2021-2022 Preseason and camp thread

[SMC0007]

Originally Posted by thewizard

I don't really see them all that interchangeable at all except that they are similar sized players. Hardaway Jr, as streaky as he is, is a bona fide scoring threat while Sterling Brown is a 3&D guy. There is a huge difference in their games. What are you losing by switching them? Quite a bit actually.

Do you remember what happened last year when we were starting Luka/JRich/DFS/Maxi/KP? There wasn't enough offense in the SL and so we started games terribly and had to claw back from 1st quarter deficits almost every game. That was solved late in the season when we put THJ back into the starting lineup. Suddenly, we could actually go into the second quarter with a lead. This helped us tremendously, despite the slight downgrade of the defense.

I think you are way underrating what THJ brings to the team and overrating what Sterling can bring. I'm just not sure that a lineup of Luka/Brown/Bullock/DFS/KP will have any more scoring or shot creation than Luka/JRich/DFS/Maxi/KP and thus would have similar problems next year.

Also, I personally think the new contract we just gave THJ signals a renewed commitment to him and I think that means he will be a full time starter from here forward. It was different the last couple years because we didn't give him the contract he was on. Re-signing a guy to a big contract like we did THJ this summer IMO indicates we view him as part of the core of the team and I believe that that commitment implies an expectation that THJ will be a starter for the foreseeable future. Sure if he regresses or trades are made, things can change, but until that happens, I believe the intention is for him to start and play big minutes.

That said, again, I just think THJ is a better fit in the starting lineup anyway. Luka/THJ/Bullock/DFS/KP seems more balanced IMO. That's a good mix of scoring and defense if KP can get back to being a decent rim protector.

I'd like to know what your definition of a bona-fide scoring threat is. THJ is a 1 trick pony. He is a 3&noD guy. There is not a huge difference in them aside from Sterling is a way better defender and THJ has more experience. But he also had Luka facilitating the offense and feeding him tons of open looks.

I mentioned previously, I do remember what happened when THJ came off the bench. It looked like a decent plan for a bit, then JRich shit the bed in epic embarrassing fashion. But you're kinda making it seem like THJ became Kobe all the sudden and forced Rick's hand to put him back in the SLU. It was a no brainer to get JRich outta there because he was killing the team.

I'd definitely be starting THJ early in the season.. Yet it's logical that if he can't dribble again this season and hasn't improved his defense then it's only a matter of time before the experiments with the lineups begin. Just hitting 3s isn't enough to balance a lineup like ours. Philly for example CAN afford one of those players (ie. Curry) because they have great balance. Sterling is closer to a 2-way player than THJ. He's not a complete 2 way player with create offense type skills, but he has high level abilities on both sides of the floor.