07-15-2024, 01:44 PM
(07-15-2024, 12:58 PM)Arioch Wrote: Not sure there's really any conflict between this and mvossman post you are replying to. Last year, building for the post season included figuring out his rotation from #3 on--and then throwing that out and starting again after the trade deadline. This year, it will mean figuring out the rotation from #7 on (whether Gafford or Lively starts, I presume we'll see the same platooning at the center position we saw throughout the playoff run), and letting your starters get in as many reps together as you can.
The latter should (barring significant time lost to injuries as everybody else is caveating) lead to significantly more regular season wins than last year, even without Kidd changing his fundamental philosophy.
It will be a similar platooning of Lively and Gafford, except that Lively will start (already announced) and finish and probably get more minutes than he did last season. It makes a ton of sense, as we will want to put as much defense around Luka/Kyrie/Klay as we can, and Gafford can provide an offense boost against second units when one (or two) of the big three are not in.