06-28-2022, 09:02 AM
(06-28-2022, 08:14 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: Agree. I think Payton and THJ would be the guards off the bench alongside Dinwiddie with Reddish and a big if Reddish is part of the incoming. If the big is Maxi, you still have two premium defenders in that unit between Maxi and Payton and plenty of offense between SD/THJ and Reddish.
That leaves Wood/DFS/Bullock and Luka as obvious starters with the fifth starter less obvious. I struggle to see Wood (as a 5) in the same starting lineup as THJ from a defensive standpoint. I'm still not convinced that we won't start a big next to the obvious four starters (at least during the regular season). That big could be any of Maxi, Powell or Noel if we assume Noel is also part of a Brunson deal.
For a team that currently has a minutes crunch at the 3, I find it unlikely they exacerbate it going with 2 bigs in regular season. I also think you would not want to pair somebody like Powell or Noel with Wood as that would remove a large portion of his offensive game. That means you would be starting Maxi, currently leaving Powell as your lone big left off the bench. If they really wan to go two bigs, they would need to acquire another Maxi like player and send out some of the logjam at the 3.
It's hard to know what Kidd prefers on this. It seems clear that they were playing two bigs to start the season in order to "protect" KP and respect Powell. After the KP trade they had no choice to go single big. I really hope they don't start Powell. Its hard to see how Powell presence on the court would not have a negative impact a Luka/Wood P&R.