The most exciting part about the return of Burks, aside from the inevitable highlight reel finishes, is the potential affect that it is likely going to have on the bench (& in return, the team itself). Regardless of who starts, Burks' return (assuming they don't attempt to start him at PG) assures that one of he or Hood will be running the second unit. The most impressive thing about last year's 19-10 finish, aside from the historically good defense, was the fact that they we're able to do so with little to no depth. Without even taking into consideration the potential long-term ramifications, the Exum injury is extremely unfortunate as it delays us from seeing what that starting lineup would have been able to accomplish with an actual bench behind it throughout an entire season for at least a year. Having Burks, or even Hood, run the second unit offense would have allowed Burke to act as a spot up shooter rather than the primary ball-handler (which is the role that the numbers appear to suggest that he is most affective in).
On the surface, the Exum injury doesn't seem to be as devastating (to next season's prospects at least) as the typical starting PG going down would appear, as Exum's true impact isn't reflected in his statistics, but it completely alters the makeup of the starting lineup (& in return, the rest of the rotation). This, imo, is the reason I believe that the FO will attempt to acquire a similar style of PG (one who is a defensive asset & doesn't look to score 1st like Temple) in order to stick to the formula that worked for them at the end of last year (unless Neto proves capable of filling that role). I don't believe that the FO is willing to commit valuable long-term assets to the PG position because 1) they still believe Exum is the PG of the future & 2) they had success with an ineffective offensive PG who played great defense. Assuming they are able to acquire an Exum-caliber (performance wise) PG, the team still has the opportunity to replicate what they accomplished after the all-star break.
PG/Burke/(1 of)Neto or Cotton
Hood/Burks/Millsap
Hayward/Ingles
Favors/Booker/Lyles
Gobert/Pleiss
If the opportunity to acquire a defensive minded PG at a low-cost presents itself, I expect the FO to make a trade. If not, I'm sure that (like all good FO's) they will adapt & attempt a different approach, but I'm sure they would prefer to see if adding Burks & depth (Neto, Lyles, Pleiss) to what worked last year is enough to propel them into the upper echelon of the Western Confrence. To get back to the original point, Burks' return (along with replacing Exum in the short-term) is going to determine how affective the team can be with more than a 6-7 man rotation (or whatever they had last year. With the right acquisition (which may turn out to be Neto), this team still has the opportunity to be as affective (if not more so) than they were.
