You'd be surprised if Lawson play for the second unit?

You think Manu would've came off the bench all these years if the Spurs only had one playmaker?

Totally different situation, not even comparable!

 

Second unit rankings from BBinsiders:

Spoiler

Third Tier

15.Dallas Mavericks

The Mavericks’ bench is a disaster. When DeAndre Jordan made his U-turn, things started going downhill for Mark Cuban and his team. They were able to re-sign J.J. Barea, but lost Richard Jefferson. The rest of their backcourt consists of Raymond Felton, John Jenkins, Devin Harris and rookie Justin Anderson. If you thought this was going to be top-heavy team before, just take a look at the roster now. Their best player off the bench might be the 2015 version of Harris, or perhaps Anderson. Their frontcourt consists of some relatively unknown players that most casual fans have never heard of, including Dwight Powell, Maurice Daly Ndour, Satnam Singh Bhamara, Jarrid Famous.

14.Portland Trailblazers

The Trail Blazers lost a whole bunch of players in free agency this summer. In addition to losing 80 percent of their starting lineup, they also lost depth. Their second unit is basically a host of young, promising, yet unproven talent… and Chris Kaman. At this point, their best bench player is probably C.J. McCollum. The rest of the rotation consists of Noah Vonleh, Meyers Leonard, Allen Crabbe, Maurice Harkless, Pat Connaughton and Tim Frazier. It looks like it’s going to be a rough year for the rebuilding Blazers, though, to their credit, they did well in acquiring some young talent after losing LaMarcus Aldridge to the San Antonio Spurs.

13.New Orleans Pelicans

Compared to other Western Conference teams, the Pelicans have very little depth and will again likely rely on the monster production of the “The Brow,” also known as Anthony Davis. While Quincy Pondexter and Ryan Anderson aren’t bad players, the rest of the bench is a little thin. While New Orleans will likely be healthier next season compared to 2014-15, their bench will likely be hit and miss throughout, especially considering Luke Babbitt, Dante Cunningham, Alonzo Gee and Toney Douglas will probably be relied on for meaningful production.

12.Utah Jazz

The Jazz’s starting lineup is certainly maturing and starting to mesh as a unit, but the rest of their roster is comprised of relative unknowns. As of today, the Jazz’s best bench player is probably Alec Burks. Rodney Hood has shown some promise and rookie Trey Lyles could be special. The problem is everyone on the bench is young and inexperienced, which could lead to inconsistent production. Utah’s roster rounds out with Trevor Booker, Grant Jerrett, Jack Cooley, Tibor Pleiss, Joe Ingles, Chris Johnson, Elijah Millsap, Bryce Cotton and Raul Neto.

11.Los Angeles Lakers

While the Lakers have certainly upgraded their roster both in the starting and second units, they still have a lot of unproven players. Jordan Clarkson had a great summer league, Julius Randle has some serious potential and Lou Williams is a potent scorer, but apart from that they don’t have much. Robert Sacre isn’t really a league average backup center at this point and everyone else are unknowns. The roster is rounded out with Ryan Kelly, Larry Nance Jr., Tarik Black, Anthony Brown and Jabari Brown.

Second Tier

10.Minnesota Timberwolves

The Timberwolves have the last three number one draft picks in Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett. Towns and Wiggins will be in the starting unit, which leaves Bennett, who hasn’t lived up to his draft position, along with high-flyer Zach LaVine and bruiser Shabazz Muhammad as reserves. While there is young talent here, the bench will likely struggle against opposing second units featuring several veteran players. Tyus Jones, Lorenzo Brown, Damjan Rudez, Gorgui Dieng, Nikola Pekovic, Adreian Payne and Nemanja Bjelica finish out the roster.

9.Sacramento Kings

The Kings have taken a slightly different route than many of these teams. When other free agents spurned the Kings, they had to move to Plan B. They’ve signed older players as backups that have already hit their peak in the NBA. These veterans won’t make as many mistakes, but also their ceiling is limited. Their bench is headlined by sharpshooter Marco Belinelli and big man Kosta Koufos, both of whom were acquired this summer as free agents. They also have Caron Butler, Omri Casspi and Quincy Acy coming off their bench with Eric Moreland, James Anderson, Seth Curry, David Stockton and Duje Dukan rounding out the roster.

8.Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets have a very balanced roster overall, which in this case is not a great thing. Most of their players are basically on the same level talent-wise. No one necessarily stands out. They have a bundle of decent role players dotting their roster, but no superstar, at least yet. Headlining the Nugget’s bench is the seventh overall pick in this year’s draft, Emmanuel Mudiay. As of right now he is behind experienced veteran Jameer Nelson, but probably not for long. Also on the roster riding the pine are Gary Harris, Will Barton, Wilson Chandler, J.J. Hickson and a few others. The players ahead of them are only marginally better than them, which means their bench is decent, but their starters arguably are not when compared to the rest of the league. They can hold their own, that’s for sure. The rotation also includes Nick Johnson, Erick Green, Joffrey Lauvergne, Nikola Jokic, Joey Dorsey and Kostas Papanikolaou.

7.Memphis Grizzlies

The Grizzlies have a very nice starting lineup as well as some high caliber players coming off their bench. Brandan Wright, Jeff Green (though he starts occasionally), the old man Vince Carter and Beno Udrih, have a good mix of talent and skill along with the rest of the second unit to keep the team afloat until the starters can come back in the game. Matt Barnes, Jarnell Stokes, JaMychal Green, Jarell Martin, Jordan Adams and Russ Smith round out the roster.

6.Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder have a great starting lineup but was demolished by injuries in 2014-15. The upside is their bench players gained valuable experience with the extra playing time. D.J. Augustin, sharpshooter Anthony Morrow, Andre Roberson, Kyle Singler, and Steven Adams can certainly hold their own on the court until Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Serge Ibaka are done resting. The rotation is rounded out by Nick Collison, Steve Novak, Cameron Payne and Mitch McGary. However, they probably aren’t going to win you too many games by themselves or make up deficits without some help. That’s what top tier second units do.

First Tier

5.Phoenix Suns

The Suns have locked in their core for the future and bolstered their shooting and defense as well as their leadership through the draft and free agency. Their bench unit will be quite good in 2015-16. Adding Tyson Chandler sends the budding Alex Len to the bench and gives him even better mentoring as a defensive anchor. They drafted one sharpshooter in Devin Booker and they signed another one in stretch-four Mirza Teletovic. Plus, they opened the door for the effortless scoring of T.J. Warren in a salary dump that created time at the backup small forward spot. They also have Archie Goodwin and signed Sonny Weems. The future is bright for this bench. Look for them to win some games single-handedly when the starters don’t have it going next year.

4.Houston Rockets

The recent trade to acquire Ty Lawson took a little depth and some longer-term prospects from Houston, but what they lost in quantity they gained in quality. Lawson will likely take over as the starting point guard (subject to his off court issues), which slots former starter and defensive stalwart Patrick Beverley as the backup point guard. Beverley is a pesk on defense and can knock down shots from three-point range, so he could potentially be one of, if not the best backup point guard in the Western Conference next season. Along with Corey Brewer, Donatas Motiejunas and draft picks Sam Dekker and Montrezl Harrell, the Rockets have some serious firepower coming off the bench. Rounding out their rotation is Clint Capela, Jason Terry and K.J. McDaniels as the backup small forward.

3.San Antonio Spurs

Of course the Spurs are ranked this high. They have a knack for picking great players from a low draft position and developing players effectively. This offseason they landed star forward LaMarcus Aldridge in free agency and convinced David West to turn down millions in guaranteed money from Indiana for a chance to win a championship. West, along with Manu Ginobili, Boris Diaw, Patty Mills along with some young talent like Ray McCallum and Kyle Anderson will sway many games back in the Spurs’ favor when San Antonio’s starters are off their game. The roster is rounded out by Matt Bonner, Reggie Williams, Boban Marjanovic, Jonathan Simmons and Jimmer Fredette.

2.Los Angeles Clippers

Boy did the Clippers’ free agency period go from bad to amazing! They lose DeAndre Jordan, then get him back and also sign Paul Pierce, Lance Stephenson, Wesley Johnson and Josh Smith. The Clippers bench is basically a starting unit for an average NBA team all by itself. The rotation is rounded out by Jordan Hamilton, C.J. Wilcox, Cole Aldrich, Austin Rivers and Branden Dawson.

1.Golden State Warriors

The defending champs won their ring on the back of their versatility and depth. The Warriors retain Draymond Green, which leaves the starting unit intact. They also re-signed Leandro Barbosa and drafted Kevon Looney, who could be a steal as the 30th overall pick. With a championship run under their belts, the bench will likely continue to dominate moving forward, led by finals MVP Andre Iguodala, who stepped up big time when his name was called. A former All-Star, he rode the bench and contributed where he could. Then, when he called to guard LeBron, he performed admirably. The roster is rounded out by James Michael McAdoo, Festus Ezeli, Marreese Speights, Shaun Livingston and Brandon Rush.

http://www.basketballinsiders.com/ranking-the-western-conferences-second-units/

 

DMo is a starter though.

DD

 

LOL, wut? Maybe in 2010. If you started Paul Pierce, jamal Crawford, Josh Smith, Cole Aldrich and Austin Rivers, you'd probably lose 90 games in a season.

 

Lol you're absolutely right!

How is it when we sign Smoove everyone questions the move, but when LAC signs him we get stuff like this... Just ridiculous!

Pierce- old
Lance- Cancer
Wes- average at best

 

Terry has done it before in Dallas. If it does happen Terry will be in his ear.

 

We shall wait and see. Nobody really knows at this point. Maybe Jones will be the starter once again ...And why is every writer forgetting about Thornton??

 

Lawson with the second unit makes a lot of sense imo

 

It would make the most sense, but I would still be surprised if it does happen.

A second unit for Lawson to run with Brewer, Thorton / KJ, D-Mo & Capela is scary. That's a starting unit right there!

 

I agree. I think that Lawson adds so much more value to this team coming off the bench and becoming our super-sub.

If Lawson and Harden start together and play a lot of minutes together on the court, then you run into the potential of one of them losing value since they both do very similar things on the court. If McHale can spread minutes accordingly between those two, we can literally run the exact same sets every minute of the game as long as one of Harden/Lawson is on the court.

Lawson, one of the best playmakers and a top 10 PG in this league, going against 2nd units can be a very frightening thing for the other team. I absolutely love the synergy between Lawson and Brewer given their Denver days and then add another great transition player in Jones and a strong finisher off the pick and roll in Capela. Our 2nd unit should feast on almost all the other 2nd units in the league.

Honestly, I find it puzzling that not more people are behind the Lawson coming off the bench idea. To me, it seems fairly obvious that Lawson would have so much more value coming off the bench. If not Mike Conley, Beverley fits the player you want at starting PG next to James Harden because of his defensive attitude and average 3 point shot. Lawson will still get the bulk of the minutes and finish most games so why not use our depth to our advantage?

 

I'd really like to see Lawson running with the first unit. The guy is a true PG, not a pure scoring or combo type guy. I'm not sure why anyone would try and change that about him. He needs to play the bulk of his minutes with the team's best offensive players. That's the only way to maximize his skillset as a true PG.

And again, Harden NEEDS to play alongside another guard who can handle the ball and create plays. This is still Harden's team, and he can dominate the ball anytime that he see's fit.

But as we all know, Harden isn't a selfish player in the least. He has not, and will not dominate the ball the entire time that he's on the court. In the past when he chose not handle the ball, he was pedestrian at best in the offense and the team usually struggled because no one else was capable of making things happen. The team needs a guy who can keep the offense moving and find opportunities for Harden even when he himself may not be looking for them.

No need to overthink it. PG was one of the teams biggest weaknesses, and now they have a really good one. Put him out there and let him do what he does best.

 

I just don't get how you can put Lawson on the bench and start off every game with the same issues we had last year with Harden trying to do too much.

 

Harden and Lawson will get less overlap in the regular season, and spend more time on the court together in the playoffs when their minutes go up.

Burden was too heavy on Harden last year, which is why McHale played him more than any other player in the league.

I thought modern NBA fans had gotten over caring about who starts.

 

Doesn't matter who start, matters who end.

 

2.Los Angeles Clippers

Boy did the Clippers’ free agency period go from bad to amazing! They lose DeAndre Jordan, then get him back and also sign Paul Pierce, Lance Stephenson, Wesley Johnson and Josh Smith. The Clippers bench is basically a starting unit for an average NBA team all by itself. The rotation is rounded out by Jordan Hamilton, C.J. Wilcox, Cole Aldrich, Austin Rivers and Branden Dawson.

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LMAO, Pablo is NOT a NBA player.

 

People are crazy. Having a PG who average 16-10 to come off the bench....Hey Chris paul has those numbers, hopefully we acquire him to become our 6th man, because Bev is a better defender and Harden Wont play off ball.....even though hes been proven a EVEN MORE efficient scorer off the ball... I can't believe what I read here sometimes man

 

I usually buy into the htown hate, but this time I think it's because we showed what smith can be as a super sub. He was very good for us and we kind of revived his career to the point that other contenders wanted him. Plus they have a players coach in doc that is very similar in how he handles his guys like coach mchale.

 

Exactly, Harden needed another playmaker beside him, the dude practically said so himself.
Harden and Lawson in transition is basically pick your poison for the opposing team, not to mention Harden will get way more open looks now due to Lawson's ability to draw in defenders in the paint due to his elite slashing, he's one of the best at kicking it out to open team-mates when the defense is drawn to him. Just look at how efficient Ariza was when he played with Wall, we can expect similar results with Lawson as PG. Harden and Lawson combo is too damn deadly to not start the game off with and set the tone.