iss-deal to be made before the trade deadline. I think we can all get off the Wilson Chandler wagon, but do you pass him up if the Nuggets accept TPE + Cunningham and maybe a pick for him?
No, he should be a little more than a towel waver. We are too short on good perimeter defenders and athletic guys who can handle quick PG not to use one. Definitely times when we need that, and he's a guy who will improve for the playoffs with even limited PT, as long as it's consistent. Give him some minutes on Schroeder when we play Atlanta, etc.
In a small lineup Shump and JR can both be at SF in a second unit, opening space for JC at times.
There's only so many minutes and playing 5 guards is a stretch, playing more than 5 is nearly impossible. I mentioned he would see time for certain matchups with quick PGs but there's maybe 5 guys in the league that fit that description. There's only 96 minutes to go around at the guard positions.
Kyrie - 30 (like it or not, this is pretty much the bare minimum he'll play... he played 36 mins last year and most starting PGs play 32-36 mins)
Shumpert - 24 (He just got 40 million to play, not to ride the pine... this is the same as his minute avg last year)
JR - 20 (This is a reduction from nearly 32 minutes last year)
Mo - 15 (Has played 25 minutes or more his whole career except his rookie year)
Delly - 7 (He really should be getting more minutes than this)
It might be possible to get JR or Shump a few more minutes playing as a 3 but I think RJ will see the lion's share of minutes behind LeBron. LeBron's playing 33.5 mpg right now and that's a career low. I doubt it gets much lower than that with 32 likely being a bare, bare minimum. That leaves 14-16 minutes behind him to divvy up between RJ, Shump and JR.
Even without factoring in Cunningham, it's hard to get our 5 guards minutes. You're not going to cut into those guys minutes or RJ's minutes to get him more run.
If and when we have our full roster, Cunningham will be a situational defender, towel waver and leader of the garbage time crew. Hopefully he can keep sharp in case we need him.