It's all incredibly hard to forecast, but fun to speculate on nonetheless. If there's one kid I'm tentatively penciling in for 20+ minutes next season, it's Terrence Samuel. I love his game. He's built like a bull, he sees the floor very well, he can defend multiple positions, and he seems to have no trouble getting wherever he wants on the floor. It's unclear how far along his jump shot is, but never forget for a second that this whole operation is built on defense. Terrence's versatility defensively is what enabled a brief look at some three point guard sets and full-court press last season, and I'm craving to see more of it. Additionally, with the added role Boatright is likely to assume offensively, we're going to need somebody else to fulfill the duties of making life hell for the opposition's best guard. Guys like Purvis, Cassell, and even Calhoun are wild cards, but I feel like I know I'm at least getting something positive from Samuel. His imprint will be all over this team.
Purvis is probably the most talented guard on the roster. There are great athletes, and then there are freak athletes. He is the latter. The N.C. State game from last season is one I studied extensively when I was writing my preseason preview last fall, and he was one of the Wolfpack players that jumped off the screen. He didn't have an enormous impact on the game, but the ease at which he scored in transition was head-turning. I don't know if he and Boatright are the most natural fit in a half-court setting - since they're both slashers by nature - but in the open court those guys are going to give coaches nightmares.
With Giffey, Napier, and Daniels gone, we lost an awful lot of shooting from last years team. It's easy to imagine a scenario in which Samuel, Purvis, Hamilton, and whoever we stick at the four aren't far enough along as shooters, and the spacing suffers as a result. In that sense, Omar Calhoun has a major opportunity to play big minutes this season, because between Boatright and Purvis - two guys who can collapse the defense practically at will - there are going to be a lot of open looks.
The other guys (Cassell, Hamilton, Lubin, even Facey to a lesser degree) are hard for me to comment on since I've barely seen them play. From all accounts, Hamilton is an extremely gifted offensive player, and if that is the case, Ollie is going to have his hands full maximizing his skill set while not compromising the structure of the offense. I imagine D-Ham will play predominantly at the three, and occasionally the four if Nolan and Brimah prove unable to play together. He's going to go from a kid who was regularly featured on his high school team, to somebody that is going to have to learn how to cut and screen away from the ball, spot up on penetration, and crash from the weak side for timely lobs and/or put backs. My guess is he'll be used in a similar capacity to the way Jeremy Lamb was used in 2011.
If there's anything we shouldn't do, it's box these guys into one or two positions based on where conventional wisdom dictates they play. Don't call anybody stupid for thinking Hamilton could play some four or Purvis could play the three, because Ollie might just try it. Nobody expected Samuel, Napier, and Boatright to ever share the floor together last season, and by March it was a regularly used lineup that caused all sorts of problems. If you have a black-and-white view of how basketball is played Kevin Ollie is probably going to change that. When he says "we're position-less", he's not joking. I'm expecting all kind of trial and error early in the season as Ollie juggles various lineups and figures out what works and doesn't. I get the feeling that Ollie's ideal roster is one where everybody on the team can play three different positions.
One additional prediction: Brimah will play the lion's share of the minutes at center. Nolan will play plenty, both in pinch duty at the four, as a backup at the five, and extensively when Brimah is in foul trouble or there is a stretch five he can't handle. That being said, assuming Brimah is healthy and shows no ill-effects from his shoulder surgery, you can pretty much assume he's going to be playing at least 25 minutes a night barring foul trouble. When you've been playing basketball for five years and you're already the best option at center on a team that won the national championship, you're a big-time prospect. He's going to be a star.
