**Only used starters, big names, and 1st round rookies** Our opponent's new rosters look intimidating... **SOUTHWEST DIVISION** Houston Rockets PG: Eric Gordon, Patrick Beverley, Gary Payton II, Isaiah Taylor SG: James Harden, KJ McDaniels SF: Michael Beasley, Trevor Ariza, Sam Dekker PF: Ryan Anderson, D-Mo (if resigned), Montrezl Harrell C: Clint Capela, Chinanu Onuaku (rookie), Zhou Qi (rookie) Dallas Mavericks PG: Deron Williams SG: Wesley Matthews SF: Harrison Barnes PF: Dirk Nowitzki C: Andrew Bogut Memphis Grizzlies PG: Mike Conley, Wade Baldwin (rookie) SG: Tony Allen SF: Chandler Parsons PF: Zach Randolph C: Marc Gasol New Orleans Pelicans PG: Jrue Holiday SG: Buddy Hield (rookie) SF: Tyreke Evans PF: Anthony Davis C: Omer Asik, Alexis Ajinca San Antonio Spurs PG: Tony Parker, Dejounte Murray (rookie) SG: Danny Green SF: Kawhi Leonard PF: LaMarcus Aldridge C: Pau Gasol, Tim Duncan **REMAINING WESTERN CONFERENCE** Golden State Warriors PG: Steph Curry SG: Klay Thompson SF: Kevin Durant PF: Draymond Green C: Zaza Pachulia, Damian Jones (rookie) Los Angeles Clippers PG: Chris Paul SG: JJ Redick SF: Luc Richard Mbah a Moute PF: Blake Griffin C: DeAndre Jordan Los Angeles Lakers PG: D'Angelo Russell SG: Jordan Clarkson, Lou Williams SF: Luol Deng, Brandon Ingram (rookie) PF: Julius Randle C: Timofey Mozgov Phoenix Suns PG: Eric Bledsoe SG: Brandon Knight, Devin Booker SF: Jared Dudley PF: Dragan Bender (rookie), Marquese Chriss (rookie) C: Tyson Chandler Sacramento Kings PG: Darren Collison SG: Arron Afflalo SF: Rudy Gay PF: Willie Cauley-Stein, Skal Labissière (rookie) C: DeMarcus Cousins, Georgios Papagiannis (rookie) Denver Nuggets PG: Emmanuel Mudiay, Jamal Murray (rookie) SG: Will Barton, Malik Beasley (rookie) SF: Danilo Gallinari PF: Kenneth Faried, Juan Hernangomez (rookie) C: Nikola Jokic, Jusuf Nurkic Minnesota Timberwolves PG: Ricky Rubio, Kris Dunn (rookie) SG: Zach LaVine SF: Andrew Wiggins PF: Gorgui Dieng C: Karl-Anthony Towns Oklahoma City Thunder PG: Russell Westbrook SG: Victor Oladipo SF: Kyle Singler PF: Ersan Ilyasova, Domantas Sabonis (rookie) C: Steven Adams, Enes Kanter Portland Trailblazers PG: Damian Lillard SG: CJ McCollum SF: Evan Turner, Al-Farouq Aminu PF: Ed Davis C: Mason Plumlee Utah Jazz PG: George Hill, Alec Burks SG: Joe Johnson, Rodney Hood SF: Gordon Hayward, Taurean Prince (rookie) PF: Derrick Favors C: Rudy Gobert, Boris Diaw
Sorry but how are we supposed to take this seriously when you think Gordon is a PG, starter and Beasley starts over Ariza?
Official lineups aren't set yet. Just my interpretation of what it could look like. You're right though, Pat Bev could be our starting PG. As for Beasley, I'm sorry but I think Beasley is better than Ariza.
LOL the lineup will be Bev/Harden/Ariza/Anderson/Dmo or Capela. Bench will be Gordon, Beasley, Dmo or Capela and spot minutes for Chinanu and Dekker or KJ. Why is Gordon starting, he's best suited as a 6th man because he can't playmake for others and he is injury prone, maybe in the last 5 mins you pair him with Harden but making him a starter is not good for his durability. Beasley is decent at 3 or 4 but IMHO you really want him to bring the scoring punch in the 2nd unit, Ariza is too valuable because he can shoot 3s and guard the other team's best player. Capela, Dmo and Chinanu should really be earmarked for the C spot because Chinanu and Capela will likely be in foul trouble most of the time and so DMo will have to fill their spot. Also MDA likes small ball so having DMo as the center probably works out, he's the prototypical C MDA like high IQ, verstaile skillset and extremely mobile. Apart from Spurs and GSW I don't really see any team that is flat out better than the Rockets, maybe Clippers but their time is past and CP3 gets slower every day. Injuries nothwithstanding I have very high expectations for this team we should make some noise and eventually be a hard out for either GSW or Spurs in the playoffs.
DMo and Ryan Anderson starting together would be pretty terrible. Are we planning on getting any rebounds?
I feel like I may have been thinking of Eric Bledsoe when I first heard about the Eric Gordon signing.
More realistic lineup: PG: Patrick Beverley,Eric Gordon, Gary Payton II, Isaiah Taylor SG: James Harden, KJ McDaniels SF: Trevor Ariza, Michael Beasley, Sam Dekker PF: Ryan Anderson, D-Mo (if resigned), Montrezl Harrell C: Clint Capela, Chinanu Onuaku (rookie), Zhou Qi (rookie) Here's to finishing dead last in the division.
Golden State and San Antonio are clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the conference. Then it's the Clippers and a whole lot of teams with question marks after them. I think Memphis, OKC and Portland are probably slightly better on paper right now than the next group of teams, and then it's Houston, New Orleans, Dallas and the young squads like Utah and Minnesota. If the Rockets adapt to D'Antoni's system quickly and manage to stay healthy, I could feasibly see them finish as high as 3rd just because of how many questions marks there are on every other playoff caliber roster in the conference, but I think the 6-8 range seems more likely. I also think Morey has one big trade up his sleeve, and if he makes that deal, maybe Houston's roster ends up being more competitive than we think.
Both Erics have had their share of injury problems, but I would have preferred Bledsoe over Gordon. Bledsoe starting and Beverley coming off the bench would have been a pretty good PG rotation. That said, he would have gotten a lot more money and he wasn't available. It never hurts to dream
I wouldn't project them to finish last at this point. Assuming they stay relatively healthy, I think their roster is on par with New Orleans or maybe even slightly better, and I certainly think it's better than Dallas' current roster. The Pelicans will be relying on a rookie (Hield) and an oft-injured star (Davis) for a lot of production, and Dallas is going to need Barnes to play like at least a capable No. 2.
Agreed, Capela / (backup center TBD) has to get the majority of the center minutes. D-Mo and Anderson both have the same rebound rate as Matt Barnes, you can't play them together extensively and honestly compete. Fortunately, Clint is in the Bogut/KAT/Tristan Thompson/Faried tier as a rebounder already, so I think as long as he develops a little on offense he should be a reliable frontcourt partner for either one.
I actually thought Portland would have been more of a player in free agency. I'm not sure Evan Turner pushes them up a tier.
