have been the better floor general for when Lebron rested but its hard to discount DAR's spacing that we needed. Anthony Davis / Thomas Bryant / Wenyen Gabriel Jarred Vanderbilt / Rui Hachimura Lebron James / Troy Brown Jr / Max Christie Austin Reaves / Malik Beasley / Lonnie Walker D'Angelo Russell / Dennis Schroder / Patrick Beverley I'd like to see what we can get for Lonnie and/or Bev
Now that I actually look at the depth chart, I’m actually pretty happy with it as is. Bev and Walker no longer have a spot, but not really sure there is a huge position of need that we need to target trading them for. I think a back-up SF to overtake Brown from the rotation makes the most sense, but at the same time I wouldn’t be desperate to make that move. Brown is adequate in that back-up position now that we have more help, but if we can find a trade that makes sense let’s go for it. Moreso than urgently needing to fill that spot, it would just be optimal from an asset management perspective to turn our expirings into someone in that position that would be under contract control for next season. Russell / Schröder Reaves / Beasley / Christie James / (Trade Target) / Brown Jr. Vanderbilt / Hachimura Davis / Bryant / Gabriel Out: Beverley, Walker
I wouldn't even mind Bev staying and playing as a situational player. He can have value on the bench hyping guys up and defending guards like he did Dame and Haliburton. I see that his salary is best combined with Walker's however if another move is to be made.
Love that we became much younger. Sucks that we couldn't start the season over with this current roster. At least a 50 win team imo.
Assuming no other trades, it'll be interesting if we stay with AD at the 5 or start Bamba: DLO / Schroeder Reaves / Beasley / Walker IV LeBron / Brown Jr. / Christie Hachimura / Vanderbilt AD / Bamba / Gabriel DLO / Schroeder Reaves / Beasley / Walker IV LeBron / Brown Jr. / Christie AD / Hachimura / Vanderbilt Bamba / Gabriel I do think Reaves starts next to DLO, although maybe not right away as he's coming back from the hamstring injury. Even if AD continues to be a full-time 5, LeBron/Rui/Vanderbilt should soak up pretty much all of the forward minutes.
Bamba comes off the bench. We probably start: DLO Beasley Bron Vando AD with Dennis, Reaves, Brown (I was sure we'd end up trading him), Rui, Bamba off the bench, and Max/Gabriel getting some limited minutes here and there.
Russell / Schröder Beasley / Reaves / Walker / Christie James / Brown / Reed Vanderbilt / Hachimura Davis / Bamba / Gabriel Maybe Rui and Vanderbilt swap spots (I think Vanderbilt makes more sense as the starter, but we might be wanting to butter up Rui for impending free agency). Walker/Reaves probably occasionally split time at the 2 and 3.
TB and Bev out, Bamba and Reed in. Anthony Davis / Mo Bamba / Wenyen Gabriel Jarred Vanderbilt / Rui Hachimura Lebron James / Troy Brown Jr / Max Christie Austin Reaves / Malik Beasley / Lonnie Walker / Devon Reed D'Angelo Russell / Dennis Schroder We still have 1 spot for the buyout market
I hope Vanderbilt doesn't start and I don't think he will, he's gotten better as a shooter but still doesn't provide any spacing really. I don't think he's a good fit with AD. On the second unit, though, playing next to LeBron with Bamba at the 5? That I really like.
This is my view too. Dlo, James and AD are a lock. Beasley makes sense to play the most minutes with LeBron (and AD) to provide spacing. Reaves ball handling and overall play makes more sense from the bench if we have a good starter (as we do now). Then between Vando and Rui, we are losing defense at the guard spot for offense, so I think the 5th guy needs to be defensive minded. We have tons of spacing with DLo and Beasley, Vando is a good enough player to not be a problem on offense. Rui's scoring will be massive from the bench. Bamba, Troy and Reaves are not heavy scorers. Starting is different than closing. To start you try to balance your lineup power with the bench. Rui's offense and Vando's defense fit better each unit, imo. To close, I believe we go with DLo, Beasley, Reaves, LeBron and AD most of times. I hope at least. Also hope Troy, Max and Lonnie get different looks in different games. It's not closed who is that 3rd guy from 3-5 and any of them can gives us different things. Also expect we now do a better job playing LeBron and AD less minutes, will be important by the end of the season. We have 14 (FOURTEEN) solid rotational pieces. It's f unbelievable lol
Yeah, I'd probably start with Dlo, Beasley, Rui, Lebron and AD. I do wonder if we see a lineup with Bamba at the 5 though alongside AD. Could be interesting. I could also see Reaves in there with DLo, Beasley and Lebron and AD. Honestly I could even see Brown starting at the three with DLo, Beasley, Lebron and AD. Gives us legit sharp shooting from three. And decent or at least regular kind of NBA size at last. None of those lineups are a defensive juggernaut, but sub in Vanderbilt/Bamba at times for added D and we should be ok. I think Dennis and Walker should definitely go to the bench where they are best suited.
Dlo, Beasley and LeBron might suffer a bit on defense, I believe. Will have a longer look on Beasley, I have the idea he's bad, but not sure how bad. And maybe the system benefit him. He'll be key in our team if he can stay in the floor. Guy has tons of games going for 20/30 with 5+ threes. He has 3 this year. Last year he had a 11 triples game, ending a run of 6,5,4,5 triples a game. Absurd, going to be awesome He lost his rotation place in the playoffs last year, playing 25-30 minutes the first 4 games and then 16 or less the remaining three.
I bet you Ham will start Dennis and Dlo in the back court. He should stagger them so we get another ball-handler/attacker in the 2nd unit. Dlo/Dennis Reaves/Beasley/Walker Lebron/Brown Jr/Christie Rui/Vanderbilt/Gabriel AD/Bamba Maybe swap Reaves and Beasley if you want maximum spacing around Lebron and AD.
