Even if he isn’t good enough to start he proved in abundance that with limited minutes he can be just as effective as Ayton in limited minutes. I think you are forgetting how bad it got when Ayton went to the bench the season before. The lane was a revolving door. How you can say this roster is only slightly worse when he was the most effective backup we have had in a long time is just surprising.
I think it definitely hurts as far as depth add center, but as long as DA and BB remain healthy I'm really not that worried about the quality of play dropping off. I only have my bad memory and no numbers in front of me to support this, but my recollection was that we continue to get strong production from the center position when both DA and javal McGee were out for several games during the regular season.
I'm also hopeful that Saric Will come back strong and provide that depth not only at center in a small ball situation but at Power forward more importantly. Don't forget we also have Jacques Cousteau and maybe we'll even get lucky and sign everybody's crush this year from summer league, Sarr.
We may not have as many wins as last year, but I'm optimistic right now that we'll get a strong return from CP 15, and continued growth from cam Johnson, bridges, DA, and even booker. I still believe this is a championship caliber team.
Joe