A look at next years rotation.

[Maverick.AU 13,279]

21H AGO BASKETBALL

Re-adjusting the rotation: Traore in, Kessler, Smith and Cambridge out

Christian Clemente • AuburnSports

Staff

@CClemente__

 

Auburn's basketball rotation chart for next season has already taken some turns, with the departure of SF Devan Cambridge to the transfer portal, C Walker Kessler and PF Jabari Smith to the NBA Draft and landing the commitment of PF/C Yohan Traore.

So, it's time to re-adjust the Auburn rotation chart for next year. 

Quick note: If a player is on the roster they'll be treated as if they're here next year. 

 

 

 

 

Yohan Traore projects at the four or five for Auburn. (adidas)

Point Guard

1. Zep Jasper OR Wendell Green Jr.

2. Zep Jasper OR Wendell Green Jr.

3. Tre Donaldson OR Chance Westry

Auburn's backcourt, which received its fair share of criticism down the stretch this year, should turn into a strength next year. The three-guard combo of Zep Jasper (who announced his intention to return in February), Wendell Green Jr. and K.D. Johnson look primed to all return next year.

Add in Tre Donaldson for some more point guard depth and Chance Westry who could play the 1-3 and your guard depth is very strong next year.

All of Auburn's returning guards have things they can clean up and improve upon this offseason, and if they can each take a step forward, even just a small one, Auburn is in a good spot for next year.

For now, Jasper seems like the likely starter after he got the nod this year, with Green acting as the sixth-man and the closer at the point guard position.

Shooting Guard

1. K.D. Johnson

2. Chance Westry OR Zep Jasper OR Transfer

At shooting guard it will likely be the Johnson show again next year. His strong on-ball defense along with his ability to take over games should be even more crucial next year with no Smith. Focusing on improving his 3-point shooting and being a little more in control of his game will be on the docket for his offseason.

Behind him is the No. 31 player in the Class of 2022, the versatile Chance Westry. Westry is a strong defender who can play with or without the ball in his hands on offense and still make an impact. He should be a strong option to come off the bench behind Johnson. For now he's at SG, but he could be at the point or playing small forward with his size at 6-foot-6.

Jasper played a little shooting guard this year and could do the same next year if need be.

Auburn is also hot in pursuit of LSU transfer Brandon Murray. A 6'5" guard who could play the two or three at Auburn. Murray averaged 10 points per game as a freshman while shooting 42.6 percent from the floor and 33.6 percent from deep.

Small Forward

1. Allen Flanigan

2. Chris Moore OR Chance Westry OR Transfer

With a full offseason returning back to 100 percent healthy and building chemistry with his teammates, Allen Flanigan could be a big part of next year's team. It was a tough season for the preseason All-SEC selection after being forced to miss time with an Achilles injury and then going from being a star on the team as a sophomore to a role player struggling to find his groove his junior year.

Do not give up hope on Flanigan. He's a plus-defender and rebounder already, and if he can find his offense again, he'll be a huge veteran presence next year.

Behind Flanigan is where things get a little interesting.

Westry is a versatile piece as a freshman and could play the one-through-three next year. Probably wherever he's most needed is where he'll slot in and play a big role. 

Chris Moore is another option, but his future is somewhat clouded going into next year. He was a contributor off the bench his freshman year playing over 11 minutes per game, but saw his role dwindle to an afterthought off the bench as a sophomore. He's proven he can be a valuable piece, but will he be ready to be the backup three next year? That remains to be seen.

This is also another spot Murray could play, should Auburn land him.

Another potential option is LSU de-commit 

Julian Phillips, whom Auburn is pursuing.

 

Power Forward

1. Jaylin Williams OR Yohan Traore

2. Transfer

The starting four will come down to how Bruce Pearl and Auburn's coaches opt to utilize Yohan Traore, most likely. At 6'11", 227 pounds, Traore could certainly play as a stretch-five next year. But Auburn could also opt to play him at the power forward, or "big guard" spot as Pearl calls it, and bring in another big interior shot-blocking threat similar to Kessler.

If Traore ends up at the five, it's the Jaylin Williams show at the four. He was the starting center his sophomore year and really excelled at times with multiple 20-plus point games. Then when Smith and Kessler came in, he was relegated to the bench. It was a tough transition, but he ended the season on a high with big games against Jacksonville State before leaving with an injury and then 12 points in 18 minutes against Miami.

The four is a spot you'd expect to see some more movement at as Auburn works the transfer portal.

Center

1. Yohan Traore OR Transfer

2. Dylan Cardwell

3. Stretch Akingbola

Again, depending on how Auburn opts to utilize Traore will largely affect the center position for Auburn. Pearl could opt to run Traore as a stretch-five.

Or, he could opt to hit the portal. Johni Broome, is a Morehead State transfer and a first team All-Ohio Valley Conference selection the past two years. This past year he averaged 16.8 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game while ranking third nationally in blocked shots. Auburn has made contract with Broome.

Another option through the portal is NC State transfer Manny Bates. The big man only played in one game this year before a shoulder injury ended his season, but similar to Kessler and Broome, he's a big presence inside and would be a strong defensive presence for Auburn. 

Both are options and more options may arise in the portal.

Behind whatever happens at the starting spot, Auburn returns the depth of Dylan Cardwell, who progressed well during his sophomore season and is a strong option off the bench for Auburn.

Stretch Akingbola also may opt to return, but that one is a little more up in question after seeing his role dwindle in 2021.

[ellitor 33,091]

Probably best to revisit this topic after all the transfer moves have been made.

[Maverick.AU 13,279]

15 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Probably best to revisit this topic after all the transfer moves have been made.

 

15 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Probably best to revisit this topic after all the transfer moves have been made.

Wanted to put this here mainly so people could see the process and since it also talked about how we might attack the portal and some of the people that we contacted.

[gravejd 3,270]

7 minutes ago, Maverick.AU said:

 

Wanted to put this here mainly so people could see the process and since it also talked about how we might attack the portal and some of the people that we contacted.

Agreed that this is way too early with transfer still happening. Also thank you for posting! I'll take all the bball articles i can get and i'll enjoy the hell out of reading them

[aucom96 1,618]

As someone who is a bit new to getting into the weeds in off-season basketball, I enjoyed the article so thanks for posting it. It gives me an idea of what the holes are and what direction we might go to fill them. 

It's far more interesting than Spring football talk, anyway. 

[gravejd 3,270]

3 minutes ago, aucom96 said:

As someone who is a bit new to getting into the weeds in off-season basketball, I enjoyed the article so thanks for posting it. It gives me an idea of what the holes are and what direction we might go to fill them. 

It's far more interesting than Spring football talk, anyway. 

You mean endless pages of the same 5/6 people arguing doesn't do it for you? Weird! 😜

[Maverick.AU 13,279]

36 minutes ago, gravejd said:

You mean endless pages of the same 5/6 people arguing doesn't do it for you? Weird! 😜

Going over to the football side these days is like

[bigbird 60,512]

Looking at that as a potential lineup scares the hell outta me.  

[AuburnNTexas 7,140]

1 hour ago, bigbird said:

Looking at that as a potential lineup scares the hell outta me.  

Depends on how good Westry and Traore prove to be.  What is scary is depth. I could see a starting team of:

C  - Traore

PF - Jaylin

SF - Flanigan

SG - Westry

PG - Zep or Green

Traore - should be more offensive minded the Kessler but not in Kessler's league as a defender- Edge to Kessler

Jaylin - solid PF but best position is C and is no Jabari but who is. - Edge to Jabari

Flanigan should be better then this year - Edge here as Flanigan is healthier

Westry should be an improvement at SG - Toss-up as haven't seen him against college players especially on D

PG Zep/Green might be a little better this year.

This is a solid starting group but no known scoring punch. Might be able to have balanced scoring making it harder foir teams to defend us. Westry is the big ? mark here.

 

What I don/t see is enough depth

C - Cardwell

PF - Has to be a new player

SF - Moore if still here but I think a new player

SG - KD take the good with the bad

PG - Donaldson if healthy

 

[bigbird 60,512]

8 minutes ago, AuburnNTexas said:

Depends on how good Westry and Traore prove to be.  What is scary is depth. I could see a starting team of:

C  - Traore

PF - Jaylin

SF - Flanigan

SG - Westry

PG - Zep or Green

Traore - should be more offensive minded the Kessler but not in Kessler's league as a defender- Edge to Kessler

Jaylin - solid PF but best position is C and is no Jabari but who is. - Edge to Jabari

Flanigan should be better then this year - Edge here as Flanigan is healthier

Westry should be an improvement at SG - Toss-up as haven't seen him against college players especially on D

PG Zep/Green might be a little better this year.

This is a solid starting group but no known scoring punch. Might be able to have balanced scoring making it harder foir teams to defend us. Westry is the big ? mark here.

 

What I don/t see is enough depth

C - Cardwell

PF - Has to be a new player

SF - Moore if still here but I think a new player

SG - KD take the good with the bad

PG - Donaldson if healthy

 

If Flan doesn't find his stroke were in for a long year.  We need a consistent threat shooting out of the 3 and he nor Cambridge were close to that.

Also, I hope our PGs have the same kind of jump others have had in their 2nd year under Bruce.

[aubearcat 2,137]

It’s great to have depth but Arkansas and Miami both played about a 9 man rotation at most. Sometimes it was 7-8. If you’ve got a really good 8-9 man rotation, that’s a deep tournament run kinda team. 

[ellitor 33,091]

1 hour ago, AuburnNTexas said:

C  - Traore

We brought him in to be a four.

1 hour ago, AuburnNTexas said:

Jaylin - best position is C

Disagree. He’s too short to be a Center.

1 hour ago, AuburnNTexas said:

PF - Has to be a new player

PFs are Williams and Traore. The new player will be a center.

 

[Dual-Threat Rigby 8,662]

Even just projecting from right now, don’t think there’s anyway Westry isn’t starting 

I also just don’t think there’s a ton of value in running back KD and Zep together. Those are the two out of the 4 ball handlers that are probably changing the least 

[NoALtiger 3,852]

The cat that wrote this article is way more optimistic about our guards than I am. Just because they are returning doesn’t magically make stuff better. They will improve sure but there’s a lot wrong about the guard play and it caught up to us big time. 

Edited April 7, 2022 by NoALtiger

[War to the Eagle 363]

I actually think our biggest needs now are at SF and SG.  We badly need shooting...if it wasn't apparent enough, Bruce has been quoted saying it this week.  Flan and K.D. have value, but not if both are on the floor at the same time. 

If we can start Traore at the 4, Jaylin can play an undersized 5 role.  Cardwell can come off the bench at the 5.  We have to have more offense in the starting 5, though.

[AUreo 753]

2 hours ago, NoALtiger said:

The cat that wrote this article is way more optimistic about our guards than I am. Just because they are returning doesn’t magically make stuff better. They will improve sure but there’s a lot wrong about the guard play and it caught up to us big time. 

They should be more experienced. Transition game should be improved with Traore (Kessler and Jabari are both too static). I think Westry will make a huge impact for us. We still need more weapons though… SEC will be tougher next season…

[ellitor 33,091]

16 hours ago, NoALtiger said:

Just because they are returning doesn’t magically make stuff better.

@NoALtigerNot magical at all. It's reasonable & logical to expect returning players to improve.

16 hours ago, NoALtiger said:

there’s a lot wrong about the guard play and it caught up to us big time. 

Biggest issues were decision making, slopiness, & shot selection. All of which can be improved without it being that hard to do so.

[ellitor 33,091]

16 hours ago, War to the Eagle said:

If we can start Traore at the 4, Jaylin can play an undersized 5 role.  Cardwell can come off the bench at the 5.  We have to have more offense in the starting 5, though.

I think it's more likely JW starts at the 4, at least early in the season & a transfer starts at the 5.

[ellitor 33,091]

13 hours ago, AUreo said:

SEC will be tougher next season…

Not sure about that. It was arguably the best conference in the regular season.

[NoALtiger 3,852]

23 minutes ago, ellitor said:

@NoALtigerNot magical at all. It's reasonable & logical to expect returning players to improve.

Biggest issues were decision making, slopiness, & shot selection. All of which can be improved without it being that hard to do so.

Also making of the shots post selection would be nice. My point being just because they are returning doesn’t equate to us being better it simply makes them a year older. 

[ellitor 33,091]

2 hours ago, NoALtiger said:

Also making of the shots post selection would be nice.

Better shot selection general leads to more shots made.

2 hours ago, NoALtiger said:

My point being just because they are returning doesn’t equate to us being better it simply makes them a year older. 

Technically no but like a said earlier, a year older means more training & experience so they should be better. It's how progressing & progression works.

[TexasTiger 12,835]

17 minutes ago, ellitor said:

Better shot selection general leads to more shots made.

Technically no but like a said earlier, a year older means more training & experience so they should be better. It's how progressing & progression works.

Unfortunately, the team has practiced poor shot selection.

[ellitor 33,091]

2 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

Unfortunately, the team has practiced poor shot selection.

They practice with a lot of freedom & for this group lead to poor shot selection. Don't think they or any team practiced poor shot selection.

[TexasTiger 12,835]

2 hours ago, ellitor said:

They practice with a lot of freedom & for this group lead to poor shot selection. Don't think they or any team practiced poor shot selection.

I was referencing what the last year of experience entailed— they developed the habit of poor shot selection. 

[ellitor 33,091]

11 hours ago, TexasTiger said:

I was referencing what the last year of experience entailed— they developed the habit of poor shot selection. 

They're young. Most likely already had that habit from their high school days.