Predicted Rotations – Part 3

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: John Wall – 33 minutes

SG: Eric Gordon – 27 minutes

SF: Danuel House – 27 minutes

PF: Christian Wood – 33 minutes

C: DeMarcus Cousins – 27 minutes

Bench:

PG: Jerian Grant – 15 minutes

SG: Ben McLemore – 21 minutes

SF: Jae’Sean Tate – 15 minutes, David Nwaba – 6 minutes

SF: Gerald Green – 15 minutes

C: Bruno Caboclo – 21 minutes

Reserves:

SG: Sterling Brown, Mason Jones (2-way)

SF: Kenyon Martin Jr

PF: Kenny Wooten (2-way)

Injured: Chris Clemons (lower left leg)

On the Trade Block: James Harden, PJ Tucker

James Harden and PJ Tucker will probably be out. So I did the rotations as if they are no longer with the team.

James Harden: Harden is back practicing with the team. But he still wants to get traded. He has no interest in playing with Wall and Cousins.

PJ Tucker: Tucker will probably be gone too. He wants a contract extension, and the Rockets aren’t giving a multi-year deal to a 36-year-old. Most players don’t make it that far. You don’t want something like that on your books even after a player’s body expires. The Rockets are definitely trying to trade him. If they can’t trade him then they will waive him, and let a team like the Heat or the Lakers pick him up.

Chris Clemons: Clemons just injured his lower left leg. It looks like an Achilles tear. The Rockets will most likely apply for a disabled player exception so they can keep Jerian Grant on the roster.

Starters:

PG: Malcolm Brogdon – 33 minutes

SG: Aaron Holiday – 27 minutes

SG: Victor Oladipo – 33 minutes

PF: Domantas Sabonis – 33 minutes

C: Myles Turner – 33 minutes

Bench:

PG: TJ McConnell – 15 minutes

SG: Edmond Sumner – 15 minutes

SF: Justin Holiday – 21 minutes

PF: Doug McDermott – 15 minutes

C: Goga Bitadze – 15 minutes

Reserves:

PG: Jalen Lecque

SG: Cassius Stanley (2-way)

SF: Kelan Martin, Brian Bowen (2-way)

PF: JaKarr Sampson

Injured: TJ Warren (plantar fasciitis), Jeremy Lamb (ACL)

TJ Warren: Warren is out with plantar fasciitis and is being listed as week-to-week. When he gets back, he should replace Aaron Holiday in the starting lineup, pushing Edmond Sumner out of the rotation.

Jeremy Lamb – Lamb tore his ACL in February. He is expected to return mid-to-late January

Starters:

PG: Patrick Beverley – 27 minutes

SG: Paul George – 33 minutes

SF: Kawhi Leonard – 33 minutes

PF: Marcus Morris – 27 minutes

C: Serge Ibaka – 27 minutes

Bench:

PG: Reggie Jackson – 15 minutes

SG: Lou Williams – 21 minutes

SG: Luke Kennard – 21 minutes

PF: Patrick Patterson – 15 minutes

C: Ivica Zubac – 21 minutes

Reserves:

SG: Terance Mann, Jay Scrubb (2-way)

SF: Nicolas Batum, Amir Coffey (2-way)

C: Mfiondu Kabengele, Daniel Oturu

No additional notes.

Starters:

PG: Dennis Schroder – 27 minutes

SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – 27 minutes

SF: Lebron James – 33 minutes

PF: Anthony Davis – 33 minutes

C: Montrezl Harrell – 27 minutes

Reserves:

SG: Alex Caruso – 15 minutes

SG: Talen Horton-Tucker – 21 minutes

SF: Wesley Matthews – 21 minutes

PF: Kyle Kuzma – 15 minutes

C: Marc Gasol – 21 minutes

Reserves:

PG: Quinn Cook

SF: Markieff Morris , Alfonzo McKinnie

PF: Jared Dudley, Kostas Antetokounmpo (2-way)

C: Devontae Cacok (2-way)

Marc Gasol: Gasol is a little over his expiration date. I would treat him the same way you would have treated Rondo last year. The Lakers are going to need him for the games that really count. There will be a lot of regular season games that don’t count where he will probably rest. Markieff will get minutes when Gasol needs to rest.

Starting Center: Anthony Davis isn’t going to play center unless he absolutely has to, which is in final minutes of must-win game situations. Gasol will play center, but not every single game due to his age and durability. As a result, Harrell will see a lot of starting center minutes, even though he’s not meant to due to his poor defense. The Lakers are too good and they can deal with it.

Dennis Schroder: Schroder is more of a 6^th man type of player, but he believes he could be the starting point guard this season. He says he’s done the bench stuff already the last two years. Vogel said he will give strong consideration to starting Schroder.

Talen Horton-Tucker – THT has looked incredible in preseason play. Lebron seems to really like him, and he plays his role really well. Whether it is to take over the offense or serve as a 3nD role player. He’s very close to earning himself a spot in the starting lineup. In preseason play, Vogel has been giving him the most usage on the team.

Starters:

PG: Ja Morant – 33 minutes

SG: Dillon Brooks – 33 minutes

SF: Kyle Anderson – 27 minutes

PF: Brandon Clarke – 27 minutes

C: Jonas Valanciunas – 27 minutes

Bench:

PG: Tyus Jones – 15 minutes

SG: De’Anthony Melton – 21 minutes

SF: Desmond Bane – 15 minutes

PF: Xavier Tillman – 21 minutes

C: Gorgui Dieng – 21 minutes

Reserves:

SG: Grayson Allen, John Konchar

SF: Sean McDermott (2-way)

C: Jontay Porter, Killian Tillie (2-way)

Injured: Jaren Jackson (MCL surgery), Justise Winslow (hip)

Jaren Jackson: JJJ had MCL surgery performed in mid-August. Players who do this generally miss majority of the season. It is about a 9-12 month recovery time. And even then, the player isn’t at full speed until the following season.

Justise Winslow: Winslow injured his hip during the bubble. He is not expected to be available for the season opener but he shouldn’t be sidelined for too long beyond that. I think the Grizzlies will ease him back in when he’s ready. They will take Xavier Tillman out of the rotation, slide Clarke to center, and have Justise play the 4.

Cut Hezonja and Guduric: Mario Hezonja and Marko Guduric are not expected to join training camp and are expected to get cut. Hezonja was part of a 3 team trade that sent pick 30 to Memphis so that they could select Desmond Bane.

Jontay Porter and Killian Tillie: Both of these guys would have been lottery picks over the past 3 years had it not been for injuries. Neither one has seen NBA minutes yet. If either of these two become ready, they will take Dieng’s spot in the rotation.