Is everyone thinking that we swap Mann for Dunn?

On Zu, he does tend to come out really solid to start every year and then he eventually drops off. This year is a little different in that 1) he is starting off way hotter than ever (so even if he drops off a bit, he’ll still be great) and 2) Zu seems to generally thrive next to Harden. So I’m hopeful Zu continues to play like a top 5-10 center and make us a very good team.

On Norm, I really didn’t see this coming, but it seems like Norm is continuing his stellar play from the second half of last year. It’s possible that Norm is also just thriving playing with Harden and that Ty knows exactly what to do with him.

On Harden, I continue to really love having him on the team. Firstly, let’s give him some credit for showing up in shape. Harden is taking his role seriously this year. He’s still so smart and talented. He’s a great guy to boost our role players and he’s the primary reason I was optimistic going into the season. He is so much better than Paul Georgge as a floor raiser. He has the ability to explode scoring wise, but more importantly, his passing, playmaking, and ability to get to the line is worlds better than PG. Keeping Harden and letting PG go was clearly the right move (I just wish we never traded for PG in the first place and instead waited for Harden to demand a trade). He’s going to continue to make everyone better and he historically has been very healthy (knock on wood). He’s the perfect player to have on a Kawhi team. If/when Kawhi comes back, Harden will be the perfect floor general to reintergrate him and maximize our ceiling. Until then, Harden should be a great floor raiser.

1) James Harden’s arrival. James, a generational PG, has built his rep, in part, on making bigs look like supernovas; e.g. Clint Capela. I’d also say that if James has to rest or otherwise has to sit out, then Zu’s game will correspondingly decline. Zu needs James.

2) As to stony hands, still there but to a lesser extent. Maybe the criticism has spurred work in that area. “Hey Zu, secure the ball hard with two hands–that’s your no. 1 priority.”

3) Without KL and PG, Zu’s opportunities have skyrocketed and with all those reps he’s naturally improving and making the most of those opps, so cudos to him.

As to the no face to the basket shooting, he can do it and gets plenty of wide open elbow jumpers (where he doesn’t even consider taking) and the coaches should encourage him to take those shots–but they’re not (saw him make a nice one in the flow). I don’t see that dynamic changing.

As for being hunted, Zu’s a really big guy and you just can’t expect him to defend guards effectively on the perimeter (or bigs who can shoot 3s for that matter–Jokic was 7/12 from 3 Saturday and scored 41). That’s where guys like Nico, Kawhi and DJJr come in so that criticism still stands and why Zu will likely be benched in critical late games.

And yes, I’m the Mann “hater” too (almost sounds like “man eater”). Here’s a guy who is not benefiting from the absence of the two stars where he had plenty of room to operate with those guys on the floor (or in second unit situations vs. lesser caliber players). This is a glaring problem that the coaching staff is no doubt trying to figure out (at least I hope they are). Play him in the second unit and we just mite see improved production–best for the team.

Maybe the same on T. Mann?

Let’s see how the season plays out. 79 games to go.

I’m curious on how Bones is going to thrive here or be shipped out at the trade deadline.