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It’s not always easy to find playing time for your most talented players. Veterans may be blocking the way, or maybe that player is just a bad fit with the rest of the roster. Whatever the reason may be, every year there are a handful of players who deserve more playing time but aren’t receiving it.
Each player on this list averages roughly below 20 minutes a night. Why is that? Well, you may think Will Barton needs to play more, and there’s certainly an argument for that, but we’re not campaigning for guys who are already receiving 30 minutes a night.
With that in mind, here are five players who deserve more floor time.
John Henson, PF/C, Milwaukee Bucks
I’ll never jump off this bandwagon. John Henson is a starting quality center in the NBA, and it’s a crime that in his fourth season with the Bucks, he’s only averaging a little over 16 minutes a night.
I’m well aware of the issues with Henson. He’s hurt a lot. He fouls a lot. His range is limited to within a few feet of the basket. His only scoring option is a weird lefty hook.
But what you can’t tell me is that Henson isn’t a game-changer with his length and mobility.
Henson is averaging 4.3 blocked shots per 36 minutes, which is second only to Hassan Whiteside. According to Nylon Calculus, Henson is second in the NBA in contest percentage at the rim, and opponents are only shooting 41.4 percent against him at the rim, which is in Serge Ibaka and Rudy Gobert territory. Any way you slice it, Henson is an elite rim protector.
He’s not a one-trick pony, though. Henson averages 3.7 offensive rebounds per 36 minutes on his career — which is better than Shaq and Dwight Howard’s career averages per 36, for context.
It seems highly unlikely the Bucks would be 29th in defensive efficiency with Henson receiving more minutes. Swap Henson for Greg Monroe and keep the other four starters the same, and the Bucks are 35.4 points better per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com.
Here’s the issue: Henson and Monroe have played just 27 minutes together, and with their limited range, you can understand why Jason Kidd is hesitant to pair them up. Both are signed to long-term deals (Monroe’s is up after 2018), however, and Henson is simply too good to be used solely as a backup center. Something has to change.
Kelly Olynyk, PF/C, Boston Celtics
Unlike John Henson, it took a while to warm up to Olynyk’s game. It was tough to make out what Olynyk would do at an elite level in his first few years, and so his limited playing time made sense. He was trying to figure out, and so were his coaches.
There’s reason to believe that Olynyk has turned the corner midway through his third year, however. He’s shooting 41.7 percent from three on 2.2 makes per 36 minutes, which qualifies him as a bona fide stretch big man. Perhaps more importantly, Olynyk is a good passer (2.8 assists per 36 on his career) who doesn’t selfishly look to chuck up his own shot. That’s badly needed with a score-first starting backcourt.
Olynyk has always graded out well in the advanced metrics, even going back to his college days at Gonzaga. This season has been no different. According to ESPN, Olynyk’s 4.37 RPM is 21st among all players in the NBA, believe it or not.
Boston’s big man rotation of Olynyk, Amir Johnson (another advanced stat darling) and Jared Sullinger seems to be working out just fine. The Celtics are second in the league in defensive efficiency, even without a real rim protector. It’s still surprising that even as Olynyk has improved his range, toned down the fouling and picked up his defense, he’s still averaging 20 minutes a night — the same he was in his rookie season.
Olynyk is the best all-around option for Boston at this point, but he plays less than Johnson and Sullinger. It’s probably time for Brad Stevens to put more eggs in his basket.
Kyle Anderson, (?), San Antonio Spurs
When you technically back up one of the best players in the world like Kawhi Leonard, you can’t expect to see a lot of playing time. The nice thing about Kyle Anderson, though? He’s a man without a position.
It’s hard to blame Gregg Popovich for only finding Anderson 12.9 minutes a night. His roster is stacked — especially in the frontcourt — where veterans like Boris Diaw and David West still need their playing time off the pine. Anderson is definitely better off covering bigs instead of smalls, so it makes matchups tricky.
It’s not logical to ask for more playing time for Anderson, but the heart wants what it wants. Slo-Mo lives up to his nickname and plays at a completely different pace, and it’s a joy to watch. In a recent game against Phoenix in garbage time, he ran point and checked Alex Len on the other end. How many players can do that?
Anderson needs to become a more dangerous outside shooter, but his 3.6 assists per 36 minutes are promising. There’s a Shaun Livingston with the Warriors vibe present here, and one can only hope that Anderson gets a little more time in his second year to put all the pieces together and crack San Antonio’s playoff rotation.
Cameron Payne, PG, Oklahoma City Thunder
I think Henson is the most egregious case, but Cameron Payne can make the biggest impact on the playoff picture.
Payne is just a rookie, and it’s understandable why there’s a hesitation on Billy Donavan’s part to give him a bigger role on a title contender. Oklahoma City’s starting lineup with Andre Roberson is one of the best in the league (more on that this weekend), and so a change might not be viewed as necessary. That’s fair.
What’s the problem? Roberson isn’t very good at basketball. He’s a terrible shooter and floor spacer, and so OKC is forced to play 4-on-5 while he’s out there. Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are so good that it doesn’t really matter, but if a team like the Warriors gives Roberson the Tony Allen treatment, you better believe it’ll matter then.
That’s what the Thunder should be preparing for. Roberson is a 27.4 percent three point shooter. Payne is hitting 39.7 percent right now.
The sample size for Payne instead of Roberson with the starters is tiny, so it’s hard to put much weight into the numbers. In just 13 minutes of time together, Payne with the starters has a net rating of +39.8, according to NBA.com. That should be something OKC should at least play with, as Payne’s ball handling and vision are also massive upgrades from Roberson, who’s out there for defensive purposes but isn’t a good enough defender to make it really worthwhile.
OKC should fight fire with fire and let the Westbrook/Payne backcourt combo at least have the chance to fail during the regular season.