The Zach Lavine Problem

[Midway Bully]

It's so funny reading this thread and then reading the thread over at the Timberwolves' board. They think LaVine, once it's all said and done, is going to make them regret trading for Jimmy Butler.

Our fans are sitting over here bitching

Considering the mediocre basketball T-Wolves fans have been putting up with for over a decade, it does make sense that they'd be OK with marginal improvements. We have others also comparing him to Harden, which is even more absurd.

I also don't think people understand just how bad he is, defensively. It isn't an issue of tools, either. His awareness is like, non-existent on defense. Considering he's also going to be going off an ACL injury, I don't think he's going to look any better. And we haven't even begun to discuss the fact that he will be playing under Fred Hoiberg - who certainly isn't known for his work on defense.

[Midway Bully]

While I do not believe LaVine is Harden...which is a good thing BTW. I do believe he has the talent and potential to be a very nice player. I think he will learn to play defense, especially after his injury, as he will be the current franchise player he will need to give more than just offense.
He is likely to be rusty coming back and with the other Bulls on the roster not wholly "adept" shall we say at defense, it's likely to be up to Dunn and LaVine to provide it early on from the primary players.

Not being Harden is a good thing now? I know people don't like his play in terms of aesthetics, but jesus.

I've seen it all in this thread.

[Paxson43]

It's so funny reading this thread and then reading the thread over at the Timberwolves' board. They think LaVine, once it's all said and done, is going to make them regret trading for Jimmy Butler.

Yeah yeah I know, KAT is great, Wiggins is great, LaVine is great. I'm not convinced. Great players win games. When the Thunder's Big Three were the same age as the Wolves' guys were last year, they won 50 games, not 31. And their support was no better than what Minny had last year - the leading other guys in minutes were Jeff Green (PER 14), Thabo, Nenad Krstic, and Nick Collison.

But more to the point, Thibs wasn't convinced.

But I thought Thibs was God? Why couldn't he coax more than 31 wins out of that much talent?

Keep in mind: Thibs refused to part with LaVine last season, and this season he only did so because we threw in the #16 pick to make it happen.

[Midway Bully]

It's so funny reading this thread and then reading the thread over at the Timberwolves' board. They think LaVine, once it's all said and done, is going to make them regret trading for Jimmy Butler.

Yeah yeah I know, KAT is great, Wiggins is great, LaVine is great. I'm not convinced. Great players win games. When the Thunder's Big Three were the same age as the Wolves' guys were last year, they won 50 games, not 31. And their support was no better than what Minny had last year - the leading other guys in minutes were Jeff Green (PER 14), Thabo, Nenad Krstic, and Nick Collison.

But more to the point, Thibs wasn't convinced.

But I thought Thibs was God? Why couldn't he coax more than 31 wins out of that much talent?

Keep in mind: Thibs refused to part with LaVine last season, and this season he only did so because we threw in the #16 pick to make it happen.

Keep in mind: Zach LaVine also happened to suffer an ACL injury last season.

[Paxson43]

Yeah yeah I know, KAT is great, Wiggins is great, LaVine is great. I'm not convinced. Great players win games. When the Thunder's Big Three were the same age as the Wolves' guys were last year, they won 50 games, not 31. And their support was no better than what Minny had last year - the leading other guys in minutes were Jeff Green (PER 14), Thabo, Nenad Krstic, and Nick Collison.

But more to the point, Thibs wasn't convinced.

But I thought Thibs was God? Why couldn't he coax more than 31 wins out of that much talent?

Keep in mind: Thibs refused to part with LaVine last season, and this season he only did so because we threw in the #16 pick to make it happen.

Keep in mind: Zach LaVine also happened to suffer an ACL injury last season.

Isn't that the same injury Russell Westbrook had 3 times?

[Midway Bully]

But I thought Thibs was God? Why couldn't he coax more than 31 wins out of that much talent?

Keep in mind: Thibs refused to part with LaVine last season, and this season he only did so because we threw in the #16 pick to make it happen.

Keep in mind: Zach LaVine also happened to suffer an ACL injury last season.

Isn't that the same injury Russell Westbrook had 3 times?

Isn't that the same injury that has been detrimental to other players?

[Paxson43]

Keep in mind: Zach LaVine also happened to suffer an ACL injury last season.

Isn't that the same injury Russell Westbrook had 3 times?

Isn't that the same injury that has been detrimental to other players?

I feel like you need a hug buddy

[DarthDiggler69]

Keep in mind: Zach LaVine also happened to suffer an ACL injury last season.

Isn't that the same injury Russell Westbrook had 3 times?

Isn't that the same injury that has been detrimental to other players?

Westbrook tore his Meniscus, not as severe as an ACL tear

Kyle Lowry is a guy who tore his ACL before and has been a better player since

[WindyCityBorn]

Lavine was on the way to stardom when he tore his ACL, but I have faith he won't be another case of D-Rose. First of all, despite his athleticism, Lavine can easily rely on his shooting, being that he is a very good one, until he gets that athleticism back. Secondly, Levine is not the type of player who plays a reckless game like D-Rose used to. Lavine plays with pace and let the game come to him, unlike D-Rose. People are already talking about they won't be comfortable giving Zach 20mil a year. Well, guess what, that's still way better than having to pay Butler 45mil a year when his contract would expire and still be mediocre.

it's nice that people have faith that Lavine isn't the next D.Rose, but in all honesty your faith and optimism mean nothing. Nobody really knows whether Lavine is going to be injury prone like Rose was.

he's a giant ? and should be looked at that way. Don't fall in love with him, don't pencil him into future roles on the team, don't fawn over his rehab, the dunks he does in practice, the shots he makes, don't buy into the fluff pieces that will be written about him.

harden your heart Bulls fans, we've all seen this story before.

You can sulk on your own. I'm gonna be optimistic. I'm happy as heck to get Lavine.

[GetBuLLish]

It's so funny reading this thread and then reading the thread over at the Timberwolves' board. They think LaVine, once it's all said and done, is going to make them regret trading for Jimmy Butler.

Our fans are sitting over here bitching

I've read a bunch of posts from Minny's board on the trade, and what you describe is definitely not the consensus opinion there.

[Ice Man]

Well here's the good news -- we didn't trade for the worst defender in the NBA. He remains in Minnesota. At least, according to 538 -

LEAST DEFENSIVE PLAYER
Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota Timberwolves

Thanks to a draft-day trade, Tom Thibodeau is reunited with defensive stopper Jimmy Butler, and not a moment too soon. Butler will be joining forces with the single most catastrophic defender in the league: Andrew Wiggins.



Nice picture, eh? I'd be pretty damned depressed if I wasted a #1 pick on a player who charted like that. Well at least the data are not fully symmetrical ... Wiggins hurts his team a lot while on defense, but not as much as guys like Gobert and Draymond help their teams.

[fleet]

LaVine on his way to Chicago. Flying economy, probably.



(found on Reddit)

OMG one leg shorter than the other!

[fleet]

It's so funny reading this thread and then reading the thread over at the Timberwolves' board. They think LaVine, once it's all said and done, is going to make them regret trading for Jimmy Butler.

Our fans are sitting over here bitching

When the team Boss says in public its time to start tanking, I'm not sure what kind of perfume covers up the fail.

[bennjuiced34]

It's so funny reading this thread and then reading the thread over at the Timberwolves' board. They think LaVine, once it's all said and done, is going to make them regret trading for Jimmy Butler.

Our fans are sitting over here bitching

Eh, LaVine's team was worse when he was on the court compared to when he was off. I think they viewed the kid through kool-aid glasses in terms of what his upside is.

He's talented as hell but we need to pump the breaks on 'star' potential. In 3 years, the only part of his game that has developed is scoring.

Don't get me wrong, I'm psyched to have him here, but nothing he's done up to this point suggest star player and we have 3 years of evidence to support it.

Elite scorer? Sure. Make him a 6th man. He'd be a 'star' in that type of role.

[bennjuiced34]

Edit: Duplicate post

[Ice Man]

I've read a bunch of posts from Minny's board on the trade, and what you describe is definitely not the consensus opinion there.

The Minnie fan in my office is beside himself with glee. I asked him if other fans are having regrets, he gave me an "are you crazy?" look. Always some exceptions, but I imagine they're pretty excited up there. It's been a long losing spell for those guys and since forever (well, Garnett) when they had a All Star who was a two-way player.

[GetBuLLish]

It's so funny reading this thread and then reading the thread over at the Timberwolves' board. They think LaVine, once it's all said and done, is going to make them regret trading for Jimmy Butler.

Our fans are sitting over here bitching

I didn't even realize the Minny board has a poll up on the trade. Out of 161 votes, 146 voted that they are happy with the trade. A solid 91% approval.

So your post is extraordinarily false.

viewtopic.php?f=22&t=1581722

[wonderboy2]

It's so funny reading this thread and then reading the thread over at the Timberwolves' board. They think LaVine, once it's all said and done, is going to make them regret trading for Jimmy Butler.

Our fans are sitting over here bitching

My friend is the biggest TWolves fan, and he is beyond pissed they gave away Lavine. He told me he would take Lavine over Wiggins any day.

[wonderboy2]

It's so funny reading this thread and then reading the thread over at the Timberwolves' board. They think LaVine, once it's all said and done, is going to make them regret trading for Jimmy Butler.

Yeah yeah I know, KAT is great, Wiggins is great, LaVine is great. I'm not convinced. Great players win games. When the Thunder's Big Three were the same age as the Wolves' guys were last year, they won 50 games, not 31. And their support was no better than what Minny had last year - the leading other guys in minutes were Jeff Green (PER 14), Thabo, Nenad Krstic, and Nick Collison.

But more to the point, Thibs wasn't convinced.

Didn't they have surge Ibaka?

[Hangtime84]

It's so funny reading this thread and then reading the thread over at the Timberwolves' board. They think LaVine, once it's all said and done, is going to make them regret trading for Jimmy Butler.

Our fans are sitting over here bitching

We don't watch Lavine as much they do. Yet we just wanna ride the train of complaining.