'25 Playoff Rotation Predictions: A Collaborative Deep Dive

[Smitty]

Seeing how many times AD brought the ball up last night and the ball ran through him above the break, and knowing they likely haven't had the chance to customize their offense around the new roster yet, even in the simplest terms, I think something became clear:

They were playing Luka as the 4. He was playing PG on offense, obviously, but when those sets were drawn up, his number was the 4. AD literally slotted into that same position, and was basically performing Luka's role in the offense at times last night, at least in terms of court positioning and spacing, so that the others could do the off-ball movements they've been practicing all season.

How this plays out in the future, I don't know, but I found that to be quite interesting.

Great observation. The biggest weakness to me is not having another elite playmaker in close games down the stretch. Kyrie is great, but better off ball with another initiator. Putting AD in that role with either a Big that’s too slow, or a wing that’s not big enough on AD - maybe that’s how they fill the need for another initiator in the clutch. A bit unorthodox, but something that can work against most matchups. 

Ultimately, I think a lot of playoff success will hinge on the play of either Spencer or Exum. With the emphasis on defense and nearly every player in the rotation being a plus defender, I could see Spencer’s offensive ability being leaned on more than Exum because he has more juice on that end. Then, the ”others” are capable of making up for what he and Kyrie lack on the defensive end.

I can see their plan a bit more. They also ran a lot of staggered screens early to get Klay going. I think we’ll see more of that incorporated as well.