12-05-2024, 01:44 PM
(12-05-2024, 10:53 AM)Smitty Wrote: And that is the perfect role for Maxi. 3rd Center that plays with injuries to the top 2 or when Kidd goes to a 5-out lineup. And backup 4 when Naji is out. In this case he filled both roles with Lively and Naji out, which is why he played 27 minutes. I'll be interested to see what it looks like with the top 10 healthy.
It's fairly simple. The C/F depth chart (and rotation) looks like this and Kidd is quite consistent in playing it this way when everyone is healthy:
C - Lively, Gafford
PF - PJW, Maxi
SF - Klay, Naji
As for Kidd using Maxi at C with PJW, I think that's way more likely when Lively or Gafford are injured.
As the backup 4, Maxi only gets minutes when PJW is out, and PJW plays a lot (averaging 33, but lately in the 35-40 range), which leaves 8-13 for Maxi at PF if everyone is healthy. Unfortunately, "when everyone is healthy" hasn't been very common, and then lots more position flex has to be used. But as long as Maxi and PJW are healthy, we aren't seeing Naji at the 4, because Kidd thinks that makes them too small (making them poor on defense and rebounding).