I started trying to take a shot at this but couldn't even convince myself that I was doing a good job defending Smart's rotations with regards to the bigs.
Starting three guards I can see the justification even if I don't agree with it. IT created a tempo Smart wanted and increased the ball movement dramatically. And if you're going to start IT ideally you pair Tyreke with him in the backcourt and bring MT off the bench, but when you have no credible options at SF you might as well take your lumps and go with talent over fit. Again, I don't agree but I can make the argument.
With Cousins and JT it's harder to see. The Kings had few options for a third big. An undersized, offensively challenged and often injured Hayes, an inexperienced and lost looking Whiteside (who was in the NBDL for stretches anyway), a hugely inconsistent Hickson or throwing a SF like Outlaw or Greene in as a small ball, "stretch 4".
Without solid bench bigs you hold your nose and play a guy because you have to whether it's Hayes or Hickson. But WHY play both of them? Why not rest DMC and let JT slide to center and then rest JT when Cousins reenters? If a small ball lineup with Hickson/Hayes or one of them paired with Donte or Outlaw changed the pace of the game and put up points I could even understand. But it didn't. It just made the team weaker.
