If you dont like having your players sat down and dont care if they foul out then dont use it! It's that simple. I don't know if you realize this or if you actually watch the NBA but thats how it tends to work in real life. A Starting Center for a team may get 3 fouls early in the game and then have to sit until half because the coach wants to make sure his star player is out there at the crucial time. It probably doesnt matter to your team as much if your winning every game by 20+ points but when your playing in close games, its much safer and better to sit them. Also if your talking about realistic, dont state how:
If I use Let them play, the player may foul out sometime during the game. But he'll always play the maximum number of minutes that he can!
Because this is not very realistic. In the NBA players dont play to get the maximum number of minutes they can. They play to win the game and help their team which they can't do if they sometimes foul out in the third quarter.
Murray/Harris/MPJ/Grant/Jokic - 2020 NBA Champs