Terry Stotts has done this all season.
Maybe it shouldn’t be all that surprising that Jake Layman has found himself again in position to prove himself and earn playing-time. Head Coach Terry Stotts has given a variety of players opportunities to compete for minutes when their counterparts struggle or are out with injury.
For example: Seth Curry in that same Phoenix game that Layman broke out in. He started in place of McCollum, likely to try and get him going and a few extra shots at the outset of the game. Ultimately, it didn’t work, as Curry went 1-for-6 from the field and ended with three points in 17 minutes. But still, Stotts was giving him time and space to play.
Stotts also gave a shot to Caleb Swanigan earlier this season, subbing him in when Meyers Leonard had a rough patch of play. Unlike with Curry, the Swanigan decision greatly benefited the team. He notched his first ever double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in a win over the Indiana Pacers.
Coach Stotts rode Biggie’s hot hand through the next four games until it eventually flamed out. Still, those five games show Stotts’s desire to experiment with his pieces and reward players for their play.
The depth-chart is flimsy. Stotts is looking for somebody, anybody on the bench to step up and show why they deserve to play over anybody else.
Layman could certainly emerge as one of the players coming off the bench at the season’s end.