GUARDS
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At this point, we have a 4-man rotation, which seems like enough:
Donovan Dent
Skyy Clark
Trent Perry
Eric Freeney
That seems lot a solid group. I suspect that Skyy and Trent will be a lot better next season, and the reports out of practice are that Eric has been looking very good.
Dent shot 41% on threes last season, and Skyy shot 40%. Trent shot 47% on three in his senior year of high school and Freeney was an excellent outside shooter in high school with a quick release. With Bilodeau (40%) and Dailey (38%) we should be an excellent shooting team next season.
As for Sebastian Mack, I think the arrival of Donovan Dent means he is more likely to leave. There is less PT, and with the high cost of Dent, there may not be much, if any, NIL money available for Mack. We probably don't want to be spending our money on another guard.
Also Eric Freeney has shown the ability to replace Mack as the "toughest guard on the team".
CENTER / POWER FORWARD
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We are in good shape with Aday, Bilodeau, and Dailey. Bilodeau can play some backup center, however, like most folks, I think we could use a backup center from the portal.
We probably don't have the money for an established, major-college center, and it will be almost impossible to find an established center who would want to be a backup. We probably want someone who can give us 10 minutes a game, set good screens, play defense, and get a dunk or two every game. Some shot blocking would be nice, too.
It could be a bruiser or a tall skinny guy who has good hops.
THE THREE
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With the departure of Kobe and Lazar, this is the obvious hole in the roster. Dailey hasn't shown the ability to defend other teams' wings. Freeney might be able to do it a bit, but at 6'4", he doesn't seem big enough.
One candidate is Brandon Williams. At 6'7" - 220, he is the right size. We haven't seen him play in a year, so we aren't sure what we are getting.
Then there is Tyrone Riley. He's 6'5" 190, so he is a bit small, but I suspect we are recruiting him for a reason. We don't need another guard, so the coaches must be planning to slot him in here.
THE ROSTER (* denotes my projected starter)
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Donovan Dent*
Sky Clark*
Trent Perry
Eric Freeney
Aday Mara*
Tyler Bilodeau*
Eric Daily
Brandon Williams*
Tyrone Riley (if he comes to UCLA)
backup center to be named later.
That's 10 rotation players
NIL
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I have heard the figure of $10 million for our war chest. Here are some guesses about how it might be distributed. These are GUESSES, not information.
Dent $3 Million
Clark $1 Million
Perry $1 Million
Freeney $500K
Mara $1.5 Million
Bilodean $1 Million
Dailey $1 Million
Williams $500K
Riley ?? $200K
backup center $200K
That comes out to $9.9 Million.