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Maybe. He probably didn't take less money to be here, but he definitely sacrificed playing time. Or maybe he's just hoping on Al or TL to miss some time. Of course, Al has already missed time and Kanter still hasn't played. Maybe Kanter is someone Stevens liked but Ime doesn't care for. Seems like Jabari may have even leap frogged him, and Juancho has gotten more burn as well. Granted both of those players are more versatile and not strictly limited to the 5.
There's a lot of depth at C after TL and AL, even if it's not that great. I think we assumed Kanter would get those minutes because he can POINTZ and rebound. He doesn't really play D though so going with Grant or Jabari instead of Kanter isn't going to much matter on that end. Or even Juancho, who I think is terrible. I was high on him 4 years ago but he hasn't really improved.
My big order would be TL, AL, Grant, Jabari/Kanter, Juancho, Bruno. Note that all the
bench bigs besides Kanter can get minutes outside the 5.
I'm not a Grant fan, but he's an easy pick at 3. Him playing 20 minutes a night is fine as long as Semi isn't playing 15-20 minutes a night too. He appears to be around an average 3 point shooter and he's been using his passing skills more this year. Draymond Green he is not, but he's not a blackhole. He also has 2 dunks this year in 4 games. Last year he had 8 in 63. His rookie year, 5 in 69. Part of the reason I hate Grant so much is because of the Draymond Green comparisons after a pretty mediocre rookie year (other people think he had a good rookie year). I'd say he's more of a modern day Oliver Miller without the rim protection. And not just because of the weight issues. It's not a perfect comparison but Miller was a BBIQ guy who could pass a bit and used his body to his advantage. How well he played would also depend largely on his weight. It's 4 games in but I think Grant is going to emerge as the "8th" guy, partly because of need and partly because he's the best of the available options. I thought he was going to get minutes this year regardless because of injuries and because he strikes me as a coaches pet (or someone coaches like). So far, he's earned his minutes though. If he keeps it up, he's going to probably get paid more than TL. How weird is that?
Jabari would be in a tie with Kanter because he can POINTZ as well as Kanter but can also "shoot" the 3, to be kind. If he was smart, he spent this entire offseason locked in a gym shooting 3s. I'd go with Kanter when rebounding was a concern. As long as TL is healthy, that won't be too often. TL is a very underrated rebounder, but that makes sense given the Triple D (dunks, deflections and dimes). I said it earlier, but if TL is going to be closer to 30 mpg than 25, there's not much room for Kanter. This is even more true if Grant keeps up his play.
After that, I'd probably play Bruno over Juancho. Not because I think he's better, but because he's an athletic freak and on the right side of 25. It would be better if he were 21 instead of 23 but if that were the case, he wouldn't be here. FYI, Moses Brown has played 1 game, 3 minutes for Dallas.
I think we were all off on our minutes predictions for TL. You don't pay a big 4/54 if you only intend to play him 20-25 minutes a game. The 20-25 minute a night bigs are the ones who are fungible and easily replaced in the offseason. If you want that, you sign TT to a 2 year deal. Theis did get 4/36 to play 20-25 minutes a game. That was in Houston though. Different situations. TL is also getting paid 50% more, not a small thing.
With Williams Squared getting 50+ minutes a night and a healthy Horford, there won't be very many minutes to go around. It's only 4 games in and things change, but I'd be hard pressed to make an argument for Kanter over Grant right now. I think even if Kanter was the 3rd string center, he's looking at 5-6 mpg. I'm not sure how effective anyone can be in that role over 82 games. The players who get 5-6 mpg usually play less than 70% of the teams games and only play in garbage minutes, when someone's in foul trouble or someone's injured. I'd rather they just give those minutes to Grant.
Are there matchups where people see Kanter fairing better defensively than Grant and Gang? If Grant shoots over 60% on his 2 point FGs (better shot selection, less 3'-10' jumpers) and over 35% on 3s, while keeping an assist rate around 15.0%, he's going to be a real asset on offense. He's almost to the point/at the point where he's a play regardless of matchup (partly because of personal). The passing is a good thing to see and it's probably real, considering the scouting reports had it has a plus. He either wasn't asked to use the skill much his first 2 seasons or it just took him a few years to adjust to the NBA. It's nice that there isn't a huge drop off in passing whether you have Al, TL or Grant out there. His rebounding is an issue and it's been pretty bad thru 4 games but the rest of the package is better.
TL DR Kanter has no role with RL playing 30+ and Grant playing 20+.