Indiana Basketball: 5 possible lineups for the 2020-2021 season

Everyone’s Favorite

Point Guard: Khristian Lander

Shooting Guard: Al Durham

Small Forward: Justin Smith

Power Forward: Race Thompson

Center: Trayce Jackson-Davis

Here, Race Thompson makes an appearance in the starting lineup. Thompson gained the love of IU fans late last season due to his work effort, hustle and ability to help the team win.

Thompson finished the season with a player efficiency rating of 19.3, second highest on the Indiana roster.

It’s clear moving forward that Thompson needs to play 20+ minutes every game for Indiana. He is a winner and helps Indiana every time he is on the court. Is he ready for the starting lineup though? The fit of it is iffy and there are perhaps more talented options to play over him.

Perhaps the biggest “if” for Indiana in this offseason is if Race Thompson can develop a reliable jump shot. If he can, it opens up a whole lot of options for Archie Miller. Thompson becomes that third shooter to give spacing, and continues to bring all the other things that make him so valuable.

This is a lineup that could be very successful if Thompson improves, although I’m not sure Thompson would ever get the nod over Joey Brunk.

This is more just creativity on my part as Thompson likely won’t start until his senior season, barring some kind of offseason transformation.