Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince saw their names pop up in trade rumors this summer, particularly involving Utah forward Carlos Boozer.
President of basketball operations Joe Dumars decided to keep his veteran wing players, despite the splashy free-agent signing of guard Ben Gordon and the team's apparent need for frontcourt help. That presents new head coach John Kuester with a dilemma similar to the one his predecessor, Michael Curry, confronted last season. How can he find enough minutes for his top perimeter players, particularly during crunch time?
Curry tried to play Hamilton, starting point guard Rodney Stuckey and Allen Iverson together at times and that strategy often backfired. Iverson wasn't comfortable playing off the ball and had trouble finishing at the rim. Stuckey was indecisive and tentative while trying to appease the other scorers on the court. Hamilton, who was used to getting the ball delivered on the money from previous point guard Chauncey Billups, often got lost on the perimeter.
In order to get his top five players on the court, Kuester will have to play Hamilton, Gordon and Stuckey together in a "small ball" look that would also include Prince sliding to power forward and Charlie Villanueva at center. Kuester plans to play small ball at times, since his other options at center (Chris Wilcox, Kwame Brown) are unimposing.
It would seem that in order to keep his top players happy, that's the direction he'll have to go when the game is on the line. Gordon, a dynamic sixth man, expects to play in those situations.
"As long as I'm out there at the end, helping my team win, that's what counts," he said.
Kuester earned a reputation as an offensive guru, especially as an assistant in Cleveland, but blending the skills of Hamilton, Gordon and Stuckey will be a much different challenge than meshing the talents of secondary scorers around LeBron James. Gordon believes he can work in unison with Hamilton, otherwise he wouldn't have made a five-year commitment.
"I think we can play together," he said. "I have no problem handling the basketball and creating plays for my teammates."
Fortunately for Kuester, he won't have to deal with Iverson's ego or his spotty perimeter shooter. Gordon gives the club an extra dimension as a 41 percent career three-point shooter, along with his ability to create off the dribble. Stuckey, Hamilton and Prince can also handle the ball and be playmakers while Villanueva could be a formidable pick-and-roll threat, especially if guarded by slower interior players.
It sounds good in theory, but Kuester will have a delicate problem on his hands if the small-ball approach doesn't work in fourth-quarter situations.
