When will Reed be placed into the starting lineup?

Not nearly as good as Reed's and much slower release.

Probably the best, up to now though.

DD

 

I mean, this is clearly our best eventual lineup. I’m not sure Reed is there yet, but that lineup has the most upside potential.

 

The best 5 man unit on offense on the Rockets is the current starting unit: Amen, Josh, KD, JSJ, Sengun at 127.9 it is the 4th best offensive 5 man rotation in the league. It is the 3rd best netrtg 5 man rotation in the league. Maybe that changes after Reed learns to play defense, but right now both the 2 big man rotation and Reed in place of Okogie are rated much worse.

 

Which is primarily gained against SHITTY teams but now that we are starting to play good ones, it won't hold up, we have seen poor starts happen against Portland and Orlando, because we have no one competent dribbling the ball up and penetrating and kicking out when necessary.

Teams have adjusted to our lineup, and are pressuring the ball - and we are fumbling around until frankly Reed comes in...and changes the dynamic.

DD

 

Right now Reed Sheppard is the 3rd best performing player on the roster, it's only a matter of time before Ime figures that out and starts him.

 

He needs to be getting 30 minute a night starting or not.

Ime needs to run more plays for Reed. Have him run circles around the court for all I care… but we need more shots out of our second most efficient player.

 

Depends on where you cut off the PT. The starting five lineup has by far the most minutes. All other lineups have very small sample size.

Only four other lineups have more than 20 total minutes together. The best one has Sheppard in it (Adams, Sengun, Eason, Thompson, Sheppard -- double big) with 141.7 OffRtg and a 78,0 DefRtg, a whopping 63.7 NetRtg.

If you count lineups with more than 10 total minutes, the top one is Reed with the other four starters, the one suggested by @Phillyrocket on +138.2 - 56.7 NetRtg 81.6.

All the non-starting lineups have very small sample sizes. So it's hard to compare and say the starting five is the best offensive unit. But on paper, Reed with the other four starters makes a lot of sense in terms of positional fit at least on offense and not too vulnerable on defense. The very limited data also confirms that.

 

As a POA defender, Jabari is nothing special. For the most part he's sound, but his physical limitations (foot speed, lateral quickness and strength) prevent him from being great.

On the other hand, as a help defender, Jabari has used his length to block more shots than I ever expected. That's a bonus.