Our 3rd stringers so far this season are:
G: JD Davison
G: Jordan Walsh
F: Oshae Brisset
F: Dalano Banton
C: Luke Kornet
Who there do we trust in a playoff game? Do we trust any of those 5 guys in a playoff game?
Are there any third stringers out there who are meant to be trusted in a playoff game? Who does GSW, Phoenix, Milwaukee, Philly, Denver have on their third string right now that can be trusted in a playoff game?
Here are the players with the 11th most total playoff minutes for the final 4 playoff teams:
Denver: Reggie Jackson, 6 gp, 18 total minutes
Lakers: Wenyen Gabriel, 10 gp, 37 total minutes
Miami: Yurtseven, 8 gp, 16 total minutes (not counting Herro and Oladipo)
Boston: Luke Kornet, 8 gp, 32 total minutes
They're really not meant to be played much and I don't know how many of those minutes were garbage minutes.
Playoff rotations for most teams usually condense down to 8 men -- 5 starters, 1 big, 1 wing, 1 ball handler. So the emergency playoff depth and spot minutes should be your 9th and 10th men, not 11th-15th men. I think if an injury happens, its most likely that your other rotation players are going to absorb the minutes rather than looking at your 3rd string.
Miami is the unusual team that had injuries to 2 rotation players, but had the depth to go into their 11th-15th men to absorb that. But consider if you asked Miami Heat fans last offseason, "Do you trust [Cody Zeller, Haywood Highsmith] in a playoff game?" that answer would have been very similar to how we trust our 11th men right now. Sometimes you just have to give players the chance. And as for Kevin Love, I wonder how many people would have said 6 months ago "Yes I trust Kevin Love in a playoff game, but not Blake Griffin."