It’s really simple for me.
Out of Bjelica, Cauley-Stein, Giles, and Bagley, who would you consider a building block? To me, that’s very easily Giles and Bagley considering their age, contract, potential, and skill set.
From there, you have to ask yourself if these two can play minutes together. If the answer is no, you’ll need to move one now/down the road. If the answer is yes, the next question is what type of 3rd big would complement these two and make for a great 3 big rotation.
I think that tandem lacks:
- Pure shooting
- Size
- Strength
To me, that 3rd big would need to have these attributes and should be someone who can be signed/had for cheap so we can save our cap on other positions (e.g., SF). These guys would seem to work:
- Kelly Olynyk
- Frank Kaminsky
- Channing Frye
- Noah Vonleh
- Brook Lopez
Vonleh is shorter than a lot of these guys (6’8” without shoes) but his vertical athleticism (31” standing vertical and 37” max vertical), strength (250 lbs and 7.3% body fat), length (7’4.25” wingspan and 9’0” standing reach), and his rebounding ability (11.7 rebounds per 36 min)
Bjelicia fills this role very well minus the ideal size/strength. Labissiere is a dark horse to fill this type of role but I’m not holding my breath. I guess what I’m saying is that we may already have the making of a very good, complementary 3 big rotation.
Bagley and Giles do make WCS expendable because he’s not the long term, ideal fit with those two. If Bagley and Giles are going to be big pieces for our future, the fit next to them matters. Cauley-Stein (while at least a productive player) isn’t the ideal fit.