The change to the team defense when Ellis was inserted as a starter can't be ignored. Whether that is sustainable at that same level or not I don't know, but I think you have to start with that lineup.
Not only that, the bench is still light on scoring outside of Monk. Huerter could pick up some slack, but that's assuming he's even still on the team on opening night. Last year when Monk had a bad night the bench as a whole struggled mightily. Hopefully Lyles does a bit more next season, but I don't think we can count on that night after night.
I think your ending lineup is Fox/Monk/DeRozan/Murray/Sabonis, but I think Ellis absolutely earned a starting role to begin next season.
I don't think Brown is going to be doing hockey shift changes so I'm sure Monk will be out there with Fox, DDR or Sabonis at all times.
Well so far all the results indicate that four of the five starters are obvious. The only question is at SG.
My vote was for Huerter. With Carter on the shelf indefinitely, there's less of a concern of imbalancing the defensive players, so moving Ellis to the bench is less problematic. Monk stays the Super-6th. Huerter, if he's still around, gets a bone thrown to him, since he won't be in the closing lineup.
The change to the team defense when Ellis was inserted as a starter can't be ignored. Whether that is sustainable at that same level or not I don't know, but I think you have to start with that lineup.
Not only that, the bench is still light on scoring outside of Monk. Huerter could pick up some slack, but that's assuming he's even still on the team on opening night. Last year when Monk had a bad night the bench as a whole struggled mightily. Hopefully Lyles does a bit more next season, but I don't think we can count on that night after night.
I think your ending lineup is Fox/Monk/DeRozan/Murray/Sabonis, but I think Ellis absolutely earned a starting role to begin next season.
How about seeing who's knocking down 3's before making a decision. If it's first year King Huerter yes he starts. If it's last year Huerter it's Ellis.
But the question specifically asks about opening day/night starting 5, not "who's knocking down 3's before making a decision" starting 5.How about seeing who's knocking down 3's before making a decision. If it's first year King Huerter yes he starts. If it's last year Huerter it's Ellis.
Ah, perhaps I should've scrolled down a bit before making my previous comment...Well, the question specifically asks for the Opening Day starting lineup. I wouldn't be wedded to that all year.
Murray as bench player and there will be a lot more fans who will join my “Hate MB club” , but form what I saw that is almost impossible, he is like a son to the coach …I think the lineup will be Fox/Monk/Derozan/Kuzma/Sabonis
Carter/Keon/Colby/Mclaughlin sometimes/Murray/Lyles/Len/Someone else off your bench
I would go with Fox, Huerter, DDR, Keegan, and Domas. I also think that’s what it will be if Huerter isn’t dealt between now and then..or Keon lights training camp on fire offensively.
The space Huerter creates on DHO is why as long as he’s healthy, Brown will almost always go to him. Regardless of his defense or how well he’s shooting. He still draws that attention and creates space for Domas. Even if he’s bricking them teams don’t sag off him. So he’ll start and it’s looking a lot like he’ll be here. Probably due for a bounce back.
Keon will play a lot though. With the injury to Carter and Davion gone..he’ll probably play the same amount of minutes he would as a starter
Keon does make a more sense as a 2/3 flex defender over Huerter, probably, as well.
Idk, Keon was so damn good to close last season and was an elite shooter on top of it. He's also shown a lot of really nice secondary type creation skills. Him starting does matter because him getting the first rotation in the first and 3rd quarter vs the other teams best guard is actually important in the game. That's 12-14 more minutes of Keon defending the guys you want him to defend.
Depending on match ups and score, Brown will have a decision between closing with Keon or Monk. An impact defender is obviously just as important at the end of games.
Keon with the regulars, but I think there might be benefits to starting Huerter since that would give Domas another option in DHO. I'm sure camp will decide but I believe Huerter will be getting that first crack for sure.
But the question specifically asks about opening day/night starting 5, not "who's knocking down 3's before making a decision" starting 5.
Do Huerter's possible benefits outweigh Keon's more reliable strengths?
I wouldn't put so much weight on preseason performance, and expect the same heading into the regular season. Most of the time, a player's preseason performance doesn't carry over into the regular season.There is this thing called pre season.
There is this thing called pre season.
Yes, but it's like 3-5 games with the top players not playing full minutes. I'm not in favor of taking a guy who has started over 96% of the games he has played for our team and pushing him out of the starting lineup to begin the next season in favor of a guy who has a half-season worth of minutes played in the NBA based on preseason. If you want to burn a bridge, that's how to do it. If Keon is going to take the starting spot from Huerter, he should grab it and wrest it away based on his play during the regular season, in direct competition with a healthy Huerter. If he wins it "fair and square" then he wins it. If you just hand it to Keon, you'll get a disgruntled Huerter who now has a dysfunctional relationship with management and has to be traded but in the meantime tanks his trade value by not playing hard. If Keon *takes* it, Huerter might understand. If it's handed to Keon, you've burned Huerter completely. May as well trade him now. (Not saying we aren't looking at that, BTW. But handing the starting spot to Keon to open the season is like lighting money on fire.)
Do Huerter's possible benefits outweigh Keon's more reliable strengths?
That change in defense also coincided with the NBA allowing more defensive physicality which makes sense given Mike Brown’s philosophy. It seemed like the change was beneficial to the league, let’s hope that wasn’t just an experiment.