I really don't see the point of "continuity" if we know another lineup doesn't make as much sense. Last regular season the LeBron/Luka/Rui/Austin lineups were +5.1 in 226 minutes. That's pretty good, but I want better from a starting unit. I don't see the point in starting games with Luka and Austin purposely out of position defensively. I want to jump on teams early and mitigate the harm of our shallower bench. Start Smart. The whole point of bringing him here was to guard at the POA. Rui's good but not good enough that we should be prioritizing his feelings about starting over what clearly makes more sense on paper. Much better players than Rui have come off the bench.
I don't know where people are getting this idea that it's a long season so who cares who we start in October. Look at the teams that have been winning titles recently. OKC and Boston attacked the regular season and established themselves early. They built up good habits and got their best lineups plenty of reps over the course of the season. The Nuggets did the same in 2023 so they could coast the last month of the regular season. Warriors did the same thing in 2022. I want to see these guys slotted correctly so we can actually assess how far away we are.
Players care. it goes to ego and also to contracts, so for them, it for sure matters. example: Who was James Worthy's backup? Not everyone can tell you. But we know who the starters are.
Especially in contract years when you’ve been a starter for awhile and in the playoffs and improving every year.
First couple of years that he started, it was Jamal Wilkes. After that it was a rotating group of guys like McGee, Spriggs, Branch and Thompson.
i think he's overselling it a bit, but yeah, it's not like he can't play offense or man the pg for portions of games. the problem in boston was that both tatum and brown need a table setter, and it wasn't until holiday got there that they had one. as a secondary playmaker, smart is great, just not as the primary. we'll basically never ask him to be the primary guy, so we're good. i still think this is a mwp type pickup. we're not getting the best version, but he still has some productivity left and is a pretty good fit for what we lacked last year. i'd have preferred a more athletic version, but there really wasn't anyone available like that.
