Game 54: Minnesota Timberwolves @ Portland T-Blazers (9 CST)

[BlacJacMac]

I am comparing him to Kyle. They have similar contributions this year. The difference is Kyle is better at distribution and playmaking. V8 is better at POA defense, rebounding, cutting, and creating extra possessions through energy.

Kyle is way better at team defense and defending strong players.

I agree with the strong players part. Kyle can handle short stints against someone like JV because he can stay in front. Although his lack of size does limit him. I disagree about team defender. V8 and Pat Bev made our defense solid during 2021-22 even when Ant wasn’t there yet, Karl was doing high wall, Dlo was bad, and Jaden was inconsistent and mostly off the bench.

Its not just bigs like JV. Kyle has done an admiral job against guys like Zion and Luka. Both of whom absolutely overpower Vando.

Vando was a defensive neutral in 2021-22.

Opponent:
On Court: .536 eFG, 112.4 ORtg
Off Court: .535 eFG, 112.1 ORtg

Jaden and Vando each played just over 25 MPG. Here is Jaden's defense for comparison:
On Court: .527 eFG, 111.6 ORtg
Off Court: .542 eFG, 112.8 ORtg

[winforlose]

Kyle is way better at team defense and defending strong players.

I agree with the strong players part. Kyle can handle short stints against someone like JV because he can stay in front. Although his lack of size does limit him. I disagree about team defender. V8 and Pat Bev made our defense solid during 2021-22 even when Ant wasn’t there yet, Karl was doing high wall, Dlo was bad, and Jaden was inconsistent and mostly off the bench.

Its not just bigs like JV. Kyle has done an admiral job against guys like Zion and Luka. Both of whom absolutely overpower Vando.

Vando was a defensive neutral in 2021-22.

Opponent:
On Court: .536 eFG, 112.4 ORtg
Off Court: .535 eFG, 112.1 ORtg

Jaden and Vando each played just over 25 MPG. Here is Jaden's defense for comparison:
On Court: .527 eFG, 111.6 ORtg
Off Court: .542 eFG, 112.8 ORtg

There could be more involved with rotations, foul trouble, ect.. Jaden was often guarding the backups whereas V8 was guarding the elite guys, ect… End of the day, I think V8 had value, still has value, and even if we moved him this year, I still think he could have returned significant value. I was over the moon for the Gobert trade. This year was my vision for last year. I was predicting this left right and center post trade. I still believe if KAT was healthy last year (Illness included,) and Gobert stayed healthy and Naz was playoff healthy and Jaden doesn’t break his hand, we would have been WCF at least. This year I think we win it all. I just didn’t like the amount of value we gave it up to make it happen. I get the argument the other way, but we could have moved V8 and Beasley to other teams and returned picks which we gave Utah instead of Kessler, or keep V8 and make the rest of the deal. It just felt like an overpay.

[BlacJacMac]

I agree with the strong players part. Kyle can handle short stints against someone like JV because he can stay in front. Although his lack of size does limit him. I disagree about team defender. V8 and Pat Bev made our defense solid during 2021-22 even when Ant wasn’t there yet, Karl was doing high wall, Dlo was bad, and Jaden was inconsistent and mostly off the bench.

Its not just bigs like JV. Kyle has done an admiral job against guys like Zion and Luka. Both of whom absolutely overpower Vando.

Vando was a defensive neutral in 2021-22.

Opponent:
On Court: .536 eFG, 112.4 ORtg
Off Court: .535 eFG, 112.1 ORtg

Jaden and Vando each played just over 25 MPG. Here is Jaden's defense for comparison:
On Court: .527 eFG, 111.6 ORtg
Off Court: .542 eFG, 112.8 ORtg

There could be more involved with rotations, foul trouble, ect.. Jaden was often guarding the backups whereas V8 was guarding the elite guys, ect… End of the day, I think V8 had value, still has value, and even if we moved him this year, I still think he could have returned significant value. I was over the moon for the Gobert trade. This year was my vision for last year. I was predicting this left right and center post trade. I still believe if KAT was healthy last year (Illness included,) and Gobert stayed healthy and Naz was playoff healthy and Jaden doesn’t break his hand, we would have been WCF at least. This year I think we win it all. I just didn’t like the amount of value we gave it up to make it happen. I get the argument the other way, but we could have moved V8 and Beasley to other teams and returned picks which we gave Utah instead of Kessler, or keep V8 and make the rest of the deal. It just felt like an overpay.

Jaden would routinely replace Vando for defensive purposes. Despite being the same weight as McLaughlin, rookie Jaden was a shockingly good defender.

There was a week his rookie year where he absolutely locked up Zion, Kawhi and Luka - all after they were having their way with Vando.

[winforlose]

Its not just bigs like JV. Kyle has done an admiral job against guys like Zion and Luka. Both of whom absolutely overpower Vando.

Vando was a defensive neutral in 2021-22.

Opponent:
On Court: .536 eFG, 112.4 ORtg
Off Court: .535 eFG, 112.1 ORtg

Jaden and Vando each played just over 25 MPG. Here is Jaden's defense for comparison:
On Court: .527 eFG, 111.6 ORtg
Off Court: .542 eFG, 112.8 ORtg

There could be more involved with rotations, foul trouble, ect.. Jaden was often guarding the backups whereas V8 was guarding the elite guys, ect… End of the day, I think V8 had value, still has value, and even if we moved him this year, I still think he could have returned significant value. I was over the moon for the Gobert trade. This year was my vision for last year. I was predicting this left right and center post trade. I still believe if KAT was healthy last year (Illness included,) and Gobert stayed healthy and Naz was playoff healthy and Jaden doesn’t break his hand, we would have been WCF at least. This year I think we win it all. I just didn’t like the amount of value we gave it up to make it happen. I get the argument the other way, but we could have moved V8 and Beasley to other teams and returned picks which we gave Utah instead of Kessler, or keep V8 and make the rest of the deal. It just felt like an overpay.

Jaden would routinely replace Vando for defensive purposes. Despite being the same weight as McLaughlin, rookie Jaden was a shockingly good defender.

There was a week his rookie year where he absolutely locked up Zion, Kawhi and Luka - all after they were having their way with Vando.

We could go back and forth about the value of V8. I think he is better than you do. You think he wasn’t worth a roster spot last year or the money he is making now, I disagree, but this is all in the weeds. The reality is we made the Gobert trade, we got healthy, and we are kicking ***. Anything beyond that is… well, beyond that.

[Klomp]

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