The Rotation

[WJF]

I was not sure where do discuss what I wanted to bring up, feel free to move if there is a better place.

I am happy with our 2-0 start, giys are playing well and seem to embrace their roles. I do have one big concern though.

Maybe as the games get tighter and minutes for Lowry and DeMar increase the problem will fix itself, but as of right now I feel we need another shooting guard on the roster.

The Fred VV and Delon back-court has has looked OK, but I think that VV needs to be replaced with a legit 2 guard. He has not been able to finish so far in the regualr season (18% shooting) and given his poor percentage totals for last year this is not a good sign.

Now this could happen with our current roster and some tweeking of the second unit. Slide CJ Miles to the 2 and move OG to the wing. This will allow Siakam to get some run at the 4 spot with the second unit.

The other solution would be a roster move. A guy like Jordan Crawford would be worth a look. He took a couple years off from the NBA and lit up the Chinese league. His time away from the NBA may have maured him and will allow him to be the player that could push the second unit just a lit bit further in tearms of quality. It does not look good that the Pelkicans waived him, but it was not due to lack of production. They needed a point guard and his contract was the one that could be cut to make ot happen.

Any other names out there that could fit? Am I wrong in my thinking? Should I take out 2 wins and relax?

[white men can't jump]

Fred should not be getting regular rotation minutes. He's a 3rd string PG and just doesn't have the offensive tools to be consistently effective in a more prominent role. He's a solid 3rd stringer in that he plays hard, plays D and mostly plays within himself on O, but we could easily cut him out of the rotation completely and be better off, it would just mean more minutes for Lowry, DeMar and Delon.

Realistically, it's not likely we'll be going 10-deep every night. Miles, OG, Wright and Poeltl take us to 9-deep and that's a solid rotation. If we added another SG I don't think that changes much. If anything we need another wing who can play some SF as insurance, since only Miles and OG have decent enough size there. Right now it's still early in the season and hopefully Casey is just feeling out his options and trying not to overuse Lowry and DeMar. I'm ok throwing Fred in every now and then for 5-10 minutes to help do this, but hopefully we won't see it too much against top level teams and yeah, hopefully not every game.

I don't think Crawford is the answer. The 28 year old journeyman who regularly gets cut/traded even in places where he produces half-decently is probably not going to be a major factor, and we don't really need someone who would be a major factor. Clearly something just ain't right with Crawford if he can't stick anywhere, because he doesn't lack raw talent.

I think Fred is set as the 3rd PG. We don't particularly need another ballhandler. We have him, Lowry, Delon, DeMar, and even Powell can handle it a little bit.

And I don't really see a guy who should be in the rotation that's available on the market. I see re-treads like Gerald Henderson, Randy Foye, Rodney Stuckey, etc. Even if we picked up any such guy I'd hope they'd just be injury insurance to step up if one of the main guys goes down. And frankly a lot of these guys are guys who've always had question marks and never really lived up to their potential. I would almost rather go the older veteran route and get a forward or guard/forward who can be insurance at the wing. Jefferson would have been an ok addition, but he went to Denver. Too bad James Jones took a front office job because he'd be another guy like that who'd probably buy into his role and be a positive for the team (and he was a legit shooter).

But yeah, guys like Henderson, Stuckey, Foye, Monta Ellis, Gerald Green, Matt Barnes, Alan Anderson....they don't really appeal. And with some, like Barnes or Anderson, there's the risk that Casey will go full "vets are vets who vet like vets" and bench OG too much for one of them. And I don't want to see any of those guards play...they are actual chuckers who usually are negatives for their teams.

Maybe someone who makes sense will be available later in the year, be it in free agency or in the trade market. I think for now we just keep rolling with what we have.

[TrueTorontoFan]

I was not sure where do discuss what I wanted to bring up, feel free to move if there is a better place.

I am happy with our 2-0 start, giys are playing well and seem to embrace their roles. I do have one big concern though.

Maybe as the games get tighter and minutes for Lowry and DeMar increase the problem will fix itself, but as of right now I feel we need another shooting guard on the roster.

The Fred VV and Delon back-court has has looked OK, but I think that VV needs to be replaced with a legit 2 guard. He has not been able to finish so far in the regualr season (18% shooting) and given his poor percentage totals for last year this is not a good sign.

Now this could happen with our current roster and some tweeking of the second unit. Slide CJ Miles to the 2 and move OG to the wing. This will allow Siakam to get some run at the 4 spot with the second unit.

The other solution would be a roster move. A guy like Jordan Crawford would be worth a look. He took a couple years off from the NBA and lit up the Chinese league. His time away from the NBA may have maured him and will allow him to be the player that could push the second unit just a lit bit further in tearms of quality. It does not look good that the Pelkicans waived him, but it was not due to lack of production. They needed a point guard and his contract was the one that could be cut to make ot happen.

Any other names out there that could fit? Am I wrong in my thinking? Should I take out 2 wins and relax?

I think you are right. We do need some guy... like a lou will or eric gordon type who can just go off .... CJ miles is good but we need one more...

[white men can't jump]

I think you are right. We do need some guy... like a lou will or eric gordon type who can just go off .... CJ miles is good but we need one more...

There's no real minutes for such guys and the guys on the free agent market who fit that kind of type are mostly chucking combo guards, and fit exactly the kind of culture we're trying get away from.

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[charlesnba23]

Another thing I see now, is that JV's doing great, but Poeltl could potentially start, and Nogueira could be our backup, even more given that they seem to like to play OG at the 4, so in this case Ibaka could see some minutes at the 5. Maybe they could trade JV in a one for one trade for Eric Bledsoe. He would essentially give the Raps what they want from FVV, but just better...

*Just remembered that Knight will probably miss the whole season... I don't know if the trade could work anyway... Maybe if we throw in Van Vleet...

[SkywalkerAC]

Our bench is running people off the court right now. Casey doesn’t need to be running 2-point guard lineups, he’s choosing to. And it’s working.

So I’d say relax.

[SkywalkerAC]

Seriously, the bench is looking incredible so far.

[Chr1s1anL]

If it ain't broke don't fix it. It's really helps having a secondary ball handler. He has created a lot of open shots for others.

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[WJF]

Our bench is running people off the court right now. Casey doesn’t need to be running 2-point guard lineups, he’s choosing to. And it’s working.

So I’d say relax.

The lineup is working. Fred VV has just not looked good, I think we can improve that lineup even more with a bigger guard.

[white men can't jump]

The lineup is working. Fred VV has just not looked good, I think we can improve that lineup even more with a bigger guard.

Wright is the bigger guard. We don't need to get our 3rd PG on the court, and if we lack depth/insurance anywhere it's having a big wing/forward behind Miles and OG. Our big tweeners right now are OG, Bruno and McKinnie....thank goodness OG is playing well otherwise we'd have problems. And I don't see any great options on the market, let alone one who can add some better offence than FVV offers.

How many backcourt players does a team need? Considering Powell is a natural SG, we have enough talent there. Anyone we add would not get more minutes than FVV hopefully, since that would mean taking minutes away from Lowry, Demar, Wright and Powell.

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[S.R.]

If you decide more guard scoring is needed with the bench, you stagger the rotation and have Lowry or DeRozan out there with them. That would be a more traditional approach anyway.

[TrueTorontoFan]

There's no real minutes for such guys and the guys on the free agent market who fit that kind of type are mostly chucking combo guards, and fit exactly the kind of culture we're trying get away from.

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gppd point. What about another guy in the mold of a ray allen or a shane battier... Like basically I think we have the guys they just haven't finished developing and everyone is getting impatient. Any single player we bring may take away minutes from players we want to develop.

[TrueTorontoFan]

Wright is the bigger guard. We don't need to get our 3rd PG on the court, and if we lack depth/insurance anywhere it's having a big wing/forward behind Miles and OG. Our big tweeners right now are OG, Bruno and McKinnie....thank goodness OG is playing well otherwise we'd have problems. And I don't see any great options on the market, let alone one who can add some better offence than FVV offers.

How many backcourt players does a team need? Considering Powell is a natural SG, we have enough talent there. Anyone we add would not get more minutes than FVV hopefully, since that would mean taking minutes away from Lowry, Demar, Wright and Powell.

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Realistically if we could some how get Boogie cousins without taking away our core of Ibaka, Lowry, or Demar.... and if we could keep OG.. I think that would be perfect. Like trading JV and Powell for Cousins would be awesome.

[white men can't jump]

Realistically if we could some how get Boogie cousins without taking away our core of Ibaka, Lowry, or Demar.... and if we could keep OG.. I think that would be perfect. Like trading JV and Powell for Cousins would be awesome.

Not for Cousins though. Guy just isn't worth it. Career loser and giant baby.

Now if NOP falls apart and Davis becomes available, then you call and see what it takes to get him, but you'll still need a solid 7-8 man rotation minimum going into the playoffs.

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[SkywalkerAC]

The lineup is working. Fred VV has just not looked good, I think we can improve that lineup even more with a bigger guard.

Against good teams that guard will be Lowry, or DeMar. But size isn’t everything, FVv’s speed and shoot is going to come in very handy this season.