Five possible rotations with the Enes Kanter injury
By Tony Heim
3. Make Jerami Grant the first OKC big off the bench
By now you are probably aware of who I think should start in Domas’ spot. I won’t ruin the surprise if you still aren’t sure. Anyways we gotta talk about Jerami Grant finally getting to play primarily at stretch four.
When you look at Billy Donovan’s rotations (when the roster is healthy) you notice that Grant tends to be one of the last players to check in. Well in this new made-up rotation Grant should be the first player to come off the bench.
Related Story: Figuring out Jerami Grant’s fit in the rotation
Grant will come in for _____ around the time that Kanter normally comes in for Sabonis. This way the Thunder will get to play more with the Westbrook-Oladipo-Roberson-Grant-Adams lineup that has become popular in crunch time.
For a few minutes you get the all-defense lineup some clock together, than the small-ball lineup as Domas comes in for Adams to end the quarter. Remember the first step in this new rotation? Adams eventually comes in for Roberson, pushing Grant to the three.
Nowwwwww you see the method to my madness.
If you read me (and thank you for that if you do) you know how important I think the development of Grant is. This new rotation would give him a little bit of playing time with all the potential lineups/positions he could be a part of.
Grant is Andre Roberson on steroids: he’s two inches taller, more athletic and not offensively inept. Billy Donovan’s focus should be putting him into as many different situations as possible because Grant’s huge ceiling comes from his versatility. But speaking of Andre..