winforlose wrote:minimus wrote:winforlose wrote:
So I have questions.
1. Why is it important that TSJ get minutes over Minott if Minott is clearly better and more NBA ready than TSJ? The same goes for Miller? Why is it true that if the 27th overall pick takes a year to acclimate to the NBA before cracking a WCF rotation something has gone wrong?
2. What if it becomes clear that RD is not ready. Being picked number 6 didn’t make Culver anymore playable then being picked number 5 helped Kris Dunn. You make it sound like RD should immediately be a bucket, but we have seen guys who can score in college really struggle in the NBA (Nowell was a 44% 3 point shooter his rookie year in Iowa, but up here he was sub 20%.) Is winning less important than developing RD?
3. If we need more scoring and are okay with bad defense why not play Luka with KAT and Naz? Or Luka with KAT and Rudy? Luka may not be good for much, but he can in theory shoot. I mean if he cannot then we traded down from 37 to 53 for nothing, (the roster spot was opened for Garza.)
I think the notion of forcing RD and TSJ to contribute right away is great in theory, and unworkable in practice. They are what they are, and Finch will prioritize winning over developing them, as he should. We have two more chances at this and then everything goes to ****. I would rather maximize those chances with an elite 7 and the best free agents we can bring in, (and hopefully get something out of the young guys,) then put all are eggs on development over victory. But that is just me.
1) watching Minott in g-league this year I am kind of wondering what his role can be. Last summer he said he was working on his 3pt shot and defense. But from what I have seen he is not McDaniels type of PoA defender, and his shot is still questionable. Maybe he can play role of weakside defender? He put some weight though
2) big difference is that Rob can shoot 3s and pass while live dribbling. Something that Moore, Culver, Milton, Nowell cant. Maybe he is not ready, like Zach LaVine and Jamal Murray in their first year in NBA, when they both were 19yo rookies, but you still has to give them 15-20 minutes to develop
3) if we lose both Anderson and Morris, you have to play Dillingham and/or Shannon. Because it is not about simply scoring, outside of Edwards and Conley we wont have quality ballhandlers, and while Shannon is a mediocre ballhandler he was first offensive option in students, so Finch at least can integrate his on ball skills. For instance, Shannon often used screens to score as pick-n-roll ballhandler
It is not common, but we have seen rookies succeed in playoff teams. For instance, Lively, Christian Braun. I see your concerns and I find them legit. Thats why I believe that now it is Finch and coaching staff to get the most from rookies. Anderson, McLaughlin were Finch favourites, but it is time to move on.
1. I wasn’t so much advocating for Minott or Miller as I was pushing back against the notion that the best player shouldn’t play. That was the subtext I was getting from the message I quoted. That developing the rookies was more important than winning by playing the best young players. The truth is I have no idea who among RD, TSJ, Minott, Clark, Miller, JED (the other Edwards, now referred to as JED,) and maybe Ledee (if we make him our 3rd two way) will be the most ready to contribute. But I feel like cutting costs in free agency at the expense of contending is the typical Wolves nonsense that took them from the 03-04 Wolves to the rest of the decade Wolves. Especially in the new straight jacket that is the 2nd apron. Wasting bird rights is like punching holes on a boat and employing strangers to bail water while you cross the Atlantic. It may all be fine, or everyone might drown. My solution, don’t punch the holes and let the strangers do work that they are suited for. Or in this case develop the kids at that pace and in such a way they don’t jeopardize our two good years.
2. Rob might be the next big thing or the next big mistake. The point is we won’t know until we see him in action and even then the rookie wall is a real thing. I am not advocating for him to kept from developing, but rather don’t assume he can hit the ground running or that if he cannot that he is bust. Some guys take time. Meanwhile have a viable alternative that is not also 37 and unable to play defense (the ghost of Joe Ingles.)
3. We have two slots and two rotation slots, we should be able to find viable options. Especially with the bird rights of guys who qualify as viable options and can be traded at the midway point of the season to avoid the tax and recoup assets if they are expendable. Sign Kyle and bench his *** till February or until one of RD or TSJ need replacing. As for Monte, who replaces Mike when he retires in two years. If RD is the starter who is the backup? We traded for a PG last year on the premise that his bird rights were worth paying tax for. Now it’s time to pay tax and we are saying who needs a backup PG. Same old Wolves.
1) well, that is why I am trying to think about possible roles & fit
- from what I have seen in g-league Minott has been trying to find himself a role as pseudo bigman who can occasionally block opponent from weakside, hit three point shot, grab rebound and run in transition. He and Miller played a lot like bigs in gleague, and if Anderson leaves they both compete for minutes in this role as stretch four comboforward. Miller has probably higher potential, but it all comes down who can defend on perimeter AND hit open three. They both needs to defend on perimeter because other than McDaniels we dont have other big wings. I define this role as Peyton Watson role
- Shannon has interesting skillset: he was 3rd best in Lane agility in 1st in Three quarter sprint at NBA draft combine measurements in 2023. He is basically has guard quickness and speed in wing body. And while not perfect he had a lot of reps as first option in offense in Illinois AND he was PoA experience defender in Texas. That's why I assume he can fit from very first moment as energy guy from bench who run in transition, shoots open corner threes, and earns FTs. MIN were 29th in fastbreak points in regular season, and 23rd in 3PA. I define this role as Josh Green / Cristian Braun role
- Rob is first ballhandler in MIN who can shoot pull up 3s and be live dribbling passer. All other guys were either non shooters or bad 3pt shooters (Rubio, Culver, Anderson, Milton, Nowell) or low volume 3pt shooter (Morris, McLaughlin, Austin Rivers, Pat Beverley, Napier). Combination of his passing and shooting stats are intriguing:
BlacJacMac wrote:Numbers I find interesting.
Dillingham: USG%: 30.3, AST%: 29.7, TO%: 13.5
Castle: USG%: 22.0, AST%: 18.4, TO%: 13.0
McCain: USG%: 21.1, AST%: 11.0, TO%: 10.1
MIN simply has not been able to get such guard in FA market or via trade. Now we have him, I would define his role as Malik Monk / Tyler Herro role
2) I am not sure either whether Rob will succeed in MIN. But as I said, we must do everything to help him probably by asking him to play through adversity and struggles. It might be rough, just like Zach LaVine and Jamal Murray first year. TC has already gambled when he got Rob. There's no point in stopping halfway through.
3) TC exactly what we needed by adding two talented players via draft, because it is only realistic way to improve this roster. Adding Rob and TSJ is making difficult to justify full MLE contract for Anderson (8-11 mil), or 5-7 mil contract for Monte. It is risk, but given all factors such as tax, 2nd apron constraints, injury history, offensive struggles etc, I can see why MIN FO is waiting here. To resign Anderson and Morris MIN need to understand their real market value, especially if we want to trade Anderson later. Why would a team consider trading for Anderson who is available now in offseason as FA? Same with Monte. I dont see TC being cheap here. Our 7 man rotation is pretty much set: Gobert-Towns-McDaniels-Edwards-Conley-Reid-NAW + TSJ-Dillingham + Miller-Minott-Clarke-Garza. I find Joe Ingles as perfect 5-10 min guy who does not need the ball, because he can still shoot and pass. From all market I wish we could get Delon Wright, who is kind of NAW clone or TBJ, because I want our rotation to have interchangeable pieces around our core. Something like BOS had with White-Holiday, just plug-n-play guys who can defend, shoot and pass:
- Gobert-Towns-McDaniels-Edwards-Conley start
- Towns-Reid is first interchangeable duo
- NAW-TSJ are 3&D guys
- Minott-Miller are energy guys
- Conley-Dillingham are ball handlers
I'd be happy to bring back Morris or Anderson, but both are probably seeking biggest contracts in their career. I understand them.