What would your preferred starting lineup be?

[Wolvesfan21]

Take your pick for who should be starting right now.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

I voted "other":

DLO, Beasley, Okogie, McDaniels, KAT
6th man subbing for Okogie - Edwards

I just think Okogie is less of a liability on offense if the other four guys can shoot. This also makes sure we have two legit defenders on the floor that can switch on almost anyone.

Edwards would come in early for Okogie and still get good run with the other four starters.

[Lipoli390]

I voted "other":

DLO, Beasley, Okogie, McDaniels, KAT
6th man subbing for Okogie - Edwards

I just think Okogie is less of a liability on offense if the other four guys can shoot. This also makes sure we have two legit defenders on the floor that can switch on almost anyone.

Edwards would come in early for Okogie and still get good run with the other four starters.

I voted with the majority, but your idea makes sense too. Your idea seems like the most sensible way to use Okogie. The more popular lineup that I voted for would put Okogie on the floor with Rubio in the second unit. It would be problematic to have two terrible scorers like that on the court at the same time. I'm assuming the second unit would be Ricky, Nowell, Okogie, Vando and Naz. That would be a good defensive lineup but they'd have a hard time scoring.

[Coolbreeze44]

I might set it up a little more for the future and have Beasley be the 6th man. The starting unit would be:

DLO
Nowell
Edwards
McDaniels
KAT

[Wolvesfan21]

I might set it up a little more for the future and have Beasley be the 6th man. The starting unit would be:

DLO
Nowell
Edwards
McDaniels
KAT

I kind of like that one too.

What happens when Nowell says, hey I'm a starter give me starter money. I guess we got him though for two more years though, but still something to think about. I might stick with Nowell on the bench still I worry he could struggle with confidence like he did last season. Let him come along a little slower.

[cpg29]

DLO
Bease
Nowell
KAT
McDaniels

[FNG]

Q's comment in the GDT that there isn't much separation in our players after KAT makes this a difficult question, but I'm going to give it a shot. I'm going to leave Culver and DLO out of the equation since both are currently injured. One thing I feel strongly about: the Okogie experiment has nearly run its course, and he can't be in the starting lineup. My final goals are to get more defense into the starting lineup (and to have Beasley available as instant offense off the bench), but to give the defensively-challenged Ant starter minutes to see what he can do. So my "other" answer is:

Rubio
Nowell
Edwards
McDaniels
KAT

I suspect that we might have beaten a very good Clippers team last night if these 5 had started and played the most minutes (with ample backup minutes from Beasley, Reid and J-Mac).

[FNG]

I voted "other":

DLO, Beasley, Okogie, McDaniels, KAT
6th man subbing for Okogie - Edwards

I just think Okogie is less of a liability on offense if the other four guys can shoot. This also makes sure we have two legit defenders on the floor that can switch on almost anyone.

Edwards would come in early for Okogie and still get good run with the other four starters.

Q, I've been repeating the "Okogie is a plus defender" mantra his entire career, but I'm beginning to realize he's just not as effective on defense as we may have thought. He exerts so much effort on the defensive end, and has all the physical attributes to make him a plus defender, but I've come to the conclusion he just isn't very smart on defense. I now have JO in a similar category as Beasley and Edwards on defense (similar, but still better of course, because Beas and Ant are among the worst defenders in the league)...a lot of manic activity and sometimes disruptive, but not effective on balance. I contrast their defensive style and effectiveness with that of Nowell and Culver, who always seem to be in the right place at the right time, and thereby show up stronger in defensive metrics than Josh.

We all agree on Okogie's offensive ineptness, but his defensive metrics tell me his defense isn't nearly enough to offset how he hurts us on offense. He certainly doesn't start if I'm coaching, and doesn't even join my rotation absent injuries. Look closer at his defensive metrics and tell me where I'm wrong.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

FNG, I agree that Okogie is not an elite defender. I do think he's better than you are saying he is. Keep in mind Okogie is almost always on the court when the other team's starters are on the court and therefore their best players, so that is going to affect his Defensive Rating (the NBA stat, not the b-ball reference stat). And he's almost always assigned to the toughest offensive wing, some of whom are so good that you can play perfect defense and they still make shots.

My starting lineup views Okogie as mostly a token starter. Get him out there with 4 other guys that can shoot and let him defend aggressively early and often. I'd sub for him mid-way through the 1st and 3rd quarter with Edwards and, who knows, he may never see the court again.

I'm just not comfortable starting two rookies - McDaniels and Edwards - with the other guys. Plus we need to get DLO, KAT, and Beasley shots early. Putting Edwards in the starting lineup kind of freezes him out early, so why not balance things out with a pure defender like Okogie and then you bring Edwards in after the others get some early shots. Knowing the pecking order and making sure these big egos get touches early is super important to maintain order in the lockerroom and its kind of a waste of Edwards' talent to just stand in the corner the first 5-7 minutes of the game

[KG4Ever]

KAT, McDaniels, Beasley, Nowell and JMac. You could sub Vanderbilt and Rubio in for McDaniels and JMAC too and I'd be happy too.