Seriously consider. Start Dante Cunningham.

[BenDavis503]

Just let him take Nics 15-20 minutes a game. Let him start. That way, nothing really messes up our rotation. The starting 3 only gets 15 or so a game, not a huge part of the offense. Simple replacement of the starting small role 3. It worked for us last year. Lets try it again!

And I hate to say it, being as Batum is my favorite Blazer, DC might be a better all around player right now.

 

[B-Roy]

Uh...no.

 

[Shooter]

I like your thinking. It might be a bit overwhelming for Cunningham to be a starter this soon, but we do have quite a bit of depth at small forward, and we're going to be fine without Batum. Cunningham MAY be an even better player; I like what I've seen from him so far.

 

[LameR]

Don't get too ahead of yourself. Let's see him play in a regular season game before we anoint him serious time, let alone starting.

 

[Blazer_Hippie]

No way DC is better than Batum right now... that's delusional...

 

[Eastoff]

cunningham doesn't have the Defense. I think he should split PF back up games with Howard though. If a team is over .500 then have Howard be the back up PF. If a team is under .500 have Cunningham be the backup PF

 

[Shooter]

cunningham doesn't have the Defense.

And Batum never had the Offense.

 

[Eastoff]

And Batum never had the Offense.

But the other starters had the offense to make up for it. There is not enough defense in the starting unit now. Greg and...? Roy could play more defense, but he won't have gas left in the tank at the end of the night.

 

[noknobs]

No. Way.

DC's not ready to play meaningful minutes in the nba and you want him to start???

 

[PapaG]

If Webster can't handle starting, then his extension is a bust. This is what he is getting paid for in case of injury, and I think he'll be up to the challenge.

Nic Batum has lottery talent. Cunningham is a 2nd-rounder with the physical limitations associated with it.

 

[alex42083]

A second-round pick starting for a team that wants to contend for the WCF and Finals? Eh.. not yet. Develop him slowly. That'd be too overwhelming for the kid.

 

[Shooter]

Nic Batum has lottery talent. Cunningham is a 2nd-rounder with the physical limitations associated with it.

Cripes. I like what I've seen from Cunningham so far. He may already be a better shooter and rebounder than Batum.

 

[PapaG]

Cripes. I like what I've seen from Cunningham so far. He may already be a better shooter and rebounder than Batum.

You like what you've seen from Cunningham in limited minutes against players that didn't make rosters?

Far be it for me to call out a silly idea, but starting Dante Cunningham is a silly idea.

 

[BrianFromWA]

he was taken 7 spots below Batum's spot (iirc)...he had 4 years of smart, D-focused Nate-ball at Villanova, and has been playing some pretty regular minutes this summer and preseason.

I'm not saying start him, but Batum started Game 4 last year with fewer credentials.

 

[Shooter]

he was taken 7 spots below Batum's spot (iirc)...he had 4 years of smart, D-focused Nate-ball at Villanova, and has been playing some pretty regular minutes this summer and preseason.

I'm not saying start him, but Batum started Game 4 last year with fewer credentials.

Batum is a nice defensive player, and an athletic guy who can run the court, but DC brings other things that Batum doesn't--mainly, offense and rebounding.

I frankly never saw a whole lot to get excited about in Batum's game. I kept hoping he would get better, and I still do, but DC has shown me just as much potential as Batum has.

 

[MARIS61]

People with a better case for starting before DC does:

Everyone on the roster except Pendergraph and Mills.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

he was taken 7 spots below Batum's spot (iirc)...he had 4 years of smart, D-focused Nate-ball at Villanova, and has been playing some pretty regular minutes this summer and preseason.

I'm not saying start him, but Batum started Game 4 last year with fewer credentials.

This is exactly what I was thinking. Do people not remember last year starting Batum after he sucked it up in summer league and preseason? How did that turn out? I'm not saying start him either, but for the people saying its delusional or thinking its ridiculous, think about last year.

 

[rocketeer]

i can't see cunningham ever being successful at the small forward position. he might be a decent backup pf, but he absolutely shouldn't start anywhere and shouldn't play sf at all.

 

[PapaG]

This is exactly what I was thinking. Do people not remember last year starting Batum after he sucked it up in summer league and preseason? How did that turn out? I'm not saying start him either, but for the people saying its delusional or thinking its ridiculous, think about last year.

Dante Cunningham is not Nic Batum, and Batum dropped only because of the "heart issue" that spooked team.

Come on now.

 

[BenDavis503]

DC has plenty of college experience. He is older and knows how to play the game better. Nic might have more potential and have more skill, but that doesn't mean DC isn't better than Webster or Outlaw.

You were all saying this about Nic starting last year too. That he couldn't do it and he wasn't good enough.

 

[PapaG]

DC has plenty of college experience. He is older and knows how to play the game better. Nic might have more potential and have more skill, but that doesn't mean DC isn't better than Webster or Outlaw.

You were all saying this about Nic starting last year too. That he couldn't do it and he wasn't good enough.

Cunningham isn't even a SF though. He was a PF in college. Not only start a 2nd-rounder, but one that is playing out of position?

 

[BenDavis503]

Cunningham isn't even a SF though. He was a PF in college. Not only start a 2nd-rounder, but one that is playing out of position?

I am confident he can play SF. He is very in shape, strong, quick, has an outside shot and I think can guard other 3's in the league as good or better than Webster or Outlaw.

Besides. He is only replacing Nic, who only gets 15-20 minutes a game anyways. If that.

 

[bluefrog]

I like your thinking. It might be a bit overwhelming for Cunningham to be a starter this soon, but we do have quite a bit of depth at small forward, and we're going to be fine without Batum. Cunningham MAY be an even better player; I like what I've seen from him so far.

I agree.

If nothing else it will through off the opposing team's game plan. They will never be expecting him to start.

 

[LameR]

Rather than pushing for him to start, why don't you push for him to play about 15 minutes as a backup? That's a lot more realistic.

 

[ebott]

As a Webster homer I think this is the worst idea ever. But I would like to see Dante play some since Batum is out. Like he could play in the forth quarter of our first game.

 

[PapaG]

I am confident he can play SF. He is very in shape, strong, quick, has an outside shot and I think can guard other 3's in the league as good or better than Webster or Outlaw.

Besides. He is only replacing Nic, who only gets 15-20 minutes a game anyways. If that.

Start a rookie PF at SF on a team that thinks it can contend for a title? Batum started last year because camp proved that he was much better than even the team expected him to be. I remember Roy raving about him. I've yet to hear reports of Cunningham blowing everybody away at SF.

This board is like bizarro land at times.

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Dante Cunningham is not Nic Batum, and Batum dropped only because of the "heart issue" that spooked team.

Come on now.

Batum was still a 19 year old from France who was terrible at summer league against scrubs.

Cunningham is a 22 year old with 4 years of defense-oriented basketball at Villanova who performed extremely well at summer league and good during preseason.

I know he is not Nicolas Batum, but can you really not see the argument or any similarities?

 

[PapaG]

Batum was still a 19 year old from France who was terrible at summer league against scrubs.

Cunningham is a 22 year old with 4 years of defense-oriented basketball at Villanova who performed extremely well at summer league and good during preseason.

I know he is not Nicolas Batum, but can you really not see the argument or any similarities?

I see zero similarities, mainly because Cunningham is a PF, and because I've not heard reports of Cunningham surprising everybody at camp as I heard about Batum last season.

 

[ebott]

Batum was still a 19 year old from France who was terrible at summer league against scrubs.

Cunningham is a 22 year old with 4 years of defense-oriented basketball at Villanova who performed extremely well at summer league and good during preseason.

I know he is not Nicolas Batum, but can you really not see the argument or any similarities?

You can't use Batum as an example for why Cunningham starting would be a good idea. There's no comparison between Cunningham and Batum. For starters Batum is mostly a defensive player while Cunningham is mostly an offensive player. Batum is a guy that does well off the ball while Cunningham does most of his damage with the ball in his hands. Batum is a natural three and Cunningham is a tweener 3/4. It's just not a good argument.

 

[Natebishop3]

Plus, this is a totally different situation. Webster went down, and with no experienced small forward to take his place, Nate went with Batum (outlaw was playing the 4). In this case, Batum goes down, but we have a perfectly good replacement in Martell Webster waiting in the wings. At the very most, I could see Cunningham getting some time at the backup. That's it. Nate would be an idiot to start Cunningham over Webster.