[high floorParticipant]

Josh Richardson – Dion Waiters 

• I was really impressed with what Josh Richardson did in the 2nd half last season. He shot a sizzling 53% from beyond the arc, and showed good potential on defense. Dion Waiters has a lot of motivation to get paid next year, after he foolishly left all that guaranteed money on the table in OKC… so I expect him to have a better season next year & take out his frustration on the stat sheet. Richardson’s defense & efficiency wins out though. Advantage: Josh Richardson

Evan Turner – Maurice Harkless

• The Blazers as a whole are ridiculously deep. Turner just signed a mega 4 year deal this offseason, but I think Harkless has a chance to win the job if he improves his 3pt shot this offseason. He’s only 22 years old, and averaged 12pts, 6.5rebs, 1blk, 1stl, 1.2threes after the All Star Break. Also Lillard & McCollum are very ball-dominant with high usage rates.. so having Turner anchor the 2nd unit as a primary ball handler could be Portland’s best play. Still, I think the job is Turners to lose since he was a starter on a young, successful Boston team last year. Advantage: Evan Turner  

Nikola Vucevic – Bismack Biyombo

• To say Orlando’s offseason was controversial is an understatement. Orlando’s first move to trade Oladipo for Serge Ibaka seemed like a move to compensate Nik Vucevic’s defensive shortcomings.. thus securing Vucevic’s role in the starting 5. But then Orlando surprised everyone & signed Bismack Biyombo to a massive 4yr, 72mm contract. Everyone & their mother knows coach Vogel loves defense. Safe money has Vucevic opening the season as the starter, especially since their starting lineup will likely be starved for scoring initially with Aaron Gordon at the 3, and Elfrid Payton at the 1. But a potential trade is likely after 25-30 games if the metrics indicate that Biyombo can co-exist with the other starters to form a sure-fire top 5 defense. As a starter Biyombo averaged a very respectable 8pts, 12rebs, 2blks last year. Advantage: Nik Vucevic

Nikola Jokic – Jusuf Nurkic

• Jokic was awesome last year, earning all rookie 1st team honors while flashing tremendous upside on offense. Nurkic also has intriguing potential on offense, but his shot selection needs serious work as evidence of his 41% FG.. messy for a front court player that doesn’t shoot 3’s. His defense is where he differentiates himself in this position battle, as he could serve as an intimdating.. shot blocking anchor for the Nuggets… but he’s gotta stay healthy though too since he missed 50 games last year. Jokic could be special & he needs minutes. Advantage: Nikola Jokic 

 

[Jr. ROXASParticipant]

Let me add some to this thread: 

Otto Porter vs Kelly Oubre: If Porter continues to have stretches wherein he dissapears after playing 2-3 good games I think Oubre has a decent chance to crack the starting lineup midway next season. 

Advantage: Porter, but a slim one

 

Delly vs MCW: Even my mom knows MCW isn’t a good fit for the Bucks starting lineup. It showed second half of last season when Bayless played off-guard to Giannis and the offense looked more fluid. Delly knows his role which is to play D and spot up, and he plays that role well.

Advantage: Delly

 

Stanley Johnson vs Tobias Harris: Stanley proved he can be a real weapon for the Pistons last season. He can play off the ball as well as handle it, which Stan Van made him do a lot. Also, he and KCP can wreak havoc on defenses when paired together. Meanwhile, Tobias is tailor-made to be a 6th man instant offense player.

Advantage: Stanley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[raybeasParticipant]

Can the Pacers afford to let Ellis and Teague both start and give up size to one or both perimeter spots, or split their minutes and let Miles start and try to guard the 2 or 3 PG13 doesn’t guard.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

Starting Miles at the two would be smart for several reasons, spacing being the biggest reason, but let’s see if McMillian has the balls to bring Monta off of the bench and risk him becoming disgruntled lol. 

Speaking of Monta, I ran into him towards the end of last season and again during the summer (our kids play in the same basketball league) and man… He gained a lot of weight. He looked pudgy/out of shape. I know he doesn’t work out much over the summers, but with his knees, you’d think he at least keep weight off.

 

[festar35Participant]

GRIII appears to have put a lot of work in this summer and I think he could be a dark-horse candidate for the the 2-guard spot.
I think/hope Miles should be the starting 2-guard and Monta would be an absolute beast of a weapon off the bench and be a legit 6th man candidate who could run an awesome 2-man game with Al Jefferson.

I would prefer a 4-wing rotation of George & Miles, backed up by Robinson & Ellis, Stuckey is looking expendable.

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

If Robinson III comes into camp with the right confidence and aggressiveness, it’ll be hard for McMillian to keep him off of the floor. He’s a better athlete and defender than both Ellis and Miles, and he could be close to the shooter Miles is with more confidence. 

I think Ellis would be better as a reserve, but he has a high ego and has been rumored to become disgruntled over things on previous teams. If McMillian does decide to bring him off of the bench, hopefully he buys in because he has a leadership voice on the team.

I’m interested to see what happens. I don’t think think Bird is done making moves. They have too many small guards who need the ball and aren’t great shooters. I agree with you that Stuckey looks expendable. 

Another position battle I’d like to see is at the backup power forward spot. I’d like to see Niang take Allen’s minutes. 

 

[omphalosParticipant]

 Ellis is another guy that owes his contract to Rick Carlisle. Ellis and Mayo were both at crossroads, nobody was sure they could be useful on a good team and Carlisle got them playing productively by micro-managing their decision-making, until they leave Dallas and crash down to earth again.

If they are a guy with talent, but questionable decision-making, then Dallas will set them straight.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Lance Stephenson or Tyreke Evans have a revival in Dallas when Deron Williams moves on.

 

[theEDGEParticipant]

 The Heat one is settled.

Richardson tore his MCL.

Too bad for the Heat, because I heard that he was playing well late in the season.

[omphalosParticipant]

There’s got to be a few in Boston.

Marcus Smart vs Avery Bradley for starting 2-guard.

Bradley has experience, plays better off the ball through cuts and his respectable shooting, plus is a better overall defender right now. But Smart is younger, bigger and they invested more in him. If he can’t win a starting spot by the end of the season then I expect he’ll find his way out of Boston because Ainge will trade him while he still has value.

Crowder, Thomas and Horford have the other spots on lock, is Olynyk finally going to get the starting position or will they continue to bring him off the bench in favour of Amir Johnson or Jerebko (if they haven’t quite moved on).

With Evan Turner gone who is Jaylen Brown fighting for back-up SF minutes?

Man I’ve really lost track of my team!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jmarg25Participant]

I would say Biyombo vs Vucevic isn’t even a question. Vucevic is really the only guy on that team who can score well on his own, and while Biyombo impressed as a starter in the playoffs, he has no chance of starting over Vucevic.

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