Summer League Game 1: 7pm CST on ESPN

[Smitty]

For a lot of the same reasons we talked about last season. Gafford gets a bump with the starters, whereas Lively gives a boost to the second unit. Gafford also played really well when Lively was out, and just got a nice extension. With Lively coming off a big injury-riddled season, it could make sense to monitor/limit his minutes a little easier off the bench. I can see Kidd starting with the Vet game 1.

Again, it doesn’t matter to me who starts. I only care who finishes. And if I had it my way, neither Gafford or Lively would close as the C. The best one on the roster would.

I think the Center rotation is pretty straightforward. When all 3 of AD, Gafford, and Lively are healthy (less than 30 games most likely) then Gafford will play 20-22 min, Lively 18-20 min, and AD ~8 min (closing the last 4-5 min 90% of the time). 

When one of them is out, their minutes will get bumped up accordingly.