If Ty Lue insists on trotting out that same Collins-less starting lineup and playing him only 9-11 mins of the first half, then we will get the same results. ATL is fast and aggressive. They just punked the Lakers while short handed.

For the entirety of this decade there has been a passive aggressive war between Ty Lue and the Front Office. They’ve managed it and Kawhi’s injuries to where the team has overachieved. Now, however, this conflict really does threaten to put this team into the lottery. CP3, Beal and Lopez are too old for Ty Lue to squeeze any value out of them. Nico Batum gives whatever he has, but Ty Lue has been abusing him too. John Collins is simply too productive and too needed to keep on the bench. Bogi also has value but Ty has soured on him. Ty Lue keeps trotting out lineups that make little sense.

The solution is pretty simple: start Collins and Dunn together, play more through Zu, put Christie in above Beal as the backup #2, use Bogi as the backup #1, Use DJJ, Batum in the 2nd unit and staggered lineups. At that point, you can see a regular rotation of Harden-Kawhi-Zu-Collins-Dunn + Bogi-Christie-DJJ-Batum-Lopez, you might have something that other teams will find difficult to contend with. As for Beal, he clearly needs to play his way back into form and isn’t there yet. But even if he does get there, is he actually better than Christie is for this team at this point in time? Can the FO make a cold business decision here re: Beal?

My list of FFS Ty Lue:

1. STOP starting Beal. He’s not healthy and not playing well. Every game starts in a hole because of him.
2. Start Collins already!
3. DO NOT start Dunn! Just get some damn buckets before putting him in. You have DJJ.
4. STOP making Dunn the playmaker. He’s better in the dunker spot, as a cutter, or even top of the key to break zones.
5. Last but not least, GIVE ZU THE DAMN BALL!

The starting 2 should be Bogi or Christie. When Kawhi’s back, it should be DJJ or Christie. Unless Beal’s a HEALTHY, EFFICIENT scorer, he shouldn’t start.