Projecting Bucks’ opening night roster and rotation 3 days before preseason tipoff

On roster cuts: At this point, it is hard to see Coffey being left off the roster unless someone else explodes during training camp or Coffey plays poorly. Whether he and Prince seem largely interchangeable are small forward – Prince for lights-out shooting, Coffey for a boost on defense. Really, though, Prince is a fine defender and Coffey hits his threes, too (40.9% last season).

On the starting lineup: In a limited sample size, the Bucks had their best net rating last season in a four-man group featuring Giannis, Porter, Trent, and Green. It’s a bit of a small-ball lineup, but it’s also Doc Rivers’ best option for purposes of pace, shooting, and collective defense. Facing more physical opposing threes, he also has the option to slide in on a larger player like Prince, Coffey, or Kuzma for a spot start.

The default, though, should be playing the 6-foot-5 Trent at small forward, and sprinkling in Green as well. Whether or not Rivers will do that remains to be seen. He has already clarified that Prince will occupy a bench role, but he could still try to force Kuzma into the starting five. Hopefully he decides against it.

On Sims barely getting minutes: Unfortunately, there simply isn’t much of an opportunity in the frontcourt. Sims offers bounce, but that becomes less urgent with Turner as the starting center instead of Brook Lopez. Turner isn’t springy, but he isn’t treading the court in lead boots either. Sims’ lack of any shooting skills whatsoever and overall offensive limitations will cap his minutes substantially.

At 6-foot-9, he also lacks the size of an interior defender. In games that get out of hand, or on days off for Turner, Portis, or Giannis, he should have an opportunity for more playing time.