Paulo Alves

That goes back to before Christmas.

And that's not meant to be an indictment on Reed.

He's much younger than even Jabari.

And so these ups and downs were inevitably going to happen.

It's not to say there's any reason to panic over him or that his long-term outlook has dramatically changed.

No.

But when we talk about the downturn since the start of December, when we talk about them going from a 13-4 juggernaut with insane metrics to just 9-8 mediocrity, Reed has been much more of an issue than Jabari.

Like, on my social media feed, I saw some people today talking about potentially starting Reed over Jabari, and my reaction was, what the hell?

I mean, Reed has been a much bigger issue, and for a longer period of time.

I just, I don't understand it.

And I think part of what's going on, Paolo, so the last few games, Steven Adams either didn't play because of his ankle injury, or then when he played, he started because Alper Enschengun was hurt.

And so when Reed comes off the bench...

but Steven either sits out or starts, he doesn't have the Steven stimulus package.

That's what I'll call it, where Steven comes in and can set the right screens and free him up.

When Reid is playing without Steven, that makes it much more difficult for him to operate relative to, you know, the first 25 games of the year when it felt like almost all the time it was Reid and Steven coming in at about the six-minute mark of the first and third quarters and largely playing together.

So if we're talking about making a change to the starting lineup, which I don't think Imei Ujoka is considering at all, by the way,

But you want to play Reid with Steven more, not less.

I think that's what the data clearly shows you.

And knock on wood, Shingu should be back within the next few games.

So hopefully, you know, getting everyone healthy and back in their normal roles will help.