When Davis Stars Playing How Will the Minutes Between the #4 and #5 Be Allocated?

[Pureraptors]

Davis

Although I am jacked to see Davis make his Raptors debut, He IS a rookie and Triano is smarter then to just hand him alot of minutes right away....But a 4 man front rotation of Bargs, Evans, Amir, and Davis ain't bad. It is hard for me to think that Evans can keep this pace up though

but there are only 96 minutes available so I could see it like this when ED gets back

Bargs 33
Evans 28ish
Amir 23ish (foul pending)
Davis 12ish

Rookies need to earn there minutes and it's not like hes coming back fresh this need injury has taken awhile to heal

[JoePanini]

It's not looking good for Reggie. Maybe he knows it, thus he has been playing a lot better. Not only rebounding.

[mcHAPPY]

Can you provide the link to the article on those calls.

I don't remember reading that BC actually called inquiring.

What I do know is this.

The writers and bloggers who cover the Kings have this habit of creating rumors based upon their personal wishlist trade, where in fact nothing is going on. In the meantime these rumors make the national sports wire and go from there. In this case whatever rumor there was has apparently died out at least for now.

My guess is that what happened here is that a Kings writer/blogger started the talk of moving Thompson since Dalembert was starting at center and with the drafting of Cousins Thompson saw his minutes drop.

I really don't think that there is anything to it at this point.

However if you can provide the "phone call link" to the article(s), I might think a little differently about the possibility of Thompson being traded to Toronto after reading the article.

Can't find it after a quick google. Pretty sure there were a couple of HoopsHype.com or HoopsWorld.com references with all the teams needing size inquiring: PHX, CHA, TOR, and IND.

There is no doubt SAC are shopping Thompson. There are too many articles for there to be no truth to it. However, as for him going to TOR, that is most definitely speculation based on a couple of 'writers' rumors.

[Buddahfan]

Where the rumour started was in an article about him where PHX, TOR, and a couple of other teams inquired when SAC started making phone calls.

It is obvious the guy has talent and it is obvious SAC has other talent they are placing ahead of him this year despite his play the last two seasons.

Anything about him coming here is speculation - of course. That is why I'm typing about it on a Raptors blog.

Anyways, I asked your opinion and you give it - thanks.

Can you provide the link to the article on those calls.

I don't remember reading that BC actually called inquiring.

What I do know is this.

The writers and bloggers who cover the Kings have this habit of creating rumors based upon their personal wishlist trade, where in fact nothing is going on. In the meantime these rumors make the national sports wire and go from there. In this case whatever rumor there was has apparently died out at least for now.

My guess is that what happened here is that a Kings writer/blogger started the talk of moving Thompson since Dalembert was starting at center and with the drafting of Cousins Thompson saw his minutes drop.

I really don't think that there is anything to it at this point.

However if you can provide the "phone call link" to the article(s), I might think a little differently about the possibility of Thompson being traded to Toronto after reading the article.

[mcHAPPY]

It depends how well Johnson and Davis can play together.

In addition I don't think that this Thompson rumor of being traded and specifically to the Raptors has ever gathered legs.

I think it is more of a wishlist trade by some on this forum.

Where the rumour started was in an article about him where PHX, TOR, and a couple of other teams inquired when SAC started making phone calls.

It is obvious the guy has talent and it is obvious SAC has other talent they are placing ahead of him this year despite his play the last two seasons.

Anything about him coming here is speculation - of course. That is why I'm typing about it on a Raptors blog.

Anyways, I asked your opinion and you give it - thanks.

[Joey]

Unless Davis rebounds at a TORRID pace, I can't see Evans losing out on that many minutes. Dudes keeping near the top in rebounding by him self.

[Buddahfan]

Very true.

But the idea of Thompson, given there is Weems, Kleiza, DD, Barbosa, and now Peja available to play the wings minutes for Wright may become even more scarce.

Would you trade Wright straight up for Thompson?

It depends how well Johnson and Davis can play together.

In addition I don't think that this Thompson rumor of being traded and specifically to the Raptors has ever gathered legs.

I think it is more of a wishlist trade by some on this forum.

[mcHAPPY]

Very true.

But the idea of Thompson, given there is Weems, Kleiza, DD, Barbosa, and now Peja available to play the wings minutes for Wright may become even more scarce.

Would you trade Wright straight up for Thompson?

[Buddahfan]

Good question. It will be interesting to see how it pans out. Personally I don't think Evans makes it to the All-Star game and if he does, I don't think he makes it past the trade deadline. We'll see, of course.

The C position is a big concern - especially considering Bargnani is really the only C left on the roster besides Alabi who is not ready to play meaningful minutes.

It appears SAC has been looking for a PG with Thompson and I doubt it happens. There are not alot of young PG's out there who are available it would appear. What about this idea to shore up the Raps at C:

J. Wright for Thompson?

SAC are extremely weak for depth on the wings with only Garcia, A. Wright, and Greene backing up Evans and Casspi (although Westphal appears to be playing every possible combination of starting line ups again this year).

It depends how well Johnson and Davis play together as to whether BC will look for a bigger body, than what is currently available on the Raptors roster to play behind Bargnani. If Johnson and Davis can play well together no need to get a bigger body to back up Bargnani.

With Johnson and Davis together Triano can go zone. Johnson can also guard a number of the centers in league. He has guarded players like Brook Lopez and Glenn Davis, who weighs 285 with some degree of success. Remember, most teams do not have a powerhouse low post scorer as their backup center.

[mcHAPPY]

Good question. It will be interesting to see how it pans out. Personally I don't think Evans makes it to the All-Star game and if he does, I don't think he makes it past the trade deadline. We'll see, of course.

The C position is a big concern - especially considering Bargnani is really the only C left on the roster besides Alabi who is not ready to play meaningful minutes.

It appears SAC has been looking for a PG with Thompson and I doubt it happens. There are not alot of young PG's out there who are available it would appear. What about this idea to shore up the Raps at C:

J. Wright for Thompson?

SAC are extremely weak for depth on the wings with only Garcia, A. Wright, and Greene backing up Evans and Casspi (although Westphal appears to be playing every possible combination of starting line ups again this year).

[Buddahfan]

Here are the MPG season to date

Bargnani----35
Evans-------27
Johnson-----20----He has been averaging 23 mpg over the last 10.
Andersen----14

It adds to more than 96 total minutes because some players have DNPs and Kleiza has played a bit at the #4. Keeping in mind that Triano has said that with the departure of Andersen he will play Kleiza more mpg at the #4 than he has been doing.

Also who will guard opposing centers when Bargnani is not on the court? In the last game with Andersen gone Johnson and Evans played together with Johnson I believe defending against the the center position. So who will guard the opponents center when Davis gets up to speed and he and Johnson are on the court together?

By the all-star break this is my guess on how the minutes will break down

Center
---------
Bargnani----35
Johnson----13

PF
------------
Davis-------20
Johnson----12
Evans-------9
Kleiza-------7

Totals For Each Player
----------------------
Bargnani-----35
Johnson-----25 ----He has been averaging 23 mpg over the last 10.
Davis--------20
Evans--------9
Kleiza--------7
--------------------
Total--------96
================

If Davis can work his way up to 30 mpg then I see something like this


Totals For Each Player
----------------------
Bargnani-----35
Davis--------30
Johnson-----25
Kleiza--------6
--------------------
Total--------96
================