Preseason Expectation Thread

[DanSchwartzgan]

number 3 is who will play and be successful next to KP...

This one fascinates me.  If you go back to early in the 19/20 season when we had that historically efficient offense, Powell was starting and KP was brought along slowly in terms of his offensive role.  There was a narrative that Powell was holding KP back.  My belief was KP wasn't totally ready and once he became ready the O was so dominant it was hard to justify pivoting toward more KP.  The prevailing starting lineup for games 4-43 that season was Luka, THJ, DFS, KP and Powell.

Then Powell got hurt.  For the next six weeks or so (February and the part of March before the league shut down), KP was dominant.  He was 25.2/10.6 and a +16.1 in nine games in February and 23.2/11.2 and +15.8 in five games in March.  It was arguably the best stretch of his career.

Kidd's challenge is dialing up the right combo of Peak KP and screen setting savant Powell when both are on the floor together.  Luka and DFS have both improved since that early 2020 period and I think the O has a chance to be unbelievably good.  I'll also be very curious to see if Kidd will be willing to run Brunson/Brown/Bullock/Maxi/WCS out there as a stand alone unit or if we will continue to get Luka +2 starters and KP +3 starters as the main way they soak up minutes when the starters aren't in the game.  I doubt pre-season will tell us the answer.  I've often bemoaned the fact that I thought we could really use one more guy who was rotation worthy.  I think Sterling will end up being that guy unless Green or FBN (B stands for Brian apparently) takes a giant leap forward.