If we end up in the same situation as last playoffs, we don't have enough "bigs"
Bigs means PF and C. Some of the guys you mention play both positions.
This was the first thing I thought of when I read the original post. Having a surplus of bigs on opening day is preferable to having a shortage come next April. Given this teams' history of injured big men, I'd say there really isn't any such thing as too many bigs.
Here's our starting front court's production from last season's first round playoff series:
Game 1:
Starting Center: Noah Voneh - 2 points on 1-5 shooting, 5 rebounds
Starting PF: Maurice Harkless - 11 points on 5-13 shooting, 3 rebounds
Combined: 13 points on 6-18 (.333 FG%) shooting and 8 rebounds
Game 2:
Starting Center: Noah Voneh - 3 points on 1-3 shooting, 3 rebounds
Starting PF: Maurice Harkless - 15 point on 5-14 shooting, 8 rebounds
Combined: 18 points on 6-17 (.353 FG%) shooting and 11 rebounds
Game 3:
Starting Center: Jusuf Nurkic - 2 points on 1-3 shooting, 11 rebounds
Starting PF: Maurice Harkless - 1 point on 0-4 shooting, 1 rebounds
Combined: 3 points on 1-7 (.143 FG%) shooting and 12 rebounds
Game 4:
Starting Center: Meyers Leonard - 0 points on 0-2 shooting, 3 rebounds
Starting PF: Maurice Harkless - 2 points on 0-3 shooting, 1 rebounds
Combined: 2 points on 0-5 (.000 FG%) shooting and 4 rebounds
4 Game Series Averages:
Starting Center: 1.75 ppg , .214 FG%, 5.5 rpg
Starting PF: 7.25 points, .294 FG%, 3.25 rpg
Combined: 9.0 ppg, .255 FG%, 8.75 rpg
That's just downright pathetic, no matter how you look at it. Our starting centers combined to make exactly 3 field goals in a 4 game series. We couldn't score inside, couldn't stop GSW from scoring in the paint and got killed on the boards. We flat out sucked at everything you need from your starting front court.
Because of a shortage of healthy bigs, Stotts elected to play both Harkless and Vonleh up one position at PF and center for much of the series. That failed miserably. We did get 11 rebounds and some solid defense and a +8 from a hobbled Nurk in 16:40 of Game 3, but it was not nearly enough to overcome our lack of healthy big men. So, Stotts tried mixing it up and starting Meyers at the 5 in Game 4 to give us some more size, and that was an even bigger failure than starting the undersized Vonleh at center.
No wonder Neil used our 3 first round picks to draft 2 bigs. If nothing else, we just need more big bodies as insurance against injuries. No way in hell should Mo Harklesss ever be a starting PF in a playoff series. He just doesn't have the size/strength to guard power forwards (even in today's stretch-4, small ball line ups) and he's not a good rebounder.
So, I'm totally cool with having "too many" bigs on opening night. Let these guys all fight it out for minutes. Vonleh, Nurk and Davis are all in contract years and the two rookies will be fighting for minutes. This internal competition is good. The cream will rise to the top, and if there are no significant injuries come late February, we can consider moving someone like Ed and/or Vonleh (both are expiring contracts and may not be back anyway) to improve our back court depth.
BNM