2 weeks Ago By Grant Hughes
The start of the 2024-25 NBA season doesn't mean the end of lineup tinkering. The preseason offers teams their first opportunity to settle on a starting five, but priorities can change as the year progresses. Unforeseen needs arise, organizational directions shift and trades shake things up.
Injuries are already forcing some squads to elevate backups into their starting lineups, but the focus of this exercise is finding reserves who could eventually earn promotions during the year. We'll feature several rookies and young players who, with a little improvement and the right opportunity, could land themselves on the floor for opening tips. Elsewhere, we'll highlight veteran options who could provide cleaner fits or niche skills currently absent from a team's starting lineup.
The only thing we know for certain is that many current starting fives around the league will look different after a few weeks. These are our best guesses as to the form that change might take. The cop-out pick would have been whichever of Dyson Daniels or Bogdan Bogdanović starts the season as a reserve.
That spot in the backcourt next to Trae Young could belong to either of those players, with the former bringing elite perimeter defense and the latter providing starter-quality offensive play to the table. Instead of trying to solve that backcourt puzzle, we'll go with backup big man Onyeka Okongwu, whose four-year, $62 million extension kicks in this season. That's not necessarily a starter's salary, but when you combine the financial commitment Atlanta made to Okongwu with the expiring contract of starter Clint Capela, it's not hard to imagine how the team imagines the center position shaking out.
Capela is still a decent enough starting option at age 30, but his rebound rate has slipped from what used to be league-leading levels, and his 59.0 true shooting percentage last year was his lowest in nearly a decade. Okongwu, 23, was the No.
6 pick in 2020 but has spent his career behind the veteran Capela. Though he's not the rebounder or shot-deterrer his teammate is, Okongwu is more mobile and has dabbled with a three-point shot (33.3 percent on 1.
3 attempts per game last year). Those dimensions should appeal to an Atlanta team that might prefer to downsize and modernize in 2024-25. Okongwu's 28 points against the Brooklyn Nets in Atlanta's opener didn't hurt his cause.
Kristaps Porzingis' prolonged absence will likely mean more starts for Al Horford at center. Last year was the first time the veteran big man had ever come off the bench on a regular basis, so there won't be much of an adjustment for the five-time All-Star as he reassumes his typical starting role. Still, at 38, Horford is well into the phase of his career where managing minutes and limiting appearances is vital.
That's why one of the Boston Celtics' other centers has a great shot to take over first-unit duties from Horford until Porzingis is back. Luke Kornet seems like the most sensible option if Boston chooses to preserve Horford and last year's rotation patterns. Though Kornet won't punish switches like Porzingis did, he brings similarly imposing size at the rim and might even replicate some of KP's deep-range shooting.
No one should forget that Kornet came into the league as a spacing threat who took over two-thirds of his field-goal attempts from beyond the arc across his first four seasons. Trades are on the horizon for the Brooklyn Nets, who already have their own 2025 first-round pick back but should be in search of every draft asset and young player they can find. That means opportunities are bound to arise for backups, who'll be in position to take over major roles when first-unit veterans get dealt.
This early in a rebuild, no one on the roster is truly untouchable. But second-year big man Noah Clowney might come closest. The 20-year-old played just 23 games in Brooklyn last year but averaged 12.
9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per 36 minutes while also hitting a tantalizing 36.
4 percent of his threes. Every one of those numbers is suspect given the sample size, but Clowney has a combination of athleticism, size and skill that projects well. Though perhaps not a cornerstone, he's easy to imagine as part of the next successful era of Nets basketball.
When Brooklyn trades away the likes of Dorian Finney-Smith, Cam Johnson, Bojan Bogdanovic and others, Clowney will find himself among the starters. Tre Mann spent the preseason validating what he did down the stretch of last season following the trade that landed him with the Charlotte Hornets. In 28 starts last year, the 22-year-old guard averaged 11.
9 points, 5.2 assists, 4.5 rebounds and 1.
7 steals while shooting 36.4 percent from three. Across four preseason appearances, Mann, in just 19.
8 minutes per game, put up 16.0 points, 3.3 assist and 3.
0 rebounds while shooting 60.0 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from deep.
LaMelo Ball has the keys to the offense in Charlotte. He'll run the show for as long as he's healthy, but it's precisely that durability issue that gives Mann a real shot to take over for long stretches this season. Ball has played a total of 58 games across the last two years due to ankle injuries and should be viewed as a major health risk until he proves he can hold up for a full year.
Even if Ball stays on the floor, Mann's scoring and on-ball facilitation could earn him a spot over Josh Green on the wing. If Miles Bridges winds up getting traded, Brandon Miller could slide up to power forward and create another slot for Mann to occupy. There might be one or two alternative picks with as good of a chance to start as rookie Matas Buzelis, but the Chicago Bulls should certainly hope the man they snagged at No.
11 in the 2024 draft is the one who winds up in the first unit before season's end. Ideally, he'll even earn the role. Buzelis moves and handles the ball with uncommon fluidity for a 6'9" (or 6'10", depending on where you're looking) player, and he's an aggressive attacker of the basket who showed a knack for off-ball help on D during Summer League.
Raw, in need of some additional muscle and inconsistent as a shooter, Buzelis still managed a pair of double-digit scoring efforts in preseason play and seems assured of doing some dynamic work in transition. The Bulls have a top-10 protected pick they need to keep, several costly veterans they need to peel off the payroll and every incentive to see if their latest lottery pick has any signs of stardom in him. One way or the other, Buzelis will (and should) be a fixture among the starters at some point this year.
Four years in, Isaac Okoro's strengths and weaknesses are pretty well understood. He's a strong defender against guards and smaller wings who isn't enough of an on-ball or floor-spacing threat to warrant regular starts. Maybe this is the year Okoro adds enough offensive juice to change that reputation.
The Cavaliers inked him to a three-year, $38 million contract in September, a somewhat tepid indication of their belief in Okoro, but an endorsement nonetheless. Perhaps Cleveland is convinced that the 23-year-old's steady progress as a shooter is sustainable on greater volume. Though Okoro didn't top the 9.
6 points per game he averaged as a rookie in any of the three subsequent seasons, he's increased his three-point accuracy from 29.0 percent to 35.0 percent to 36.
3 percent to last year's career-best 39.0 percent. If he can hold somewhere in the mid-to-high 30s while getting his attempt rate up toward 5.
0 per game, Okoro could give the Cavs a reason to return him to the starting spot he occupied for the first two-and-a-half seasons of his career. Normally, it would have taken a massive slump from Max Strus, plus growth from Okoro to result in a change. But now that Strus will miss six weeks with an ankle sprain, Okoro will get an extended chance to seize a starting job and never let it go.
Dereck Lively II has already done enough to change one element of last year's starting lineup, as head coach Jason Kidd named him to the first unit during training camp. Naji Marshall is the reserve most likely to join him if Kidd determines further overhauls are necessary. Acquired in free agency on a three-year, $27 million deal, Marshall sits behind Klay Thompson and P.
J. Washington at the forward spots. The former's elite three-point shooting is expected to be a key in unlocking new levels in the Mavs offense, and the latter's demonstrated utility during last year's deep playoff run gives him an edge to start the season.
Marshall, though, is going to be a consideration over both Thompson and Washington at various points of the season. A highly energetic defender who excels in transition, he brings a different dimension than either Thompson or Washington. And it's worth noting that Marshall is also coming off a career-best 38.
7 percent knockdown clip from deep last season. That's well above his career rate of 31.3 percent.
If there's anything real about that shooting leap, Marshall's case to start will get even stronger. The Denver Nuggets ranked last in three-point attempt frequency last year and let Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who shot 308 triples at a 40.6 percent clip, get away in free agency.
An already clear need got clearer over the summer, and new starting shooting guard Christian Braun isn't going to address it. Julian Strawther can. You might not think so when looking at his 29.
7 percent three-point shooting as a rookie last year, but there's little doubt the Gonzaga product can be a floor-spacing threat in ways Braun cannot. Strawther's league-leading 94 preseason points is just part of his case. The eye test also reveals a willingness to fire without hesitation and, most importantly, the ability to command real defensive attention on the perimeter.
Braun has probably earned the right to start, and he's the more seasoned of the two. But Strawther's shooting is going to get him an opportunity at some point. Detroit Pistons head coach J.
B. Bickerstaff tried to make it hard on us by starting several different players on the wing during the preseason. Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey, Tobias Harris and Jalen Duren are locks based on how things have looked so far, but any one of Malik Beasley, Simone Fontecchio or Tim Hardaway Jr.
could feature in that fifth spot. The elephant in the room is second-year forward Ausar Thompson, who never saw the floor during the preseason after his rookie year ended early due to blood clots. The lack of information coming out of Detroit is concerning, but not to the point of changing this pick.
Thompson, when healthy, is among the most disruptive defensive forces in the league. An elite shot-blocker for his size, a fantastic finisher and a downhill blur in transition, he brings every quality you'd want in a wing besides three-point shooting. It's possible Thompson won't be able to improve enough on last year's 18.
6 percent hit rate from three to fit next to the Pistons' other suspect perimeter shooters. But if he can find his way to serviceable accuracy, there'll be no keeping him out of the starting lineup. One of the league's deepest rosters necessitated a ton a preseason toggling as head coach Steve Kerr searched for the right mixture in his starting lineup.
Outside of Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, the Golden State Warriors' first unit could remain unsettled for weeks. Let's assume Kerr most frequently opts for the group he used in the Warriors' final preseason tune-up, a jumbo unit including Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Green and Trayce Jackson-Davis. That's more size and athleticism than we're used to with the Dubs, and it leaves a bevy of intriguing guards and wings available on the bench.
Of those, the recently extended Moses Moody makes the most sense as a potential midseason replacement in the first unit. Some of that has to do with Moody's much more aggressive shooting during the preseason, but it's also about the way he fits in with the starters. Golden State's backups need shot creation, so it makes sense to pair De'Anthony Melton and Brandin Podziemski in reserve units, ideally alongside flamethrower Buddy Hield.
Moody can certainly be an offensive focus against second units, but his quick-trigger shooting and all-around play make him a logical replacement for Wiggins if the veteran underwhelms like he did a year ago. Amen Thompson got the opportunity to start late last season after Alperen Sengün's injury forced the Houston Rockets to downsize, but it sounds like head coach Ime Udoka will stick with the group he trusted for most of 2023-24: Fred VanVleet, Jalen Green, Dillon Brooks, Jabari Smith Jr. and Sengün.
Thompson would seem to be the logical pick to usurp one of those players, particularly considering his versatility. He was essentially a center late last year but came into the league billed as a point guard. He can also defend any position on the floor.
Nonetheless, we're going with Reed Sheppard, a rookie who could conceivably snag starts over Green or VanVleet. Were he to overtake the latter, it'd probably be due to injury. But the former, Green, could lose his job through inefficient offense or ineffective defense.
Green looked stellar at points during the preseason and comes with that No. 2 pick pedigree. Even with his nine-figure extension secured, he'll have to prove he can perform at peak levels outside the month of March.
Sheppard can contribute immensely disruptive defensive work in the backcourt, knockdown shooting from deep and plenty of playmaking to boot. If Green falters or VanVleet suddenly looks old, the rookie could step right in and steal a job. Andrew Nembhard earned his current starting gig by showing out in the playoffs, and it's telling that the Indiana Pacers gave him a contract extension over the offseason.
That said, the job he currently occupies in Indy's starting backcourt next to Tyrese Haliburton is one the Pacers probably hope Bennedict Mathurin snatches away from him. Mathurin was the sixth pick in 2022, 25 spots ahead of Nembhard, and is more than two full years younger than his teammate. Indiana should want a player it picked that high to seize a major role.
A gifted offensive threat on the ball and a crafty foul-drawer even as an inexperienced rookie, Mathurin shot the ball better from deep as a sophomore and marginally improved his assist-to-turnover ratio. He still managed just 19 starts in 59 appearances because his mostly ineffective defense and struggles with decision-making on offense rendered him a less than ideal partner for Haliburton. He simply made more sense as a bench gunner.
It's far too early to foreclose the possibility that Mathurin can add layers to his game. If he does, and if Nembhard isn't the guy he appeared to be during the 2024 postseason, Indy might not take much time to swap in a new starter at the 2. Kawhi Leonard is a pretty safe bet to get his starting job back whenever his troublesome right knee cooperates, but choosing him would be a copout.
For now, all we know for sure is that Norman Powell, who would have been a great pick for Sixth Man of the Year, is going to slide into the starting group. The departure of Paul George leaves a scoring void Powell can happily fill. Of the other reserves who could disrupt the current quintet of James Harden, Terance Mann, Powell, Derick Jones Jr.
and Ivica Zubac, Nicolas Batum has the best shot. Though he didn't start after coming over in the Harden trade last season, Batum has managed to stick in plenty of first units even as he advances deeper into his mid-30s. During his first stint with LA from 2020-21 to 2022-23, he started a little more than half of his 207 games.
Batum is still a terrific connective passer who can defend most wings and forwards. Though a low-usage offensive weapon, he's shot just a hair under 40.0 percent from three across his last four seasons.
If Jones can't provide spacing at the 4 or Powell simply doesn't fit as a starter after so many years coming off the bench, Batum should be the cleanest replacement pick. D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James and Anthony Davis posted a plus-6.6 net rating in over 800 possessions together, which is exactly why new head coach JJ Redick took the appropriate "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach to selecting this year's starting five.
Barring an injury or a trade, that group will be on the floor for the opening tip every night and should log the most possessions of any Los Angeles Lakers lineup. Unless rookie Dalton Knecht proves his preseason heaters are actually sustainable. Knecht erupted for 35 points against the Phoenix Suns on Oct.
17, including a stretch of 20 straight. He hit eight of his 13 three-point attempts, which generated most of the attention, but the rookie also held up in one-on-one defensive situations against the likes of Bradley Beal, tipped balls in the passing lanes and generally looked nothing like a first-year player. Knecht shoots an easy ball, can get his own looks off the dribble and could conceivably be a superior option if Austin Reaves goes cold, Russell gets dealt or Hachimura relapses into his mid-range addiction.
Once everyone's healthy, the Memphis Grizzlies will trot out Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, Marcus Smart, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Zach Edey to start most games. Smart and Edey's spots are more up for grabs than the other three, but that's not saying a lot.
Memphis invested a lottery pick in Edey, who projects to be a hulking force in the middle, and it gave up significant assets to land Smart prior to the 2023-24 season. The Grizzlies are very much invested in both. Of the two, Edey's position is most tenuous.
Sure, he looks like the heir apparent to Steven Adams, who gave the Grizz vital offensive rebounding and physicality in the middle. But Edey, decorated as he was in college, remains limited in the modern game. He could offset his lack of perimeter shooting and iffy defense in space by overpowering everyone in his path, but it's also possible that a faster, smarter, more skilled league often proves too much for him.
If that happens, Santi Aldama could slide in at the 4 as a full-time starter, moving Jackson up to the center spot. Aldama's lack of heft could leave Memphis in trouble on the boards, but he can shoot it from deep and has a serviceable fake-and-go game when opponents close out too aggressively. Jackson's presence in the middle will ensure the defense holds up, and Aldama's skills might prove necessary for a more balanced Grizzlies profile—especially if Smart's offensive game declines.
The only way Jaime Jaquez Jr. will fail to improve on last season's ninth-place finish in Sixth Man of the Year voting is if he pays so well that the Miami Heat can't keep him on the bench for enough games to qualify. That's a real possibility, as the incoming sophomore put up 11.
9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game as a rookie.
A heady, physical player who lived up to his billing as one of 2023's most NBA-ready prospects, Jaquez is a smart wing defender who can work his way to the bucket, make the right pass and contribute on both ends. Nikola Jović should get most of the starts at power forward, and he could perform well enough to hold onto the job. A full two years younger than Jaquez, Jović's shooting (39.
9 percent from deep last year) fills a clear void on a Heat team that has needed more offense for the better part of a decade. Should he falter, Jaquez will be waiting to step in, bringing a more balanced, malleable game. The way things are going for Khris Middleton, who added a pair of ankle surgeries to a lengthening list of procedures and won't be ready to start the season, there might be several Milwaukee Bucks getting shots at a starting position this year.
Taurean Prince will likely man the small forward spot in the early going, but one imagines the Bucks might eventually look for someone who can provide a little more of the playmaking Middleton did. That could be the opening Delon Wright needs. Wright was one of Milwaukee's shrewd minimum signings (along with Prince and Gary Trent Jr.
), and the hybrid guard is still in the league because of his defensive capabilities and connective passing. Never flashy, Wright has posted stellar assist-to-usage ratios and rarely turned the ball over throughout his career. Assuming Damian Lillard, Trent and Brook Lopez have the spacing covered, Wright could function as a better setup man than Prince until Middleton is ready to get back onto the floor regularly.
Naz Reid, last season's Sixth Man of the Year, has a couple of pathways to cracking the starting lineup. The first is a trade that reroutes Julius Randle elsewhere. It's hard to be sure just how much of the Minnesota Timberwolves' decision to trade Karl-Anthony Towns was financially motivated, but there's no denying that Randle's potentially expiring salary (player option for 2025-26) allows for more flexibility than Towns' gargantuan long-term deal.
Should Minnesota choose to move Randle before potentially losing him in free agency, Reid would be the obvious next man up alongside Rudy Gobert. Another possibility: Randle sticks around, but it becomes obvious that his playmaking would be better utilized with the reserves. Rookie Rob Dillingham won't be ready to run the show on his own, and neither Donte DiVincenzo nor Nickeil Alexander-Walker are first-thought facilitators.
Swapping Randle for Reid, whose three-point shooting would open up the floor for the starters like KAT's once did, could bolster both the first and second units. Even if he weren't sidelined by a hamstring injury, Trey Murphy III probably wouldn't have started on opening night against the Chicago Bulls. When healthy, Dejounte Murray and CJ McCollum are locked in at the guard spots, with Brandon Ingram, Herb Jones and Zion Williamson making up the frontcourt.
Daniel Theis got the nod over Williamson on opening night, and he'll be an option when there's a frontcourt vacancy. Tabbing Murphy as the most likely New Orleans Pelicans player to take over a first-unit position is still relatively easy—especially since Murray's fractured hand could move McCollum to the point and create a spot on the wing. The four-year, $112 million contract he inked on Oct.
21 was an unequivocal vote of confidence in the forward's ability to make a major impact. Clearly, the Pels see Murphy as a starter eventually. That moment should arrive when Ingram is traded at some point this season.
New Orleans may have to take back pennies on the dollar for Ingram, but that's still better than allowing him to walk away for nothing in July. And on the off chance Ingram lasts through the year, Murphy is still the most logical candidate to bump McCollum out of the starting group. One way or the other, he's bound to spend most of this season as a starter.
More options will emerge when Mitchell Robinson and Previous Achiuwa get healthy, but Deuce McBride is the only game in town for the time being. The New York Knicks sacrificed depth when they turned Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo into Karl-Anthony Towns, thinning a rotation that had already lost Isaiah Hartenstein in free agency. McBride, a 24-year-old guard who shot 41.
0 percent from deep last year, won't be new to any potential role expansion. He's already proved he can ramp up his contributions when necessary. After barely playing through December of 2023, McBride found himself regularly logging 40-plus minutes for a desperately thin Knicks team in March.
That may not be required of him in 2024-25 unless injuries afflict the guard rotation like they have the bigs in the early going, but McBride is still the only reliable backup on the roster. He's bound to log at least a handful of starts over the course of the year. The hand fracture that will cost Isaiah Hartenstein 5-6 weeks makes this an easy choice.
He'll surely log several starts at center once he's healthy. We think..
. The hardest part of forecasting the Oklahoma City Thunder's season is figuring out which of their many starting-caliber players will actually be on the floor for opening tips. Injuries have simplified that task for now, but it won't be long before the decisions will get trickier.
It's not clear that OKC's best looks will feature Hartenstein, who's a tremendous rebounder, passer and defender but who won't allow for the five-out spacing the team gets with Chet Holmgren as the lone big. It's unlikely the Thunder gave Hartenstein nearly $30 million per year so he could play exclusively off the bench, but it's also not clear he should start or close against every opponent. Alex Caruso is a good bet to head to the bench when Hartenstein gets back to full health.
Oklahoma City can't sideline Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams or Holmgren, and Luguentz Dort has the size and institutional-knowledge advantages on his new shutdown-defender teammate. The Orlando Magic have what appear to be five locked-in starters, several of whom they've recently handed big money. Jalen Suggs and Franz Wagner both have hefty extensions, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope got $66 million to come aboard in free agency and Wendell Carter Jr.
added three years and $58.7 million to his current contract. Paolo Banchero, an All-Star, is bound to get his own max extension next summer.
Long story short, injury is the only way an Orlando bench player can crack a first unit in which the team has so heavily invested. Of the options on the table, Carter, who's never played more than 62 games in a season, is the least historically durable. If he goes down, Goga Bitadze will be in line to start—just like he did 33 times last year when Carter went out with a hand injury.
It'd be more exciting if Jonathan Isaac got a chance to prove his elite per-minute defensive contributions play just as well with the starters as they do off the bench. But lineups including him, Suggs, Wagner and Banchero got outscored last season. Head coach Nick Nurse described the Philadelphia 76ers' starting lineup as "fluid" toward the end of the preseason, and he wasn't even referring to the planned unavailability of Paul George and Joel Embiid, both of whom sat out opening night due to their respective knee issues and neither of whom figure to play both ends of back-to-back sets this season.
Nurse was talking about swapping Eric Gordon into the first unit ahead of fellow free-agent acquisition Caleb Martin. This is a bet that Martin wins the job back before too long. Gordon has some of the deepest range in the league and regularly spots up well beyond the three-point line.
That's a valuable contribution, as it clears the floor for Embiid to work in the middle and Tyrese Maxey to dart into space. But Gordon is also 36, smaller than Martin and decidedly less impactful in the energy/disruption department. Martin may not be the shooter Gordon is, but he has the length, two-way game and defensive acumen the Sixers should want on the floor against the opponents' top threats.
The Phoenix Suns' starters are settled. Tyus Jones presumably took the minimum from Phoenix because he knew he'd get first-unit reps. Jusuf Nurkić is a mainstay at the 5, and only injury could displace Bradley Beal, Devin Booker or Kevin Durant.
It's possible the Suns' closing units will feature a bench player, as either Jones or Nurkić could find himself shelved in favor of more like-sized, switchier configurations. Versatile wing Royce O'Neale is a good bet to get more clutch-time minutes than either of those two, and Grayson Allen will be the go-to option whenever the lineup is short on shooting. Allen, though, makes the most sense as a replacement starter.
Assuming we're talking about the loss of Beal, Booker or KD, the Suns will want a fill-in who can command similar defensive attention. Allen doesn't have the on-ball game his star teammates do, but he shot a league-leading 46.1 percent from deep last season and requires the full focus of the opposing defense.
The logjam at center is intense, but the Portland Trail Blazers have every incentive to get rookie Donovan Clingan onto the floor to start games. Though he's currently behind at least Deandre Ayton and Robert Williams III (assuming good health) and has proved less than Duop Reath, the UConn product is too important to Portland's future to leave languishing on the bench during what should be a rebuilding year. This is when he's supposed to take his lumps, learn the ropes and hopefully establish himself as being worthy of the lottery pick the Blazers spent on him.
Williams is a definite trade candidate, as he's been a quality starter for some good Celtics teams in the past and only makes $12.4 million in 2024-25. That's an easy match for most teams who can spare some unwanted salary and a pick.
Ayton's remaining $69.6 million means he'll be tougher to move, but the Blazers need to position Clingan for success however they can. If all four centers currently on the roster are still around after the trade deadline, something will have gone wrong.
This might seem odd, as Keon Ellis got the starting nod for the Sacramento Kings in their Thursday opener. But it's pretty clear head coach Mike Brown only gave Ellis the nod because Kevin Huerter wasn't ready to go. Brown told Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee on Oct.
22 that Huerter is the preferred option if healthy. It's hard to imagine that'll last. Ellis is the best perimeter defender on the roster, an ideal balancing force in a starting lineup that otherwise skews heavily toward offense.
His insertion into the starting lineup late last year coincided with the Kings ranking among the league's top 10 in defensive efficiency after the All-Star break. Just ask Stephen Curry how much fun it is to be hounded by Ellis. Huerter has been a quality shooter and better-than-you-think distributor in the past, but he's not the best fit in the first unit anymore.
Ellis or even likely sixth man Malik Monk are far better options. Keldon Johnson lost his starting job just before Christmas last season, becoming a regular backup for the first time since his rookie season. This year, he should have every opportunity to earn his spot back.
At the moment, Jeremy Sochan is the San Antonio Spurs' starter at the 4. A defense-first forward with ugly 48.3 effective field-goal percentages across each of his two pro seasons, Sochan cramps spacing when he doesn't have the ball in his hands.
When he does have the rock, as he often did during his experimental days as a point guard last year, the offense doesn't exactly hum either. With Victor Wembanyama in the middle on D and Chris Paul or Tre Jones facilitating in what should be a pick-and-roll-heavy attack, floor-spacing shooters and slashers should make up the rest of the starting unit. That's where Johnson, who has shown the ability to stripe it from deep (39.
8 percent in 2021-22) and draw fouls by attacking the bucket (5.2 free-throw attempts per game in 2022-23) can add real value. Gradey Dick seems to have secured the only uncertain starting spot for now, and he'll slot in next to Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, Scottie Barnes and Jakob Poeltl when the whole gang is healthy.
Assuming Dick develops as a playmaker while continuing to knock down threes at high volume, he'll hang onto the job for the foreseeable future. Should he falter, or should the Toronto Raptors decide they need something different from their fifth starter, Bruce Brown Jr. makes the most sense as a replacement.
Of course, if Brown hadn't undergone knee surgery prior to the season, he might have pushed Dick out of the starting lineup anyway. The Raptors have every incentive to keep Brown's value high ahead of a midseason trade. An expiring contract is a key motivating factor for moving Brown, but there's also the fact that he should have a robust market among contenders.
It wasn't so long ago that he featured prominently in the Denver Nuggets' title run, and two-way wings who can do a little bit of everything (with consistently high energy) tend to stay in high demand. Dick's long-term development is obviously more important to Toronto in the long run, but getting something back for Brown is still a priority. The best way to do that might be starting him once he's healthy.
The presence of Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks and Walker Kessler in the Utah Jazz's starting lineup is good news for rookie Cody Williams. George got most of the nods at point guard last year, but neither Hendricks nor Kessler were regular starters for the majority of 2023-24. Their insertion in to the first unit suggests Utah will skew toward youth and development this year.
That should give Williams, who'll play the first month of his career as a 19-year-old, a potential edge over veterans like John Collins and Jordan Clarkson, both of whom started a ton of games last season. It's telling that Williams was in the closing lineup for a Jazz preseason game against the Sacramento Kings, after which head coach Will Hardy told Sarah Todd of the Deseret News : "Cody's ability to just really kind of take the game for what it is and see what's in front of him is a really good place to start. Are there going to be moments where we are trying to push Cody and demand kind of going for it a little bit more? Sure.
But right now, I think his decision making and when to shoot and when to pass is really good." It may only be a matter of time until Williams gives Utah four starters under the age of 24. Kyle Kuzma is one of the league's most likely trade candidates, and his eventual departure should open up a starting spot for one of the Washington Wizards' younger options.
Based on his preseason performance and draft pedigree, rookie Kyshawn George should get a long look when Washington selects a replacement on the wing. George made several high-IQ passes in the exhibition season while playing capable defense and knocking down open shots. The No.
24 pick appeared further along in his development than many expected, and it seems as the years spent playing in France prior to attending the University of Miami served him well. His game has more poise and polish than most rookies'. At 6'8", George could give the Wizards another rangy, versatile defender alongside last year's first-rounder, Bilal Coulibaly.
Most of his contributions would likely come on the other end, though, where George's connective passing and willingness to push the pace in transition could help a mostly toothless Washington offense take bigger bites out of opponents. In the end, the Wizards will be lucky to finish with a win total in the 20s. Why not hand the rookie a starting job as soon as possible and see how he handles it? Stats courtesy of NBA.
com , Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass . Salary info via Spotrac . Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report.
Follow him on Twitter ( @gt_hughes ), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale ..
