Lineup Discussion: Good on Paper Vs Good on Court

[Dundalis]

Here is the app:

https://crumpledpaperjumper.shinyapps.io...eupFinder/

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What do you think?

Interesting.  Luka and KP are super upper right on a couple of these graphs.  Hardaway's agent needs to show the S + P graph in the power-point on why he deserves to be extended.  Maxi is also a fairly unique player.

When you dig into the app a little you find the Mav's really struggled to find a fifth starter to go with KP, Luka, THJ and DFS.  Powell was good, but that isn't a sure thing going forward.  No one else really set the world on fire.  With that said, there were combos with some of the starters alongside bench players that were promising.  Brunson in place of Luka with the other starters did just fine.  You could even find some lineups with Wright that worked.  There were some really bad Maxi lineups and Curry wasn't especially helpful.  Not disastrous, just not helpful.

The tough thing is injuries and a short season prevented us from getting enough of a look at many of these combos to know certain things with certainty.  My takeaway is about what it was before seeing these graphs.  If we could find one more starter in the Top 60 of the NBA range, we'd have enough to finish off the starters.  We already have some very good bench players except when we ask them to be starters.  We probably need one good one.  With health, that team is hosting first round playoff games.

The issue is THJ and DFS are both almost soley reliant on 3pt shooting efficiency to remotely be capable NBA starters. MAYBE they keep up the trend, but they are both in their late 20's and just had complete anomoly career shooting seasons. The potential for them to revert somewhere back to the norm is pretty high. I'd want a minimum of 2 proven quality NBA starters, or one NBA star.