Last night was a good example of why Burks is hurt by coming off the bench.
Kanter - 38 minutes
Favors - 37 minutes
Hayward - 39 minutes
...and the kid who is not being treated like the others (despite playing just as well, if not better)
Burks - 27 minutes
I said it before the season started, but when you don't start, you automatically lose anywhere from 7 - 10 minutes per half for a total of 14 - 20 minutes in game. In the very best case scenario, assuming the guy off the bench plays the entire rest of the game, he's only going to get 28 - 34 minutes. Regardless of how well he plays, he'll never get the 37, 38, 39 minutes the other three got last night. Hell, even Lucas - who started - played 31 minutes.
The other argument that people would roll out as to why it's okay if Burks comes off the bench, was that it doesn't matter who starts, it's who finishes. First off, while that sounds nice, players do care - if anybody read the SI article about Kobe recently, you know how much competitive players care about starting. Second, Kanter, Hayward and Favors are not only starting, but they are finishing too - Burks is finishing (sort of - in both games, he's been pulled at strange times down the stretch), but not getting the same opportunity to start and as I explained above, getting screwed out of playing time because of it.