'25 Playoff Rotation Predictions: A Collaborative Deep Dive

[F Gump]

Seeing how many times AD brought the ball up last night and the ball ran through him above the break, and knowing they likely haven't had the chance to customize their offense around the new roster yet, even in the simplest terms, I think something became clear:

They were playing Luka as the 4. He was playing PG on offense, obviously, but when those sets were drawn up, his number was the 4. AD literally slotted into that same position, and was basically performing Luka's role in the offense at times last night, at least in terms of court positioning and spacing, so that the others could do the off-ball movements they've been practicing all season.

How this plays out in the future, I don't know, but I found that to be quite interesting.

 I think you have something here, but it's also not quite right.

It's true that AD yesterday had the ball a lot. So as a result he was Luka-like in those possessions in being able to do things with the ball. We're not used to another player having such freedom.

But Luka played the 1. What he did and where he played was not the 4. He brought the ball up the floor, dominated the ball, decided who might get a pass, etc. Labeling him as playing the 4 is just not accurate and makes no sense.

It's hard to know if anything yesterday was by a new design, or just happened to happen in this game. It's a sample size of 1, so it's beyond premature to say we are seeing a permanent trend. 

BUT - I saw 2 things I hope are going to be the new normal:
1 To me it was noteworthy that the PG did not have to possess the ball on every possession. Rather than the rebounder passing every time to Luka to walk it up the floor, there were lots of rebounds that brought immediate passes upcourt that pushed the pace.
2 It was refreshing to see the offense be so varied. It came from all directions, not just one player.  Because everything didn't go through Luka, the ball moved, and the offense was unpredictable.

SIDE POINT - if the offense now no longer HAS TO run through the PG every possession, it changes the importance of the PG, and lessens the negative impact if that position as seen as a bit of a weak spot. That's worth keeping in mind.