[TRC1991Participant]

Boston Celtics

PG – Isaiah Thomas

SG – Avery Bradley

SF – Jae Crowder

PF – Amir Johnson 

C – Al Horford

2nd Team

PG – Terry Rozier

SG – Marcus Smart

SF – Jaylen Brown

PF – Kelly Olynyk

C – Tyler Zeller 

Brooklyn Nets

PG – Jeremy Lin

SG – Randy Foye

SF – Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

PF – Luis Scola

C – Brook Lopez

2nd Team

PG – Greivis Vasquez

SG – Sean Kilpatrick

SF – Bojan Bogdanovic

PF – Trevor Booker

C – Chris McCullough 

New York Knicks

PG – Derrick Rose

SG – Courtney Lee

SF – Carmelo Anthony

PF – Kristaps Porzingis

C – Joakim Noah

2nd Team

PG – Brandon Jennings

SG – Justin Holiday

SF – Lance Thomas

PF – Willy Hernangomez 

C – Kyle O’Quinn

Philadelphia 76ers

PG – Jerryd Bayless

SG – Gerald Henderson

SF – Ben Simmons

PF – Nerlens Noel

C – Jahlil Okafor

2nd Team

PG – TJ McConnell

SG – Nik Stauskas

SF – Jerami Grant / Robert Covington 

PF – Dario Saric

C – Joel Embiid 

Toronto Raptors

PG – Kyle Lowry

SG – DeMar DeRozan

SF – DeMarre Carroll

PF – Jared Sullinger

C – Jonas Valanciunas  

2nd Team

PG – Cory Joseph

SG – Norman Powell

SF – Terrence Ross

PF – Patrick Patterson

C – Jakob Poeltl

[steviechillzParticipant]

Quick takes:

– For the Celtics, I would like to see, when healthy, Olynyk put into that lineup. What you lose in defense would be made up with Horford patrolling the paint. What you gain in offense is a 5 man lineup in which all 5 players can space the floor and that is very key in Brad Stevens’s offense.

– I think Brooklyn, for both personal growth purposes and advertising purposes should start Whitehead. He epitomizes Brooklyn on and off the court and it can only help his growth by giving him major minutes over veterans like Foye and Vasquez

[Dazzling Dunks and Basketball BloopersParticipant]

 I’d like to see Brooklyn move LaVert into that starting SG or SF spot at some point this season if healthy.

[Lebron’s HairlineParticipant]

 Not gonna lie that 76ers lineup/bench is looking better and better.

[stifler101Participant]

My only major disagreement would be leaving Jonas Jerekbo off of your second stringers.  I think he’s going to play more than Jaylen Brown (at least initially)/Tyler Zeller.  My hunch would be Brown is backup SF (but not playing big minutes early on), Jerekbo is backup PF, and Olynyk is backup C, with Zeller being the 3rd Center on the depth chart

[providencefriars1Participant]

 Agree 10000%. Jerebko and Olynyk both played really well together last year

[DanielcmccartyParticipant]

 I think Nerlens will come off of the bench and they will start Embid and Okafor. But that probably won’t be until January when they can tell if Embid plays and stays healthy. On a side note, just after a quick glance, the Knicks bench looks suspect. 

[TRC1991Participant]

All of you guys bring up valid points, it really is impossible to predict until we see more of the teams come pre-season, but I could see any of those things occurring ^

 

Knicks should not have let Derrick Williams go – Miami signed him for cheap

 

 

[OhCanada-Participant]

 Wow. After all the smoke has settled that Nets team looks bad. Easily the worst team in the NBA preseason.

Boston is overrated. Something tells me it won’t click like it did last year for them.

Toronto should be a great regular season team but without Biyambo they could struggle to fight out postseason victories.

Happy for Philly, they finally have a team. Can’t wait to watch how that lineup rounds out in the frontcourt. I’m predicting Noel ends up in the doghouse since he is a RFA soonest and they would rather not drive up his price when they need to match.

 

 

 

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

Question for Knicks fans: What makes Phil Jackson love Lance Thomas so much?

I get he’s a hustle guy, and "hustle guys" who work hard to get to the league from the D-league tend to be seen as good defenders. But Lance is not lmao. And that should be his strength. His feet are pretty heavy to guard wingmen and he is a bit small to guard bigs. 

 

Also, although he has a reliable mid-range game, he does not have a 3-ball. So you can take away the 3 and D role player label off of him. Maybe it’s his good attitude that gets him a lot of playing time last season and I wont criticize that that much.

 

 

[DanielcmccartyParticipant]

 I agree. I’m a Duke fan. Love Lance Thomas. Was a great 4 year guy and great teammate. I just don’t see what he brings to an NBA team but hey, who argues with the Zen Master?

[kobyzParticipant]

 One game last season he was 9-9 from the field, you don’t do it if you not nba level player…

[D7H7NParticipant]

He’s doing the same things he did at Duke. Work hard, defend, and hustle. That dude always has a high motor even though he’s awful on offense.

[holefillers1Participant]

solid work put into this post. Im a Sixers fan so I will give you my starting five. Bayless, Henderson, Covington, Simmons, Noel

[DanielcmccartyParticipant]

 So you’d have Okafor and Embid coming off the bench and play small ball with Covington? I’m sure they will try multiple lineups but I don’t see that being the best lineup personally. I would put Saric in front of Covington if that were the lineup because he rebounds and passes better. Not to mention they both probably shoot it the same. I see Bayless, Henderson, Simmons, Noel and Okafor for sure to start the season. Because I think Bayless and Henderson can defend the opposing backcourt with Simmons defending the opposing 3 on the other team. Noel and Okafor are will start because they will be cautious with Embid. Noel can protect the rim and switch on the pick and roll fairly decent to contain. Okafor may not be great defensively but I don’t think he’s bad either. He can easily improve in his second year. Coming off the bench you’ll have Embid, Saric, Covington for sure and I’m sure Jerami Grant will get time and if Nik Stauskas ever comes around, he will get loads of opportunities to shoot. Those are the ten players the sixers will try and start winning with. 

[holefillers1Participant]

 Having Okaforband Noel on the floor at thw same time didnt work last year. Niether one is a PF and with Simmons on the floor, doing his best work in and around the paint, the offense will get all clogged up.   Surround Simmons with shooters and defenders.  Also this is the lineup to start the season not to end it.

[David..PaulsParticipant]

 Nets have Jack

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

Jack signed with the Hawks for the minimum

[kobyzParticipant]

 I think kusmniskas gonna get the most bench minutes for the knicks…

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

Can the guy ball?

[HitsterParticipant]

The Philly line up to start looks how I think they will line up opening night. If Simmons is going to be a point forward then he can almost assume to SF role by default allowing two other guys to play in the frontcourt like how Giannis does for the Bucks.

Until we see Saric, Embiid playing alongside Okafor and Noel we won’t know what he best combo of those two are, also will Saric play some of the Simmons point role two. If Embiid does live up to his hype I could see him starting over Noel sooner or later.

As regards the Nets – I’d figure Caris Levert would be in 2nd string as they reached and drafted him and he was an NCAA senior so should be fairly NBA ready.

I agree the Celtics may start Olynyk just to space the floor more although Horford hit a lot of 3’s last season.

[Mr. 19134Participant]

 I heard that Horford signed wit the Celtics so he can play PF.

 

The Nets gave Tyler Johnson alot of money to start.

 

And Sergio Rodriguez will start at PG for the Sixers and Luwawu will beat out Stauskas.

 

 

 

 

[OhCanada-Participant]

Horford will be starting with Amir Johnson. Amir and Al are both combo bugs that can switch on either PF or C. Johnson will likely gaurd the stretch bigs. Its sort of position less but the idea is to hide Horford on defense a bit. Star treatment.

Heat matched Nets offer to Tyler Johnson so he certainly won’t be starting for Brooklyn and he likely won’t mind coming off the bench for Spoelstra.

Promises are made to be broken. Productivity will decide who plays what role in Philly. Rodriguez has the green light to start but he has to earn it and maintain his position. Either way Bayless should have a big role.

 

 

 

 

 

[Mr. 19134Participant]

Yeah i didnt even realize the Heat matched on Johnson, anyways.

 

I think Sergio will start cuz hes the best pg on the team and they could use his passing in the starting lineup to set Ben up for easy opps and Brett wants to ease Ben in

 

 

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