Harry Giles had flashes of greatness that all of Sacramento fell in love with during his rookie campaign, and his talent level has never been in question. Giles was the clear number one high school recruit in a class that included current teammate De'Aaron Fox, Donovan Mitchell, and his close friend Jayson Tatum before an unfortunate ACL injury slowed him down. When he finally appeared on the court in summer league after being redshirted for 2017-18 season, the Golden 1 Center had an ambiance in the air whenever the ball touched his hands. Defense, passing, a nice looking stroke, leaving his heart on the floor, and being vocal about his love for Sacramento has cemented Giles deep into some hearts already, Rich going as far as getting married in his jersey. But he has to earn his minutes just as Bagley had to last season, and it will not be easy for Harry.

Last season, Willie Cauley-Stein played 27 minutes a night and I would expect Dedmon to see about the same. That would leave roughly 20 minutes at the Center position to be shared between Giles and Holmes, and I have what may be false hope that some will be thrown towards Marvin Bagley. There's a very real chance that Harry's minute total from last season (14.1mpg) actually decreases, but it will be about utilizing his skillset effectively during his playing time and doing the same with Holmes. What Giles offers that both Dedmon and Holmes do not, is playmaking from the big man position.

Every lineup needs at very least one guy to create looks for the others wearing that gorgeous royal purple. The players currently on the roster that excel in that aspect are De'Aaron Fox, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Harry Giles. Buddy Hield, Marvin Bagley, and to a lesser extent Harrison Barnes can all create their own looks, but lack the vision and decision making in order to do so for their teammates.

When two of Fox, Buddy, and Bogi are on the floor together, Giles will not get to be fully utilized as a primary playmaker as those are three of the higher usage players on the roster. That's when Holmes will get his chances to shine as a big with low usage. Holmes is frankly a better defender at this point in his career, rim runs at an efficient clip (60.8% from the field last season), and he is content with playing within his role. There is not nearly the same upside as with Harry, but knowing exactly what you are getting out of Holmes on a nightly basis is something that fans have been missing out of that position.

Giles spent 58.6% of his minutes last season, per Cleaning the Glass, with at least one of Fox or Buddy on the floor and expect that number will likely neither skyrocket or fall off a cliff. If he is playing exceptionally well on any given night, he should be given the chance to run with the best players on the team, but a majority of his minutes will come with him as part of a much improved bench unit. This is an example of the type of lineup I would expect to see Giles featured in:

Yogi Ferrell - Bogdan Bogdanovic - Harrison Barnes - Nemanja Bjelica - Harry Giles

None of the four surrounding Harry shoots less than 36% from beyond the arc and they all are high IQ players that move well off ball with smart cuts and continuous relocation on the perimeter. Spacing the defense out gives Giles the chance to be the star on the floor, running the offense through him on the elbow. Sacramento loved doing this last season and there is no reason to stray away, dribble hand offs with Yogi & Bogi, backdoor cuts from Barnes, a jumper if the defense gives him space, or a skip pass to the weakside corner for an open Bjelica three. The defense would not be the prettiest thing in the world, but they would be faced up against opposing bench units, not offensive powerhouses.

Last year, Giles got some opportunities to close out games due to the frustrations with Willie. This year, I don't see it happening. Dewayne Dedmon needs to be out there to bring the team home, he's massively underrated and a borderline top-10 Center. As much as the city of Sacramento is infatuated with Giles, myself included, there is simply no justification to playing him over Dedmon barring a Most Improved Player type jump in year two.

Harry will get his chances, Luke Walton and his staff have quite a task on their hands in managing and best utilizing the assortment of bigs on this Sacramento roster. Playmaking is his best skill at this stage of Giles' career, and that should be the focus when he is on the floor. Surround him with high IQ players that could use some support in creating looks and prepare to be entertained by some quality bounce passes.

2019-20 will be a milestone in dictating Giles's future, expect plenty of lineup experimentation in the infancy stages of the year, and I wouldn't be shocked to have another roller coaster of a season with Harry where at times he sees 20+ minutes and other times his night ends early to be replaced by Holmes.

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