Predicted Rotations – Part 2

I wanted to do this exercise mostly to help out with Fantasy Basketball. I figure I will do 5 teams per post. This is a collection of my personal projected team rotations along with additional notes for each team. The minutes are just ballpark minutes. I generally go with a 33/27/21/15 format when doing my minutes. So here goes:

Starters:

PG: Darius Garland – 33 minutes

SG: Collin Sexton – 33 minutes

SF: Cedi Osman – 27 minutes

PF: Kevin Love – 27 minutes

C: Andre Drummond – 33 minutes

Bench:

PG: Matthew Dellavedova – 15 minutes

SG: Damyean Dotson – 15 minutes

SF: Isaac Okoro – 21 minutes

PF: Larry Nance – 21 minutes

C: JaVale McGee – 15 minutes

Reserves:

SG: Matt Mooney (2-way)

SF: Dylan Windler, Lamar Stevens (2-way)

PF: Dean Wade

Exhibit 10:

SG: Charles Matthews, Levi Randolph

C: Thon Maker, Marques Bolden

Injured: Kevin Porter Jr (legal), Dante Exum (left ankle)

Injuries to Watch:

• Kevin Love – Love gets injured every year. Whether it’s his left arm, right arm, left leg, or right leg. Throughout Love’s career, he has literally injured every limb. He really shouldn’t be playing physical contact sports, but he is under contract. When Love gets injured, Larry Nance will move to the starting lineup.

 1 Roster Spot Available: There is 1 roster spot available. Charles Matthews is a really nice defensive prospect wing. He could have been drafted in the mid-2^nd round last year in the 2019 draft if he wasn’t injured. Matthews and Okoro would make a pretty dirty wing combo off the bench. But then again, the Cavs could opt for size and go with Thon Maker instead.

Kevin Porter Jr: Kevin Porter Jr was arrested on suspicion of possessing a gun and marijuana, and was accused of punching a woman in the face and ripping off her weave during an August fight in downtown Cleveland. He missed the first week of camp and will have some catching up to do. That is a lot to deal with and I figure he will have to get his mind and body right before he can hit the court. He should work his way back into a 33 minute role in the starting lineup in place of Cedi Osman when he’s ready.

Isaac Okoro: Isaac Okoro has looked good in preseason so far. And he has shown that he can shoot. He’s a better fit in the starting lineup next to Garland and KPJ than Sexton due to his size and defense. But Sexton will get the first chance since he’s the vet.

Future Lineup: If Kevin Porter can get through his legal matters and when Kevin Love starts his annual breakdown, I think the lineup will look like this:

PG: Darius Garland

SG: Kevin Porter Jr

SF: Isaac Okoro

PF: Cedi Osman

C: Andre Drummond

Sexton will either fall into a bench scoring role or get traded

Starters:

PG: Luka Doncic – 33 minutes

SG: Tim Hardaway Jr – 33 minutes

SF: Josh Richardson – 33 minutes

PF: Dorian Finney-Smith – 27 minutes

C: Dwight Powell – 27 minutes

Bench:

PG: Jalen Brunson – 15 minutes

SG: Trey Burke – 21 minutes

SF: James Johnson – 15 minutes

PF: Maxi Kleber – 15 minutes

C: Willie Cauley-Stein – 15 minutes

Reserves:

PG: Tyrell Terry

SG: Josh Green, Nate Hinton (2-way)

SF: Wesley Iwundu

PF: Tyler Bey (2-way)

C: Boban Marjanovic

Injured: Kristaps Porzingis (knee)

Cut JJ Barea: The Mavericks currently have 16 players signed. They will have to cut 1 player before the season starts. I think they will buy-out Barea and find another way to keep him with the organization whether it is as an assistant coach or as a consultant.

Kristaps Porzingis: Porzingis is won’t be available until some point in January. When he is back, Powell drops back down to the bench and WCS becomes a reserve.

Starters:

PG: Jamal Murray – 33 minutes

SG: Gary Harris – 27 minutes

SF: Will Barton – 27 minutes

SF: Michael Porter Jr – 27 minutes

C: Nikola Jokic – 33 minutes

Bench:

PG: Monte Morris – 21 minutes

SG: PJ Dozier – 15 minutes

PF: JaMychal Green – 15 minutes

PF: Paul Millsap – 21 minutes

C: Isaiah Hartenstein – 15 minutes, Bol Bol – 6 minutes

Reserves:

PG: Facundo Campazzo, Markus Howard (2-way)

SG: RJ Hampton

SF: Vlatko Cancar

PF: Greg Whittington (2-way)

C: Zeke Nnaji

Bol Bol: Bol is an incredibly talented player, but Mike Malone is still hesitant to play him minutes. I don’t know if this is because of injury concerns or because Malone just doesn’t think he is ready yet. Bol said he packed on some pounds this summer to help him bang in the post, but he still feels he’s a bit too slender to compete physically with a lot of NBA centers. He doesn’t really have the lateral quickness to guard NBA 4s either. We’ll still see him playing minutes at the 4 though.

Starters:

PG: Killian Hayes – 27 minutes

SG: Svi Mykhailiuk – 27 minutes

SF: Jerami Grant – 33 minutes

PF: Blake Griffin – 27 minutes

C: Mason Plumlee – 27 minutes

Bench:

PG: Derrick Rose – 21 minutes

SG: Delon Wright – 21 minutes

SF: Josh Jackson – 15 minutes

PF: Sekou Doumbouya – 21 minutes

C: Jahlil Okafor – 15 minutes, Isaiah Stewart – 6 minutes

Reserve:

PG: Saben Lee (2-way)

SG: Wayne Ellington, Rodney McGruder

SF: Deividas Sirvydis, Louis King (2-way)

PF: Saddiq Bey

Killian Hayes: Coach Dwayne Casey has already announced that Killian Hayes will be the starter. Derrick Rose has been a true professional and has even agreed to become Killian’s mentor. Casey said that Killian isn’t like any other rookie. He is very professional for his age due to his time playing professionally in France. Casey also said while Hayes has the keys to the offense, he can take the keys away from him at any time.

Delon Wright: Delon Wright probably thought he was walking into a perfect situation. But all that changed when the Detroit Pistons drafted Killian Hayes. There is talk that he can start at the SG spot next to Killian, but the truth is he doesn’t play well off ball-dominant point guards. We saw how poorly that worked out in Dallas next to Luka Doncic. Delon can score off-ball with his ability to cut to the rim and mediocre catch and shoot abilities, but he needs the ball in his hands here and there in order to build a rhythm. That is not going to happen to play alongside Killian Hayes or Derrick Rose. He’s going to get minutes, but he’s only going to have good games once every 2 weeks.

Sekou Doumbouya: Doumbouya has looked good in preseason, but he won’t join the starters unless Blake were to get injured or traded.

Starters:

PG: Steph Curry – 33 minutes

SG: Andrew Wiggins – 33 minutes

SF: Kelly Oubre – 33 minutes

PF: Draymond Green – 27 minutes

C: Kevon Looney – 27 minutes

Bench:

PG: Brad Wanamaker – 15 minutes

SG: Damion Lee – 15 minutes

SF: Kent Bazemore – 15 minutes

PF: Eric Paschall – 21 minutes

C: Marquese Chriss – 15 minutes, James Wiseman – 6 minutes

Reserves:

PG: Mychal Mulder, Nico Mannion (2-way)

SG: Jordan Poole

SF: Juan Toscano-Anderson

C: Alen Smailagic

Injured: Klay Thompson

James Wiseman: I know Wiseman was the #2 pick in the draft, but I don’t see the Warriors giving him heavy minutes. The Warriors are trying to win games, and although Wiseman is very athletically gifted, he lacks awareness, he’s a horrible decision-maker, and he has poor lateral quickness. Remember, he is a very raw talent that missed an entire year of basketball.