Finally! FINAL-LY!!! And justice for all …

I do think Batum’s opportunity to acclimate himself and get comfortable could be the biggest long-term positive of Morris’ absence. If Patterson continues to look as bad as he did Tuesday, Batum really might be the only other playable power forward on the roster behind Morris, which means he’s likely to be at least kind of in the playoff rotation. If he’s comfortable and confident from the jump, so much the better.

As for Reggie, I could not agree more. Even outside of personal preferences and biases, I’m not sure what the downside in giving Mann playing time right now is. We all know what Reggie is and what he brings to the table. Barring at least one major injury, he’s not going to be in the playoff rotation. But if Mann really stands out and impresses, he’s a guy who could force his way at least a bit higher in the rotation. I’d love to see him get consistent playing time for 15-20 games, even if it’s just 8-10 minutes a night.

I like the bullet points in the latter part, but I would have ordered them differently. The second one seems to be the primary issue–we’re going to get a much more substantive early look at Nic Batum because of this injury. That’s a big deal. Batum has gotten a surprising opportunity to play himself into a decent number of minutes. A good amount of minutes would have been available regardless, because of Kawhi’s load management and the departure of JaMychal Green, but he’s in the spotlight for the time being. And he seemed comfortable enough.

It’s interesting that Luc RMM was mentioned, as he became an unlikely starter and key cog for the Clippers, even though he never managed to have a strong enough presence on offense. Batum isn’t a lockdown defender like Luc, but he has much more of an overall game. He has always been a nice player, even if it’s still a head scratcher how he got such a monster contract (maybe some one can break that down in depth), and it turned into one of those that made him seem less valuable, due to the extreme pressure to perform. But now we get to see what he’s got left. JaMike was a real joy to watch on the Clips for 1 1/2 seasons, and he will be missed. Batum will be very different, but we’ll see if he can make a significant contribution.

As far as Reggie goes–and that seems to be what folks want to talk about–the short leash was kind of exciting, of course. But my hope is just that Terance Mann gets a fair chance to compete for those minutes. The sooner the better. I think that Reggie is talented enough that if he has to sit for awhile, he’ll come out and make plays and hit shots. We’ll have a better sense of this backup PG stuff–and a better look at Luke K’s role–after the next two games. Will we see Reggie guarding Luka D in critical possessions at the end of the game? That would be upsetting and ugly.

By the same token, Vogel has earned plenty of capital but, you know, the Lakes could lose a few now–pressures on. If they do, some of their faithful will start poking a bit at the guy. That’d be a thing of beauty, wouldn’t it?