I won’t be surprised to see the starters minutes go down, particularly Sengun and fvv. Fvv because 37 minutes were too much anyway, Sengun because we might use other types of 5s like with Amen when Sengun was out. The other starters can see 2-3 minutes reduction as well. as for who gets those minutes, I don’t think you can stop cam from getting minutes because of general lack of scoring and amen because of his all around play. tari and reed will get the least of minutes
I dont think Adams will be a high minute player and im not sure he plays every night either. Freds minutes need to be reduced. Dillon should be traded.
Reed is my guy, but let’s please not pretend he’s even close to Jalen. I have a feeling he’ll be more consistent next season and some of you will eat crow. Reed is here to elevate everyone with his playmaking and shooting
Dillon Brooks is going to have to play better than he did the second half of last season to start next season. If he sucks it up again (i.e., he was okay, but probably not as good as the younger guys), I see something like this early in the season. Sengun(28)/Adams(20) Jabari(30)/Tari(18) Amen(12)/Tari(12)/Cam(24) Green(12)/Amen(18)/Brooks(18) FVV(30)/Green 18 If Brooks plays better, it will be more like the other rotations suggested. I think Sheppard will eat away the Brooks minutes as the year goes on assuming Brooks isn't traded. I think Green needs to show he's post-ASB Green pre and post ASB.
I'm not. If Sheppard is one of the worst shooters in the NBA and a liability on defense like Jalen was last season, I'll be very disappointed.
Jalen isn’t one of the worst shooters in the NBA. He’s gotta become more consistent. His defense against smaller guards is actually pretty good. I do agree that it’d be disappointing if Reed didn’t shoot better, I agree with that
I think the reason people are having difficulty seeing this is because we didn't see everyone healthy and in action at the same time last season. Cam and Amen joined the rotation almost halfway through the season - so they weren't eating minutes at first. Tari barely overlapped with them and was down for a large part of the season. Even if we didn't add anyone, we were headed for a minutes crunch. Another complicating factor is people are expecting our young guys' development to be as slow or non-existent as it was under Silas, and I don't think that's going to happen. I think we are finally going to see some standard development, which means significant jumps for Amen and Cam, which means they'll deserve more minutes than what people are projecting. I can see us dumping Brooks if the kids are thriving, but then you also have to think about the culture. Brooks is the guy who makes everyone embarrassed to be soft. This - along with FVV's aggressive POA defense - helps a LOT in hiding Sengun as a defensive anchor. Tari could be better than Brooks next season, but does he bring that energy Ime needs? Great problems to have, but problems nonetheless.
And if he did it at the expense of the team the way Jalen does, he'd still be terrible. I'm more concerned about good basketball and the benefit of the team than awards voters who are easily swayed by awful basketball
He literally is. He had the 9th worst FG% in the entire league, the 12th worst 3 point % in the entire league, and the 23rd worst TS% in the entire league. There's no way to spin it, Jalen is one of the worst shooters in the NBA
They're going to make a decision on Jalen this year. At this point, I'll be surprised if they commit further to him, but I hope to be surprised. He was incredible for that stretch last season. Maybe he can he can keep it together for the bulk of the season. Well see
Of course Tari brings the energy. Amen may not be a vocal leader like Brooks, but he definitely inspires the team. I’ll be very disappointed in Ime if he prioritizes minutes for Brooks ahead of Amen and Tari.
It's tricky because as much as I dislike Brooks' character and I love Amen/Tari, if I'm being fair, Brooks has earned that starter role by exceeding expectations last season. Tari barely played and spent half his time against reserves. Amen shot 13% on 3's and was only successful on offense when he could be put in the dunker's spot after Sengun's injury. Sengun will be healthy, so are we going to have Amen in dunker's spot and Sengun in mid/high post at the same time? That's a death sentence for all our wing scorers trying to get to the rim efficiently rather than turn into catch and shoot players. I can't say they've beaten Brooks out. I do believe they could both beat Brooks out next season, but they have to actually do it. I would not blame Udoka at all for starting the season with Brooks at SF. We exceeded all expectations defensively as a team and Brooks was the head of the snake in that regard. Put yourself in Ime's shoes. You've told the team everything is merit-based now. How do you even explain this to Brooks? By telling him it's based on projections and future? That's not merit based. I feel like it's more fair and likely that Udoka will say to Tari and Amen: you can beat Brooks out of this spot, I know you can do it and nothing is guaranteed for Brooks. Especially tricky with Amen who I know you're very high on. I see spacing for Green/Sengun as a higher priority than the difference in two-way production between Brooks and Amen. Again, good problems to have. Too many good players.
Keep in mind Brooks was having a good year until his oblique injury, he may not be ready to relinquish his starting spot just yet. It would be wise to limit him and Fred to 25-30 mpg though.
This summer or next trade deadline we need to consolidate. We have plenty of picks to make deals happen. Examples: Tari + Bari for Lauri Jalen + DB/Tari for Mitchell/Booker/Bane FVV for Ingram
