I think Reed will rightly be given first dibs to prove himself, but I think ultimately the 5th starter will vary by opponent early in the season, possibly a lot longer.
Reed will be ready -- his redshirt season is finished and he's primed to contribute. With Durant on the team providing scoring, Reed can make an impact by distributing and playing great defense. Points are gravy.
I think it will be Amen. PG - AMen SG - DFS SF - KD PF - Jabari C - Sengun A long and athletic team with LOTS of upside and shooting there. DD
If our youngsters take another step forward, especially offensively, then giving FVV's minutes to Amen and Reed will raise our team's ceiling. Statistically, VanVleet is starting to backslide. He is no longer in his prime.
To those of you penciling DFS in as the starting 2 guard, you do realize that he's a combo forward, more 4 than 3 and will have a hard time defending SG's.
That is a funny one, I admit Dorian is more athletic than I expected but manning a guard position lol. Funniest thing I have heard in a while now....but Ime might still try it. IDK how they can still lowball and sign someone like Malik Beasley.......
Either Reed, Holiday, or Okogie will be in our starting backcourt. Okogie is the best defensive player of the bunch. Both Holiday and Okogie shot better than Reed from 3 last year and have more experience. Reed has to be pretty awesome in pre-season to get the nod. None of Durant, Tari, Jabari, or DFS can play guard on defense against most teams. If none of the three are cutting it, Tari is the only candidate that can be traded before December if they don’t extend him. I don’t think it will be necessary as we can still win a lot of games by defense alone and still have Sengun, Amen, and Durant on offense.
After reading and thinking about it I’d love it it be either: Amen - Okogie - Jabari - KD - Sengun - with Tate / Reed / Holiday at the 1 & 2 - DFS, Tari & Capela / Adams off the bench OR Amen - DFS / Tari - KD - Sengun - Capela - with Reed / Holiday / Tate at 1 & 2, DFS / Tari, Jabari & Capela / Adams off the bench. I’d say the first one makes more sense and is more likely. That way you get the two dogs in Tari and DFS off the bench, keep Sengun at the 5 since his 3pt shot cannot be trusted yet, we never need to worry about Adams not being available and everyone keeps their natural position. As has been pointed out DFS cannot guard quicker quards, Tari might even do better than him so the first option is more preferable in my opinion.
I would be pretty surprised if the team goes into the season with the same roster. Even before FVV's injury, they needed guard help, a combo guard who can handle PG duties off the bench. Now, they'll probably need someone good enough to be play an even bigger role on a team with championship aspirations. That's not going to be easy.
I don't think people realize that the PG spot isn't just running pick and rolls or passing to whoever .... There's a mental aspect to the position - it's usually the point guard who communicates the play and makes sure everyone is in the right spots to run that play successfully while also getting the ball up the court safely and on time, with enough time on the clock to run the offense and of course no 8 second violations. Being the coach on the floor .... Reed often had trouble advancing the ball last year against pressure. Amen was terrible other than fast breaks last year "as a point guard". He wasn't able to direct the offense. Holiday .... he's an undersized 2 guard. He just lacks point guard skills other than shooting. Okogie probably doesn't have the handles nor the ability to get the team into the offense. Fred is really going to be missed as the floor general. That's what all the other options lack.
Looking ar the 25 players who DFS spent the most time defending last year, here's the fg% of some of the guards when defended by him. Harden 25% Curry 42.9% 20% 3pt% Miles Bridges 20% Donovan Mitchell 20% Haliburton 42.9% Ja Morant 20% Jamal Murray 33.3% We could do worse.
I'm guessing they'll try Reed / Amen / KD / Bari / Sengun to see if it works. If not, pivot to Amen / DFS / KD / Bari / Sengun and just bully other teams.
DFS has to start. DFS made .398 3 pts last year. We sacrifice some ball-handling and leadership with FVV down and exchange for a little more shootings and defense. My only concern is if DFS can do as good as Fred as a screener for Alp as that play was very effective last year.
