The Official Jaden McDaniels Thread

[KGdaBom]

:lol:

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That was pretty great.

[KGdaBom]

What does Jaden have to do to be recognized as a top defender? Seems like he's never really considered for the defensive teams.

He was NBA All-Defensive Second Team last season.

Behind more deserving first team players?

[winforlose]

Honestly this smells like politics to me. It is hard to give a 49 win team two all defensive players. Especially when they are not the top defensive team in the league. Rudy being Defensive Player of the Year last year forces them to place him on second team this year. Jaden just gets the short end of that stick.

[minimus]

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[minimus]

I still believe Jaden can be that second option

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[Klomp]

I still believe Jaden can be that second option

I definitely believe he has the capability....the question becomes if he has the mentality. Honestly -- and this is probably going to come off as worse than I mean for it to -- I wonder if his mentality towards offense is a little bit of the Wiggins syndrome, where he's just a bit too passive to be relied on in that way. You see it once he was traded to Golden State, he was fine as a third or fourth option where he didn't have the same expectations on a nightly basis. You could also throw an Andre Iguodala comp in there, similarly. I worry that Jaden's offense will never scale up to where we'd be satisfied with him as a second option on a contending team.

[FrenchMinnyFan]

I still believe Jaden can be that second option

I definitely believe he has the capability....the question becomes if he has the mentality. Honestly -- and this is probably going to come off as worse than I mean for it to -- I wonder if his mentality towards offense is a little bit of the Wiggins syndrome, where he's just a bit too passive to be relied on in that way. You see it once he was traded to Golden State, he was fine as a third or fourth option where he didn't have the same expectations on a nightly basis. You could also throw an Andre Iguodala comp in there, similarly. I worry that Jaden's offense will never scale up to where we'd be satisfied with him as a second option on a contending team.

I agree with you, Jaden will remain for me a 3rd option when it comes to offense. But i expect him to be a DPOY on the future. Hope Randle can be consistent at 20 PPG per night as we will need that to compete. That's also why i was full in for KD as it would have been a near perfect fit (except age).

[Klomp]

Hope Randle can be consistent at 20 PPG per night as we will need that to compete. That's also why i was full in for KD as it would have been a near perfect fit (except age).

I am still so optimistic about the franchise's longterm trajectory, because I feel so confident that we have our first (Ant), third (Jaden) and fourth option (Naz) locked in, plus both short-term (Rudy) and longterm (Joan) pieces at center. What we need is that second piece. The team-friendly deals signed by Jaden and Naz (and acquired in Donte) plus the cap-friendly development pieces (TJ, Rob, Jaylen) leaves that much more flexibility on the cap sheet to aggressively pursue a second option, whether it's a PF who keeps Naz as 6th man going forward or a PG who caps Rob as a 6th man upside going forward.

[KGdaBom]

I still believe Jaden can be that second option

I definitely believe he has the capability....the question becomes if he has the mentality. Honestly -- and this is probably going to come off as worse than I mean for it to -- I wonder if his mentality towards offense is a little bit of the Wiggins syndrome, where he's just a bit too passive to be relied on in that way. You see it once he was traded to Golden State, he was fine as a third or fourth option where he didn't have the same expectations on a nightly basis. You could also throw an Andre Iguodala comp in there, similarly. I worry that Jaden's offense will never scale up to where we'd be satisfied with him as a second option on a contending team.

I agree with you, Jaden will remain for me a 3rd option when it comes to offense. But i expect him to be a DPOY on the future. Hope Randle can be consistent at 20 PPG per night as we will need that to compete. That's also why i was full in for KD as it would have been a near perfect fit (except age).

Randle will have no problem carrying as much of a scoring load as we want to give him.

[KGdaBom]

Hope Randle can be consistent at 20 PPG per night as we will need that to compete. That's also why i was full in for KD as it would have been a near perfect fit (except age).

I am still so optimistic about the franchise's longterm trajectory, because I feel so confident that we have our first (Ant), third (Jaden) and fourth option (Naz) locked in, plus both short-term (Rudy) and longterm (Joan) pieces at center. What we need is that second piece. The team-friendly deals signed by Jaden and Naz (and acquired in Donte) plus the cap-friendly development pieces (TJ, Rob, Jaylen) leaves that much more flexibility on the cap sheet to aggressively pursue a second option, whether it's a PF who keeps Naz as 6th man going forward or a PG who caps Rob as a 6th man upside going forward.

Make it a PG if Rob can be the next Lou Williams.

[Wolveswin]

Hope Randle can be consistent at 20 PPG per night as we will need that to compete. That's also why i was full in for KD as it would have been a near perfect fit (except age).

I am still so optimistic about the franchise's longterm trajectory, because I feel so confident that we have our first (Ant), third (Jaden) and fourth option (Naz) locked in, plus both short-term (Rudy) and longterm (Joan) pieces at center. What we need is that second piece. The team-friendly deals signed by Jaden and Naz (and acquired in Donte) plus the cap-friendly development pieces (TJ, Rob, Jaylen) leaves that much more flexibility on the cap sheet to aggressively pursue a second option, whether it's a PF who keeps Naz as 6th man going forward or a PG who caps Rob as a 6th man upside going forward.

Great post.

I think with Randle as 2nd option, Wolves are capped out as WCF (which wasn’t competitive). Jaden is 3rd option for sure.

Wolves need an all-in trade. It will cost them Randle, DDV (most likely), Dilly (for right PG upgrade) and other assets. To get over that WCF hump, that all-in trade needs to be perfectly aligned and executed.

[Dewey]

Hope Randle can be consistent at 20 PPG per night as we will need that to compete. That's also why i was full in for KD as it would have been a near perfect fit (except age).

I am still so optimistic about the franchise's longterm trajectory, because I feel so confident that we have our first (Ant), third (Jaden) and fourth option (Naz) locked in, plus both short-term (Rudy) and longterm (Joan) pieces at center. What we need is that second piece. The team-friendly deals signed by Jaden and Naz (and acquired in Donte) plus the cap-friendly development pieces (TJ, Rob, Jaylen) leaves that much more flexibility on the cap sheet to aggressively pursue a second option, whether it's a PF who keeps Naz as 6th man going forward or a PG who caps Rob as a 6th man upside going forward.

Great post.

I think with Randle as 2nd option, Wolves are capped out as WCF (which wasn’t competitive). Jaden is 3rd option for sure.

Wolves need an all-in trade. It will cost them Randle, DDV (most likely), Dilly (for right PG upgrade) and other assets. To get over that WCF hump, that all-in trade needs to be perfectly aligned and executed.

All-in Trade is our only chance to exceed being just a mediocre playoff team

[KGdaBom]

I am still so optimistic about the franchise's longterm trajectory, because I feel so confident that we have our first (Ant), third (Jaden) and fourth option (Naz) locked in, plus both short-term (Rudy) and longterm (Joan) pieces at center. What we need is that second piece. The team-friendly deals signed by Jaden and Naz (and acquired in Donte) plus the cap-friendly development pieces (TJ, Rob, Jaylen) leaves that much more flexibility on the cap sheet to aggressively pursue a second option, whether it's a PF who keeps Naz as 6th man going forward or a PG who caps Rob as a 6th man upside going forward.

Great post.

I think with Randle as 2nd option, Wolves are capped out as WCF (which wasn’t competitive). Jaden is 3rd option for sure.

Wolves need an all-in trade. It will cost them Randle, DDV (most likely), Dilly (for right PG upgrade) and other assets. To get over that WCF hump, that all-in trade needs to be perfectly aligned and executed.

All-in Trade is our only chance to exceed being just a mediocre playoff team

I don't buy this line of thinking for a second. Michael Jordan won his first title at 28 years old. Ant is 24. No drastic all in move is needed and it could destroy the team.

[Norseman79]

Hope Randle can be consistent at 20 PPG per night as we will need that to compete. That's also why i was full in for KD as it would have been a near perfect fit (except age).

I am still so optimistic about the franchise's longterm trajectory, because I feel so confident that we have our first (Ant), third (Jaden) and fourth option (Naz) locked in, plus both short-term (Rudy) and longterm (Joan) pieces at center. What we need is that second piece. The team-friendly deals signed by Jaden and Naz (and acquired in Donte) plus the cap-friendly development pieces (TJ, Rob, Jaylen) leaves that much more flexibility on the cap sheet to aggressively pursue a second option, whether it's a PF who keeps Naz as 6th man going forward or a PG who caps Rob as a 6th man upside going forward.

Great post.

I think with Randle as 2nd option, Wolves are capped out as WCF (which wasn’t competitive). Jaden is 3rd option for sure.

Wolves need an all-in trade. It will cost them Randle, DDV (most likely), Dilly (for right PG upgrade) and other assets. To get over that WCF hump, that all-in trade needs to be perfectly aligned and executed.

Here's the problem, which PG, that might be realistically available, is actually worth that package?

[KGdaBom]

I am still so optimistic about the franchise's longterm trajectory, because I feel so confident that we have our first (Ant), third (Jaden) and fourth option (Naz) locked in, plus both short-term (Rudy) and longterm (Joan) pieces at center. What we need is that second piece. The team-friendly deals signed by Jaden and Naz (and acquired in Donte) plus the cap-friendly development pieces (TJ, Rob, Jaylen) leaves that much more flexibility on the cap sheet to aggressively pursue a second option, whether it's a PF who keeps Naz as 6th man going forward or a PG who caps Rob as a 6th man upside going forward.

Great post.

I think with Randle as 2nd option, Wolves are capped out as WCF (which wasn’t competitive). Jaden is 3rd option for sure.

Wolves need an all-in trade. It will cost them Randle, DDV (most likely), Dilly (for right PG upgrade) and other assets. To get over that WCF hump, that all-in trade needs to be perfectly aligned and executed.

Here's the problem, which PG, that might be realistically available, is actually worth that package?

None.

[Wolveswin]

Great post.

I think with Randle as 2nd option, Wolves are capped out as WCF (which wasn’t competitive). Jaden is 3rd option for sure.

Wolves need an all-in trade. It will cost them Randle, DDV (most likely), Dilly (for right PG upgrade) and other assets. To get over that WCF hump, that all-in trade needs to be perfectly aligned and executed.

All-in Trade is our only chance to exceed being just a mediocre playoff team

I don't buy this line of thinking for a second. Michael Jordan won his first title at 28 years old. Ant is 24. No drastic all in move is needed and it could destroy the team.

Using an outlier like Jordan (the GOAT) isn’t a realistic comparison for team building modeling.

[Wolveswin]

I am still so optimistic about the franchise's longterm trajectory, because I feel so confident that we have our first (Ant), third (Jaden) and fourth option (Naz) locked in, plus both short-term (Rudy) and longterm (Joan) pieces at center. What we need is that second piece. The team-friendly deals signed by Jaden and Naz (and acquired in Donte) plus the cap-friendly development pieces (TJ, Rob, Jaylen) leaves that much more flexibility on the cap sheet to aggressively pursue a second option, whether it's a PF who keeps Naz as 6th man going forward or a PG who caps Rob as a 6th man upside going forward.

Great post.

I think with Randle as 2nd option, Wolves are capped out as WCF (which wasn’t competitive). Jaden is 3rd option for sure.

Wolves need an all-in trade. It will cost them Randle, DDV (most likely), Dilly (for right PG upgrade) and other assets. To get over that WCF hump, that all-in trade needs to be perfectly aligned and executed.

Here's the problem, which PG, that might be realistically available, is actually worth that package?

Perfect isn’t available. Perfect also isn’t in Wolves price range. But is a roster upgrade available that takes Wolves to next level and in trade, a finals winning level. Names that can be mentioned we all will poke holes based on our own personal preference - but point is, Wolves need to make the trade and find out. Sitting back and hoping Edwards becomes Jordan and McDaniels becomes Pippen while hoping OKC and others sit on hands and regress isn’t a plan.

[Klomp]

All-in Trade is our only chance to exceed being just a mediocre playoff team

We have been in the last two WCFs. We are not a mediocre playoff team.

[shrink]

All-in Trade is our only chance to exceed being just a mediocre playoff team

We have been in the last two WCFs. We are not a mediocre playoff team.

I’m not so sure.

Two years ago we made the WCF, but we were just a top three Western Conference team.

Last year we made the finals too, but I wouldn’t say we were significantly better than about seven western teams.

Yes, we were 4-2 the last two years in the playoffs, but we weren’t heavily favored in any of them - many even picked PHX to upset su because it was a bad match up.

I’m not saying we’re a bad team, and we have the chance for internal growth. And the playoffs wins rose expectations. But I wouldn’t disagree with anyone who said we have been a mediocre playoff team that got some upset wins. And most of our rivals in the West got better in the off-season, while we probably declined.

I think it will take some tremendous growth and a lot of luck for us to get back to the WCF without a big move. And maybe that’s okay. But those playoff upsets the last two years will quickly be forgotten by the “Fire Finch!” crowd if we don’t get back to the WCF again this year.