New head coach Wes Unseld Jr. will have some starting lineup options when the team opens training camp later this month. Russell Westbrook’s trade request enabled the deal that gave the team real NBA depth for the first time in recent memory.
They don’t have redundancy of excellence, but they go eight or nine deep with competent NBA players. In some senses, Unseld will have a similar challenge that Scott Brooks had last season — several players with “about the same” impact but with different styles.
Some of the starting lineup is easy, of course. Bradley Beal and Spencer Dinwiddie will start in the backcourt, assuming Dinwiddie is sufficiently recovered from his torn anterior cruciate ligament nine months ago.