The starter vs bench discussion is a good one.
I do think that Champ thrives in a 'beautiful game' setup much more than in a star-centric offense.
This applies on both ends - obviously because better ball movement and faster tempo gets him cleaner looks at greater volume, but defensively, Champ has been great in transition, breaking up plays as well as crashing boards.
How will Champ respond when Wemby and Castle return? will the ball get 'sticker', and will the young stars improve their ability in hitting the shooters out of double-teams?
The rebounds will obviously take a hit once Wemby is back, given the elite numbers he was putting up on the boards to begin with.
I've always been an advocate for starting Champ and having Devin come off the bench, and then managing minutes between the wings situationally and based on the hot hand (wings being JC, DV, HB, KJ + whenever it makes sense to play Harper/Castle at the 3-spot). The key rationale here is the spacing without needing the ball being a great fit compared with DV - although Devin's recent play is pushing that narrative.
Regardless, I do see an in-form Champ eating into HBs minutes, but he is don't think the Spurs can afford to start Champ at the 4 to make way for DV as a starting 3 - even if they are rebounding well, it's just too much size to give up against starting PFs (think Randle in the upcoming Minny game).
The other factor at play is who is best placed to man the 3-spot in the French Vanilla lineup? I reckon the 3-guard path works well here and do you go for some extra ball-handling and play-making, or take Champagnie's superior spacing?
