I think part of that is just that a lot of these lineups overlap which creates the illusion of GTJ being in a lot of good lineups. For example, that unit where Barnes sits and Gary plays with the other starters accounts for 51 minutes, more than any other GTJ lineup, and includes all of 3/4/5. GTJ’s next most common lineup is when he’s subbing for OG with the other starters, accounting for 34 minutes. That encompasses 1, 2, and 5 here. Him in place of Poeltl with the other starters accounts for 15 minutes, and includes 1, 2, 3, and 4 here. Him instead of Schroeder accounts for only 5 minutes, but is a +37, and includes 1, 2, 3, and 5 above. The other starters+GTJ combination, where he plays in place of Siakam, accounts for only 1 minute.

Anyway, my point here is that a lot of GTJ’s minutes come when he’s playing with all starters. And he’s great in that role! Just on a net rating basis, there’s very little drop-off, but part of that is matchups… a lot of his minutes are in a ‘first substitution’ lineup, and based on this it definitely seems like our first-sub units are outperforming our opponent’s on a regular basis.

The ongoing challenge with GTJ is that when he’s asked to play a larger role within a lineup… where he doesn’t have better players around him creating gravity, playmaking, defensive presence, etc. Put him with even just three starters and another bench-player, and the net rating starts to decline steeply.

Another way of looking at it with net ratings that supports this narrative… he has a positive net rating with any other starter, and a negative net rating with every bench player except for Boucher and Porter. (The Porter + GTJ units have a sparkling +23 in 32 minutes… only two two-man units have a better net rating in more minutes (Siakam+Boucher at +46, and Porter+Anunoby at +26).