2017/2018 stats projection and player roles

[firedavidkahn]

I think it would be a huge mistake to take away shots from Towns. He is way too good of an offensive player.

The guy just averaged 25.1 ppg on 54.2%/36.7%/83.6% with a TS% of 61.8%. That is insane efficiency. He had the 6th highest TS% of anyone in the league averaging over 20 ppg.

Taking shots away from a super efficient scorer like Towns and giving them to Wiggins is a bad mistake. That is purposefully handicapping the team.

How did you feel about Kobe refusing to give up the ball to Shaq when kobe shot 45% and Shaq was shooting 65%?

Regardless of the outcome, it wasn't smart basketball.

[TheProdigy]

Starters:
KAT 25 ppg, 12 rpg, 3 apg
Gibson 7, 6, 1
Butler 21, 5, 5
Wiggins 21, 4, 3
Teague 14, 4, 7

Bench:
Dieng 8, 7, 1
Bjelica 6, 4, 1
Crawford 8, 2, 2
Jones 4, 1, 3

[Raptorstopfan]

As a Raptor fan, I didn't think Wolves needed Butler. Kat and Wiggins are solid young players and mostly likely future Hall of Famers. Wiggins is exactly the same type of player as Butler. All they needed was a veteran PG like Chris Paul not only to distribute the ball to them but also to provide veteran leadership the team lacked last season. The thought of seeing combo of Chris Paul and Kat; my my my...will be crazy, considering how athletic Kat is.

Had they paired Chris Paul and these guys, and added a two-way big man like Ibaka who can shoot from all corners of the court (free throw, jump shot, 3s and around the rim) as PF; would have yielded a perfect team. Had they gone this route, Wiggins and Kat will still keep their shot percentage per game. Ibaka is catch-and-shoot specialist; came second to Klay Thompson last season, and also an excellent shot blocker. However, with current arrangement, Kat, Wiggins and Butler would have to ration shots; which will not go well next season. Someone would have to take a back seat...has to. I hope it works but will be tough. Rationing shots for high usage players as was seen with Cousins joining Davis, didn't go well.

Finally, Wolves doesn't need Kyrie. Kyrie is not really a team-orientated PG. Teague is a perfect, unselfish PG that Wolves need.

[KGdaBom]

As a Raptor fan, I didn't think Wolves needed Butler. Kat and Wiggins are solid young players and mostly likely future Hall of Famers. Wiggins is exactly the same type of player as Butler. All they needed was a veteran PG like Chris Paul not only to distribute the ball to them but also to provide veteran leadership the team lacked last season. The thought of seeing combo of Chris Paul and Kat; my my my...will be crazy, considering how athletic Kat is.

Had they paired Chris Paul and these guys, and added a two-way big man like Ibaka who can shoot from all corners of the court (free throw, jump shot, 3s and around the rim) as PF; would have yielded a perfect team. Had they gone this route, Wiggins and Kat will still keep their shot percentage per game. Ibaka is catch-and-shoot specialist; came second to Klay Thompson last season, and also an excellent shot blocker. However, with current arrangement, Kat, Wiggins and Butler would have to ration shots; which will not go well next season. Someone would have to take a back seat...has to. I hope it works but will be tough. Rationing shots for high usage players as was seen with Cousins joining Davis, didn't go well.

Finally, Wolves doesn't need Kyrie. Kyrie is not really a team-orientated PG. Teague is a perfect, unselfish PG that Wolves need.

Thanks for posting. I disagree with not acquiring Butler. He is just so freaking good. We all hope Wiggins can be as good as you think, but that's unlikely. I think he will be just fine as our third option. Should be able to score 20 points a game with greater efficiency and focus more on his defense.

[Oriole8159]

As a Raptor fan, I didn't think Wolves needed Butler. Kat and Wiggins are solid young players and mostly likely future Hall of Famers. Wiggins is exactly the same type of player as Butler. All they needed was a veteran PG like Chris Paul not only to distribute the ball to them but also to provide veteran leadership the team lacked last season. The thought of seeing combo of Chris Paul and Kat; my my my...will be crazy, considering how athletic Kat is.

Had they paired Chris Paul and these guys, and added a two-way big man like Ibaka who can shoot from all corners of the court (free throw, jump shot, 3s and around the rim) as PF; would have yielded a perfect team. Had they gone this route, Wiggins and Kat will still keep their shot percentage per game. Ibaka is catch-and-shoot specialist; came second to Klay Thompson last season, and also an excellent shot blocker. However, with current arrangement, Kat, Wiggins and Butler would have to ration shots; which will not go well next season. Someone would have to take a back seat...has to. I hope it works but will be tough. Rationing shots for high usage players as was seen with Cousins joining Davis, didn't go well.

Finally, Wolves doesn't need Kyrie. Kyrie is not really a team-orientated PG. Teague is a perfect, unselfish PG that Wolves need.

2 flaws with this logic...

1) The Butler deal was done on draft night while the Paul deal was done 5 days later. When you're a small market team that isn't a built in FA spot yet, you don't turn down the opportunity for a Top 15 player coming to you in a great deal, because a guy slightly better may come available down the line. You just don't do business that way.

2) Paul hadn't opted into his contract yet when the Butler trade was close to being consummated, so you wouldn't have had any knowledge of whether a Paul trade would even be a possibility or if he would just be a free agent. However, if you wanted to be an eternal optimist, you could make the case that doing the Butler trade on draft night could lead to Paul wanting to decline his option and sign here as a free agent. He certainly wouldn't have done that without the Butler trade before. Either way though, there is zero connection between the two deals, so it's impossible for you to say what the team should have been thinking when the Butler trade was being consummated.

This just sounds like criticizing for the sake of criticizing.

[shrink]

Even if this was true, the Wolves should still make the Jimmy deal, even just for asset acquisition.

If they had to trade Jimmy Butler at the deadline, they should be able to get a better package than what they gave up.

[Oriole8159]

Even if this was true, the Wolves should still make the Jimmy deal, even just for asset acquisition.

If they had to trade Jimmy Butler at the deadline, they should be able to get a better package than what they gave up.

or they could also decide to trade Wiggins at the deadline and commit to Butler as the wing of the future.
you can do a move to stack one position even though it may be strength, and then subsequently use that strength to bolster a separate position.

ex: The Warriors drafted Klay Thompson in 2011 even though they had a pretty good SG already in Monta Ellis. Later that season, they traded Ellis for Andrew Bogut (other pieces involved but they were the primary) who became a very key piece of their championship foundation.

you're point is right though Shrink, that you don't turn down a good offer in the NBA just because of lack of perceived fit. There's just not enough star players going around.

[Raptorstopfan]

Even if this was true, the Wolves should still make the Jimmy deal, even just for asset acquisition.

If they had to trade Jimmy Butler at the deadline, they should be able to get a better package than what they gave up.

I would be curious to what you Wolves fans think...trade Butler or Wiggins by next trade deadline? Obviously one of them would have to be traded. Definitely not Kat...he is a solid two-way player every team needs!

[ace625214]

I think most Wolves fans are happy holding on to all 3 of them and winning 50+ games repeatedly.

[KGdaBom]

Even if this was true, the Wolves should still make the Jimmy deal, even just for asset acquisition.

If they had to trade Jimmy Butler at the deadline, they should be able to get a better package than what they gave up.

I would be curious to what you Wolves fans think...trade Butler or Wiggins by next trade deadline? Obviously one of them would have to be traded. Definitely not Kat...he is a solid two-way player every team needs!

I have absolutely no clue why you think one of them has to be traded. One plays the SG the other the SF. They are a great fit next to each other.

[KGdaBom]

I think it would be a huge mistake to take away shots from Towns. He is way too good of an offensive player.

The guy just averaged 25.1 ppg on 54.2%/36.7%/83.6% with a TS% of 61.8%. That is insane efficiency. He had the 6th highest TS% of anyone in the league averaging over 20 ppg.

Taking shots away from a super efficient scorer like Towns and giving them to Wiggins is a bad mistake. That is purposefully handicapping the team.

How did you feel about Kobe refusing to give up the ball to Shaq when kobe shot 45% and Shaq was shooting 65%?

Regardless of the outcome, it wasn't smart basketball.

I agree in general, but one guy can't take all the shots. You can't just act like since Butler, Dieng and Towns are more efficient that Wiggins and Teague should never shoot.

[KGdaBom]

He was more assertive BECAUSE LaVine wasn't there. Just like Rubio was more assertive after the LaVine injury.

Sure LaVine being gone influenced it, but IMO it would have happened sooner or later. LaVine going down made it happen sooner.

It definitely would have. Usually when an offensive threat goes down, your efficiency shouldn't go up and definitely not on more volume.

But after Lavine went down, Towns had an almost unfathomable stretch:

18.6 FGA
28.4 ppg on 59.2%/41%/86.5%
12.9 rpg
2.1 apg

And believe it or not, he only did it on 0.9 more attempts per game. Before Lavine went down:

17.7 FGA
23 ppg on 50.8%/34.1%/80.7%
11.9 rpg
3 apg

That is impressive.