Now that we assembled a tim for next season (a good one) let’s look at potential lineups. This is not an assumption what combinations will Malone play but my thoughts on what could work. And it’s not only mine, a lot of Stiffs share very similar views, so let me try put some analysis on that.

Starting lineup, as we all hope, will be: Murray, Haris, Chandler, Millsap, Jokic. Backups will probably be Nelson (Mudiay), Barton (Beasley), Hernangomez, Faried(Lyles) and Plumlee. Only problem is that Faried and Plumlee can’t play together because of terrible spacing. Plumlee is by far our best backup C, and Faried is our best backup PF. So I think something like this might work. Note that this is very simplified rotation, and of course there must be some in game modifications based on matchups and foul trouble.

We start the game with our best lineup:

1. Murray, Haris, Chandler, Millsap, Jokic

That lineap is our best defensive lineup. Murray will be better than Nelson (Mudiay) with one year under his belt; Haris will improve as he always does. Chandler can be better than last year with better defined role. Millsap is great defender as we all know. He will help Jokic with his help defense covering his back, allowing him to be more aggressive. Jokic is in better condition and with lesser responsibilities in caring a team by himself, he can be as good as in 2015-16 season (and that was very good). Now after 8 min. in first half we can sub Faried for Milsap. That is our lineup no 2:

2. Murray, Haris, Chandler, Faried, Jokic

This lineup is our best offensive lineup right now. Faried brings energy, hustling, running and rebounding. Defensively he is far from Millsap but he is good in help defense and drawing fouls (who has good stomach, can watch our game against Portland last year, where he draw 2 fouls on Nurkic and put him on bench although a little too late). So in next 8 mins. we can sub guards and small forward and after 16 min. of the first half we can go with lineup no 3:

3. Nelson, Barton, Hernangomez, Millsap, Plumlee

In this lineup we have a lot of playmaking (Nelson, Barton, Millsap, Plumlee), spacing, shooting. But the best thing is we know who no. 1 option is – Paul Millsap. And that is very important because last year we had a lot of good players but there was no clear packing order behind Jokic. 4 or 5 players thought they must carry a team. In this lineup we know who makes plays: it is Millsap, than Barton, Nelson, Plumlee and Hernangomez.

In second half we go with lineup No. 2 . from 24 min. – 32 min., then lineup No. 3 from 32 – 40, and we finish games with our best lineup No 1. So very simplified starters get from 28 -32 mins., backups 16 – 20. What can be very important here is balance between our 3 lineups. Our 2. and 3. lineups are top 5 backup lineups in the league. Who plays for OKC, San Antonio, Boston, Washington, Utah, Minnesota, LA Clippers when 3 starters are on the bench? This can also help with Faried because although he won’t start or play a lot of minutes his role will be better defined and he will play with Jokic where his skills would be maksimized.

So these are my thoughts on what could work. One thing that I’m pretty sure is that Faried and Plumlee lineups won’t work.