He started almost all of last year. That's why Brogdon won 6th man.

My guess is their preferred 5 is White Brown Tatum Porzingis Rob. They've always kind of leaned double big with lesser (at least potential) combos than Rob and Porzingis. Rob can pass and screen on the perimeter and Porzingis can shoot. You might not prefer either on the perimeter against great playmakers, but they have enough athleticism that hunting a matchup too hard isn't worth it, especially with the length of the other to potentially lurk. They should work together fine. Tatum is competent if you want to go "small" and play him at the 4, but I don't think you want him to have the paint/rebound responsibilities when he's your offense's engine. He can play a lot of minutes but that's a lot for a season.

Edit: Brad also told us in the press conferences for the Smart trade that they viewed guard as a surplus and wanted another big. (Why I think Brogdon's ego is fine btw; their willingness to pivot to Smart means it was less about him and more about roster imbalance.)

@Ds4zkMjT @conciselyverbose sure! Why not?

I really don't think it's that debatable. Potential health and the difference in contracts are the reason they got picks out of the swap, not because they're equivalent players. There's a reason he's a perennial max-ish guy and Smart will never sniff it.

Porzingis is an efficient paint scorer, especially for your third option and with Rob as pure vertical threat. He's not just a catch and shoot guy on offense. He might not be your best scorer, but he's a damn good third option, and he's a great option against a zone team like Miami that wants to push you into taking short-mid range shots without getting to the rim.

Smart is a good defender, but he was far from a special one last year. He wasn't better at the point of attack or on the perimeter than White, and his standout trait defensively last year was that he wasn't a mismatch against bigs. Porzingis isn't a great defender, but he's also not a liability, and swapping him for Smart means you're even bigger while still not having anyone on the court that's easy to blow by. It also means Tatum can play 3 and doesn't have to battle in the paint as much to allow you to get rebounds.

Brad told you they had surplus at guard because they did. They want to play bigger and this lets them do it.