Lineups when Smart returns?

[GreenCoffeeBean]

According to the eye test, against all but the smallest teams I think the starting lineup of Kemba, Brown, Tatum, Theis, Thompson is the right lineup.

[knuckleballer]

How about Kemba, Brown, Tatum, Barnes, and Theis?   

[BE-Celtic]

I think it would not be that bad of an idea to have Theis coming of the bench and TT in the starting five.

Would spread the scoring better imo.

Not sure it would be the best solution, but I would be curious to see how it turns out.

[gouki88]

Kemba - Brown - Tatum - Theis - Williams

Williams is a better passer and provides way more vertical spacing on offence than Thompson. He's also a nasty defender. Would like to see him get more run. Kemba over his last 5 is averaging 20/4/4 on 44/51/95 splits (is 40/50/90 a thing?), so I think he stays starting. Brown and Tatum are obvious, and Theis, despite his shot not falling from deep over his last 5, has been playing well.

I think the defence of Theis and Timelord would be really solid.

Smart first off the bench, Pritchard second, Thompson third. That's a handy 8 man rotation with Ojeleye, Nesmith and Langford (?) to follow

[Silas]

How about Kemba, Brown, Tatum, Barnes, and Theis?   

Agree!

[Tr1boy]

Bring Smart off the bench

TT and Theis look better and better

Plus Tatum and Brown dont have to deal with PFs like Collins

[Neurotic Guy]

Bring Smart off the bench

TT and Theis look better and better

Plus Tatum and Brown dont have to deal with PFs like Collins

Scal said last night that Theis is a very good basketball player.  And that sums it up for me.  Theis is a good solid player.  He gets called for too many fouls (fair or not), but I always feel comfortable with him handling the ball, shooting, passing. And he makes some pretty outstanding defensive plays as well.  Good guy to have in the rotation.

[Silas]

Bring Smart off the bench

TT and Theis look better and better

Plus Tatum and Brown dont have to deal with PFs like Collins

Scal said last night that Theis is a very good basketball player.  And that sums it up for me.  Theis is a good solid player.  He gets called for too many fouls (fair or not), but I always feel comfortable with him handling the ball, shooting, passing. And he makes some pretty outstanding defensive plays as well.  Good guy to have in the rotation.

Agree.  Solid rotation player for $5M. 

[RodyTur10]

According to the eye test, against all but the smallest teams I think the starting lineup of Kemba, Brown, Tatum, Theis, Thompson is the right lineup.

It worked great yesterday, but Theis/Thompson was a terrible at the start of the season. Maybe Tristan Thompson has found its footing, I'm just not jumping on that ship (yet). Daniel Theis was almost exclusively playing PF against Atlanta and he did really well. He's a solid allround player who needs a 'small' role to excel.

I'm always looking at combinations. For example Walker/Pritchard is a very bad combo (-18 Net Rating in 55 minutes), while Pritchard/Smart is a good combo (+7 NR, 115 mins). We also see that the second line-ups with Tatum, Pritchard and Timelord have done very well (+23 NR, 117 mins).

An interesting combo is Ojeleye/Theis (+13 NR, 224 mins), which for some reason does brilliantly defensively each year. However the most intriguing combo might be Theis/Timelord which has the highest net rating (+30 NR, 47 mins), excluding a couple of very limited Tacko Fall appearances. I'm not sure whether Timelord should start, but he definitely deserves a minutes increase over Thompson.

Looking at how all these line-up combinations have done so far, it really stands out that Carsen Edwards, Javonte Green and Grant Williams should not be playing any minutes. Especially together: Green/G.Williams (-27 NR, 75 mins)!

On the other hand the stats have been really kind to Jeff Teague. Maybe he's not as bad as he looks? His line-ups are slow paced, but have few turnovers. And the guy that really draws the attention is Aaron Nesmith. It looks like everybody is profiting from his presence.

Conclusion for now:

Start: Walker/Brown/Tatum/Theis/Thompson
1st subs: Smart+R.Williams for Tatum+Thompson => Walker/Smart/Brown/Theis/R.Williams
2nd subs: Pritchard+Nesmith+Tatum for Walker+Brown+Theis => Pritchard/Smart/Nesmith/Tatum/R.Williams
3rd subs: Walker+Brown+Ojeleye+Theis for Pritchard+Smart+Nesmith+R.Williams => Walker/Brown/Tatum/Ojeleye/Theis

Play Teague when Walker sits in back-to-backs (great idea by Liam by the way to let Walker play the second game, when other guys might be tired) and let Ojeleye fill in minutes (to play alongside Theis as much as possible) when other guys aren't available. I'm still not convinced that Thompson is an integral part of the team, but he needs a rim protector/help defender next to him so that's why he's starting with Theis.

Another idea could be starting Walker/Brown/Nesmith/Tatum/R.Williams and use a main bench unit of Pritchard/Smart/Tatum/Ojeleye/Theis. Anyway in some weird way Thompson and Ojeleye are each other's main competition for minutes.

Roughly you can categorize our players in the groups below, where you try to make line-ups consisting of 1 player of each group, while Tatum and Smart are so versatile that they can fill in other roles as well.

Play initiator: Walker/Pritchard (Teague, Waters)
Second ball handler: Tatum/Smart (Edwards)
Offbal scorer: Brown/Nesmith (Langford)
Hustle guy: Thompson/Ojeleye (G.Williams, Green)
Rim protector: Theis/R.Williams (Fall)

[SHAQATTACK]

i wonder if he ll take many threes when he get back 

[Phantom255x]

Here's my (sort of realistic) dream lineup for the 2nd half + playoffs assuming we make it

Starters: Kemba/Jaylen/Tatum/Barnes/Thompson

Bench: Smart/Theis/Pritchard/Timelord/Nesmith

Now maybe 1 or 2 guys depart in a trade for Harrison Barnes, but otherwise if they can stay healthy I don't think this is a bad lineup at all. Even the bench has some juice especially if Nesmith, Timelord and Pritchard can continue to develop and improve.

And yes, I add "sort of realistic" because if it were truly my "dream" lineup, it'd have another elite name like KAT or something 

[GreenCoffeeBean]

I’m not sure what all the Harrison Barnes love is about. That Trade exception must be burning a whole in our pocket.

[Phantom255x]

I’m not sure what all the Harrison Barnes love is about. That Trade exception must be burning a whole in our pocket.

Doesn't have to be Harrison Barnes. There are others.

The real question is if Danny even wants to make a real in-season trade. I personally doubt he does. He'll try to use the TPE in the offseason

[RodyTur10]

I’m not sure what all the Harrison Barnes love is about. That Trade exception must be burning a whole in our pocket.

Doesn't have to be Harrison Barnes. There are others.

The real question is if Danny even wants to make a real in-season trade. I personally doubt he does. He'll try to use the TPE in the offseason

With Barnes and Thompson as your frontcourt the interior defense will be terrible, I can guarantee you that.
This team needs Theis or Rob Williams to protect the rim.

[Csfan1984]

Makes sense to keep starters
Kemba, JB, Tatum, Theis, TT

Bench has energy but are unreliable offensively.
PP, Smart, Semi, TL

Deep bench is even less reliable with
Teague, Nesmith, and GW.

Would be good to try to upgrade but at what price and how would they fit? This is why I'd like to see a move for a player that can play more than one position, so Vucevic is probably out. By the looks of it Collins is probably not a fit either as he struggles at the 5. Barnes is an option but don't think Kings will deal him. There is one name that would fit and probably come cheap, Fournier.

GW and a 1st for Fournier and a 2nd might be a deal that works.

Fournier would be the offensive player to fill the void on the bench. A shooter and a guy who has some ability with the ball to play multiple positions. Only draw back is he is a one year rental.