Who will be the starting point guard on opening night?

[Jingled]

Locke's show yesterday was all about the possibility of Clarkson as the point guard, which would give us a Clarkson/Ochai/Lauri/Collins/Kessler starting 5. I really hate this idea...just not nearly enough playmaking/facilitating. Clarkson would be the only one capable of getting Lauri/Collins/Kessler the ball because Ochai doesn't really have any playmaking skills, and I don't think JC's shoot first pass second mentality will ever change enough to make that lineup work. I would much rather go with a backcourt of Dunn/JC, Sexton/JC or even THT/JC and bring Ochai off the bench.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

One weird set of messaging I don't get from the front office or at least that the local media push... Ochai needs to be a starter... why? Sexton is a bench guy... why? I don't care too much who starts... but if I was ranking how the minutes allocation priority should be based on talent and where they are in their career...

1- JC
2- Sexton - On the hook for 3 more years with solid salary... he can't be a 15-20 minute a night guy or his value plummets.
3- Key - High potential... needs time to develop. He needs to come along fairly quickly as parts of the roster are ready to go now.
4- Ochai - He's fine... we have him for 3 more years cheap. If he's playing 15-20 minutes a night when we are 100% healthy that makes sense to me.
5- THT/Dunn - both on one year deals and may not be part of the future of the team. Although Dunn might make the most sense to start if you are trying to win a game today.

If JC gets 32 minutes a night... Sexton gets at least 25 minutes... you have about 40 minutes for Key/Ochai/Dunn/THT. I'd say you can push into some 3 guard lineups BUT we have a similar issue with the frontcourt... 34 for Lauri, 32 for Walker, 28 for Collins leaves 50 minutes for KO/Tay Henny/backup center? Say Tay/KO divy up 40 minutes there might be 10 minutes for Ochai/THT to grab as a big guard in three guard lineups.

 

[infection]

Man... using complete hindsight to redo the 2023 offseason for us... I'd much rather have given Bruce Brown the money Indy did than trade for John Collins... would just waive Rudy Gay. I think Collins is talented just not a great fit for us as currently constituted.

You think this is hindsight?

 

[infection]

I am bracing myself for getting flamed after some big games and crazy dunks from Collins but I still basically hate the move, at least in the broader context of the draft and Paul Reed nonsense.

Doesn’t feel like the org is serious about winning, just that the market was all big forwards so they just approached it with a BPA (most talented) mentality.

Your assessment that there actually is no plan and Ainge is just opportunistic is looking very prescient right now.

I recognize that I don’t have any power over what happens and over the past few years, especially with the draft, I’ve tried to be more blasé, so I guess I’m just kinda hoping we get some positive with Collins or he can be used as a chip for something somewhere, but if we could still choose not doing that move, I wouldn’t do that move.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

You think this is hindsight?

Yes and no... the hindsight portion is the deal Brown took. Essentially a 1+1 with a team option at $20M a year. I assume he would have considered us for that type of deal as we could start him as a 2 or 3 and give him some PG duties. If you knew he would do that... then maybe you pass on the Collins deal.

 

[infection]

And I view a lot of our moves recently somewhat similar to my recent history with refinancing my house. I’ve refinanced three times since my initial purpose. Each of those refinances, individually, was absolutely the right thing to do and saved me a significant amount of money in the long-run compared to what it was before. But in an ideal world, I would have known the doors opening and the eventual lower-than-inflation rate I have today and I would have refinanced just the last time, and not the two previous to that. That would’ve saved several tens of thousands in fees. I’m still way better off than I was originally, and each step was significantly better than the previous, but in the hypothetical of doing it once, that would be drastically better than any scenario.

We’re doing plenty of things good. I just wonder if it’s an opportunity cost of something more good or even great.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

so I guess I’m just kinda hoping we get some positive with Collins or he can be used as a chip for something somewhere, but if we could still choose not doing that move, I wouldn’t do that move.

Basically this portion of the post is where I am. I realize this may not have been the ideal PLAN A offseason the FO had in mind... but I'd probably rather go find one guy on a one year overpay as a rotation player than do the Collins deal. I would still do the JC extension as its a great value that is easy to market, sell, and will provide obvious value along the way for a known commodity. But if there was an undo button for the Collins trade I would push it.

 

[infection]

Yes and no... the hindsight portion is the deal Brown took. Essentially a 1+1 with a team option at $20M a year. I assume he would have considered us for that type of deal as we could start him as a 2 or 3 and give him some PG duties. If you knew he would do that... then maybe you pass on the Collins deal.

I think we can pass on the Collins deal and have that be the right move (or right no move, to quote the late-great KOC) irrespective of whatever other deals happened.

 

[HermanG]

The roster being non-sensical is evidence that another feel-it-out-then-maybe-tank-down-the-stretch strategy might be in play.

It looks to me like Ainge was just opportunistic with Collins and is being patient until opportunism actually yields a roster-construction that makes sense.

Why do you consider the roster non-sensical? Just curious, since I dont see it that way.

Its just missing a key piece, which I'm sure they are sniffing around for.

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

I think we can pass on the Collins deal and have that be the right move (or right no move, to quote the late-great KOC) irrespective of whatever other deals happened.

True... I guess the thing I don't like is the contract and player status will dictate a bit of where/when/how much we play him. Say we passed on that deal and had to throw a 1 +1 to Derrick Jones Jr. to get to the salary floor (still a FA) at like 10M with a team option of 10M. You can start KO over DJJ or start him if its better for the team. Is Collins a big midseason trade asset? More than a semi-cheap expiring salary?

 

[Park Bites]

If the Jazz are interested in Tyler Herro he averaged 4.1 assists per game last year. That would not be bad in the 2 guard spot.

 

[framer]

No, the Jazz need good young players on mid to larger sized contracts that are ultimately expendable. You can't roll with draft picks as your only assets. Bruce Brown on a 1+ 1 isn't that. In order to be on the market to trade for stars you need players like Collins and Sexton on solid to great contracts. Starting next year we got 3 guys like that counting Clarkson.