Predicted NBA Rotations – Part 1

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: Trae Young – 33 minutes

SG: Bogdan Bogdanovic – 33 minutes

SF: Cam Reddish – 27 minutes

PF: John Collins – 33 minutes

C: Clint Capela – 33 minutes

Bench:

PG: Kris Dunn – 15 minutes

SG: Kevin Huerter – 15 minutes

SF: De’Andre Hunter – 21 minutes

PF: Danilo Galinari – 21 minutes

C: Bruno Fernando – 9 minutes

Reserves:

PG: Rajon Rondo, Brandon Goodwin

SG: Skylar Mays (2-way)

SF: Tony Snell

PF: Solomon Hill

C: Nathan Knight (2-way)

Injured: Onyeka Okongwu (foot fracture)

I can see a world where Lloyd Pierce moves Reddish to the 2 and have De’Andre play at the 3 or 4 for more defense, but the Hawks are only aiming at the 7^th or 8^th seed this year. So we’ll be seeing more of Bogdanovic and Collins out there on the floor despite how bad they are at playing defense. It’s not until they get some playoff experience that the team will actually consider playing more defense.

Rondo is still a very good player. And he’ll have moments where he’s getting the backup PG minutes over Dunn. But there will be months where he’ll have to sit out due to the longer recovery times that people not named Lebron have to deal with after age 30.

Injuries to watch:

• Clint Capela (plantar fasciitis) – If you don’t know what this is, this is where you feel pain under the arch of your foot. People who deal with plantar fasciitis are generally said to have a high arc. I don’t think there is a surgery that repairs this nor did I see any news that Capela did any kind of surgery. When you get plantar fasciitis, all the doctors do is suggest you get better insoles for your shoes. So my guess is Capela still has a high arch and will be playing with better insoles in his shoes this year. He’ll be fine since he had so much time to rest. But this can come back.

Injuries:

• Onyeka Okongwu (foot fracture) – He’ll miss all of training camp. He’ll probably have to do some catching up in the G League. And even then, he’ll miss the first week of G League most likely. Depending on how quickly he picks up the Hawks scheme, I would say he doesn’t crack the rotation until the 2^nd month of the season at the earliest. He’ll take Bruno Fernando’s spot in the rotation. Talen Horton-Tucker and Alen Smailagic dealt with foot fractures about the same time last season and didn’t see minutes until after the All-Star Break.

Starters:

PG: Jeff Teague – 27 minutes

SG: Marcus Smart – 33 minutes

SF: Jaylen Brown – 33 minutes

PF: Jayson Tatum – 33 minutes

C: Daniel Theis – 27 minutes

Bench:

PG: Tremont Waters (2-way) – 15 minutes

SG: Javonte Green – 15 minutes

SF: Semi Ojeleye – 15 minutes

PF: Grant Williams – 21 minutes

C: Robert Williams – 21 minutes

Reserves:

PG: Payton Pritchard, Carsen Edwards

SG: Aaron Nesmith

C: Tacko Fall (2-way)

Injured: Kemba Walker (left knee), Tristan Thompson (hamstring), Romeo Langford (wrist surgery)

Tristan Thompson: He’ll miss almost all of training camp due to hamstring injury. He’ll have a lot of catching up to do. He’s a better rebounder than Theis. He’s a better perimeter defender than Theis. He’s even a better passer than Theis. He doesn’t really get into foul trouble either. Theis does. The thing with Tristan though is that he’s a complete nonfactor as a scorer even on the easy shots.  Theis can at least finish easy shots. With Tristan being stronger and more physical, he’ll likely get the start against more physically athletic centers.

Starters:

PG: Kyrie Irving – 33 minutes

SG: Caris LeVert – 33 minutes

SF: Joe Harris – 27 minutes

PF: Kevin Durant – 33 minutes

C: DeAndre Jordan – 27 minutes

Bench:

PG: Spender Dinwiddie – 21 – minutes

SG: Landry Shamet – 15 minutes

SF: Taurean Prince – 15 minutes

PF: Jeff Green – 15 minutes

C: Jarrett Allen – 21 minutes

Reserves:

PG: Tyler Johnson, Jeremiah Martin (2-way)

SG: Bruce Brown

SF: Timothe Luwawu-Cabarott

C: Nicolas Claxton

Exhibit 10:

PG: Chris Chiozza, Elie Okobo

SG: Jordan Bowden

PF: Reggie Perry

Injured: Nicolas Claxton (right knee tendinopathy)

DeAndre Jordan: I know everyone wants to see Jarrett Allen be the starter since he is the future of the franchise. But DeAndre is the seasoned vet and will continue to be the starter.

2 Roster Spots Available: There are still 2 open roster spots: 1 full-time and 1 2-way. The Nets have 4 Exhibit 10 players, including their newly drafted rookie Reggie Perry. My guess is that whoever wins the competition between Chris Chiozza and Elie Okobo will get the full-time roster spot while Reggie Perry gets put on the 2-way.

Starters:

PG: Devonte Graham – 33 minutes

SG: Terry Rozier – 33 minutes

SF: Gordon Hayward – 27 minutes

PF: PJ Washington – 33 minutes

C: Cody Zeller – 27 minutes

Bench:

PG: LaMelo Ball – 15 minutes

SG: Malik Monk – 15 minutes

SF: Cody Martin – 15 minutes

PF: Miles Bridges – 21 minutes

C: Bismack Biyombo – 21 minutes

Reserve:

SG: Grant Riller (2-way)

SF: Caleb Martin, Nate Darling (2-way)

PF Jalen McDaniels

C: Vernon Carey Jr, Nick Richards

Exhibit 10:

SG: Keandre Cook, Xavier Sneed

SF: Kahlil Whitney

PF: Javin DeLaurier

1 Roster Spot Available: The Hornets have 4 players on Exhibit 10 contracts competing for the final roster spot. I don’t think any of these guys are NBA guys.

LaMelo Ball: LaMelo Ball was the 3^rd pick in the NBA draft. A lot of people are going to think that because he was the #3 pick, that he’s going to start. He certainly has the talent to get there too, but the main issue right now is his defense. I’m not saying its bad. The truth is nobody knows. He’s never had to play defense before. Whether it was playing at SPIRE, Lithuania, JBL, or NBL, defense was never a thing. When he got to Australia, the coaches took him out of the game so quick because his defense was so bad. I’m not going to blame this purely on instincts. He just needs someone to teach him the basics.

If LaMelo can prove that he’s not a complete liability on that end of the court, then he will most likely take Terry Rozier’s minutes.

Miles Bridges: Miles is a starter in the NBA. He is the future of the franchise. He can be better than Hayward is right now. But right now he’s not. Until that happens, he’ll be coming off the bench unless someone gets injured or traded.

Starters:

PG: Coby White – 33 minutes

SG: Zach LaVine – 33 minutes

SF: Otto Porter – 33 minutes

PF: Lauri Markkanen – 33 minutes

C: Wendell Carter Jr. – 33 minutes

Bench:

PG: Tomas Satoransky – 15 minutes

SG: Denzel Valentine – 15 minutes

SF: Patrick Williams – 15 minutes

PF: Thaddeus Young – 15 minutes

C: Daniel Gafford – 15 minutes

Reserve:

PG: Ryan Arcidiacono, Devon Dotson (2-way)

SG: Garrett Temple, Adam Mokoka (2-way)

SF: Chandler Hutchison

PF: Noah Vonleh

C: Cristiano Felicio

Cut Luke Kornet: The Chicago Bulls currently have 16 players signed. They will have to cut 1 player before the season starts. They just recently signed Noah Vonleh. Between Cristiano Felicio and Luke Kornet, I think the Bulls will cut Kornet since he is the cheaper buy-out option.

Patrick Williams: Patrick Williams is more of a PF/C than he is a PF/SF due to his lack of mobility. But anyone that was high on Patrick Williams in the draft was betting that he will someday play SF. Since the Bulls drafted him so high, then you know where they’ll go with him.

evon Dotson: I can see Devon taking Satoransky’s spot off the bench in a couple of years, but now is not that time.