Rookie Discussion Thread

[Klomp]

Just stop it!

[tweet]https://twitter.com/patmuldowney/status/717587637716922368[/tweet]

[jcsunsfan]

Very good rookie class all together this year. Good for the league.


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[Kabookalu]

Just stop it!

[tweet]https://twitter.com/patmuldowney/status/717587637716922368[/tweet]

That's not fair. And if you guys add Dragan Bender, another 7fter capable of staying in front of guards, it's going to be the reincarnation of Ralph Sampson and Hakeem Olajuwon.

[Klomp]

Just stop it!

[tweet]https://twitter.com/patmuldowney/status/717587637716922368[/tweet]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ChrisBiderman/status/717604819712671744[/tweet]

[DickGrayson]

21 rebounds? DAMN

remember back in the day when you thought Towns had high bust potential?

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Uhmmmmmmmm

[DayofMourning]

A lot of posters weren't on the Towns train. He didn't put up enough stats.

Funny thing I read on one board was that Ben Simmons is the best prospect since Lebron. So many ways to blow that theory away, but its a strange statement to make when KAT is playing as well as he is. Since Lebron? Since KAT maybe.

[DaGawd]

21 rebounds? DAMN

remember back in the day when you thought Towns had high bust potential?

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Uhmmmmmmmm

Hindsight is 20/20. For me it was hard to get a good gauge on how good Towns really is at Kentucky do to Cal's platoon lineup he had that year. Towns' minutes were too spotty and he didn't get enough extended run to really judge how good he would be at the next level. I admit he's exceeded my expectations thus far

[Jadoogar]

Towns is insane. Does he have any real weaknesses in his game?

[Klomp]

Hindsight is 20/20. For me it was hard to get a good gauge on how good Towns really is at Kentucky do to Cal's platoon lineup he had that year. Towns' minutes were too spotty and he didn't get enough extended run to really judge how good he would be at the next level. I admit he's exceeded my expectations thus far

Yup, even I wasn't completely sold. I was still campaigning for Okafor at No. 1 until about a month before the draft. But when I saw the DX workout videos, it was over.

Even still, coming into the season, most Wolves fans were predicting/expecting a rookie season similar to Al Horford's rookie year. Right now, we are seeing a statline comparable to peak Horford, when he averaged 17/10/3/1/1 in 12-13. Towns is currently at 18/10/2/2/1, playing an average of five fewer minutes per game. He's 20.

[NYKHardKnock]

Towns is insane. Does he have any real weaknesses in his game?

His biggest weakness is not having a weakness

[Klomp]

Towns is insane. Does he have any real weaknesses in his game?

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Twolves_PR/status/717706968480161796[/tweet]

[DayofMourning]

Hindsight is 20/20. For me it was hard to get a good gauge on how good Towns really is at Kentucky do to Cal's platoon lineup he had that year. Towns' minutes were too spotty and he didn't get enough extended run to really judge how good he would be at the next level. I admit he's exceeded my expectations thus far

Yup, even I wasn't completely sold. I was still campaigning for Okafor at No. 1 until about a month before the draft. But when I saw the DX workout videos, it was over.

Even still, coming into the season, most Wolves fans were predicting/expecting a rookie season similar to Al Horford's rookie year. Right now, we are seeing a statline comparable to peak Horford, when he averaged 17/10/3/1/1 in 12-13. Towns is currently at 18/10/2/2/1, playing an average of five fewer minutes per game. He's 20.

I was one of the early adopters of Towns. I started watching his game as a junior. Very high skill set and a great attitude. Rarely do those type of players not develop into something special.

I was never sold on Okafor either. I had Okafor as the 4th or 5th best prospect in the draft. The troubles some were having differentiating the two didn't make sense to me. Towns was the guy who could do it all versus Okafor who had a singular well defined skill.

I remember one poster saying my comparison of Towns to Duncan was "lazy", and its funny to look at the season Towns has had and find that it compares extremely well to Duncan's rookie season. Town's addition to the Wolves completely changed their franchise. I'd say some of the development we see from Lavine and Wiggins is partially owed to Towns giving them a bit more freedom.

[Marcus]

Towns is insane. Does he have any real weaknesses in his game?

His biggest weakness is not having a weakness

Not being allowed to showcase everything he's capable of.

[Klomp]

I remember one poster saying my comparison of Towns to Duncan was "lazy", and its funny to look at the season Towns has had and find that it compares extremely well to Duncan's rookie season.

Crazy thing is, Towns is arguably more athletically gifted, and he's putting up these numbers a year younger than Duncan. Towns turned 20 two weeks into his rookie season, Duncan turned 22 a week after his rookie season.

[DayofMourning]

I remember one poster saying my comparison of Towns to Duncan was "lazy", and its funny to look at the season Towns has had and find that it compares extremely well to Duncan's rookie season.

Crazy thing is, Towns is arguably more athletically gifted, and he's putting up these numbers a year younger than Duncan. Towns turned 20 two weeks into his rookie season, Duncan turned 22 a week after his rookie season.

Another decade of this will mean good things for Minnesota. Fortune worked in your favor when the lotto balls lined up just right. Maybe one more pick and your team will be primed for playoff runs in the near future.

[erudite23]

Don't know how many people are even aware of it, but Trey Lyles has been straight ballin' off the bench for the Jazz.

Outside of KAT, Porzi, Russell and maybe Mudiay/Okafor, there's not another rook I would trade him for straight up. Booker and Turner are in the same ballpark, I would say, but he is developing some incredibly advanced abilities for a guy that young. He has a FLOATER. At 6'10" with a 7 ft wingspan, the dude has a floater in the lane that freaks me out every time he unleashes it. Add in the smooth J, the off-the-dribble game, and the ridiculously heady plays and he's becoming a weapon off the bench in his first season. Never thought I would be saying that about him, but here we are.

Jmac1 wont be happy to hear this

I'm cool The season is almost over and Book put up 34 tonight...........if this guy ranks Lyles, Russell, Mudiay, and Okafor over D Book, more power to him.

The is me laughing at you making fun of me.....it was funny. Thumbs up!

I really don't want to argue against Book, because I love him and he's doing some good stuff. He was one of my favorite prospects in the draft, though I was terrified of him, and when Turner and Winslow went off the board with the two picks in front of the Jazz' pick, I was all in on drafting Booker. I hated Lyles as a prospect and didn't see why the Jazz were interested in him. So that's where I'm coming from.

That said, Booker is a rookie on a team that is playing out the string. His team is 3rd worst in the league and they've been much worse since he moved to the SL. He's scoring in copious amounts, but his TS% for February and March was 48% and 53%. It's 45% so far this month. He turned the ball over 4x per game in the month of March. He shot 28% from 3pt range. He averages around 0.5 steals p/36. And he's one of the 10 worst SGs in the league defensively.

He is also playing more minutes than basically any other player in the NBA.

Basically, he's the quintessential volume scorer putting up numbers on a terrible team. There is very little correlation with what he's doing now and winning basketball--which is the whole point of everything, really.

He was MUCH better in a more limited role early in the year. Playing off the ball and not forcing so many shots, spacing the floor and attacking closeouts off the dribble. That's his role and he's really good at it.


Lyles is providing punch to bench units for a Jazz team in desperate need of it as they make a run to the playoffs. A team that is 10-4 (4 losses are SA, GS, OKC and Chi) since the beginning of March with top 3 differential in the league. A team that just took San Antonio AND Golden State down to the last minute in the space of 7 days, and a team that has won crucial games against top competition.

Those are apples and oranges. And while numbers can be fun, it's ultimately about winning basketball games and Trey Lyles has been doing more to contribute to winning basketball games than Booker has by a large margin. In fact, there's only a couple other rooks who can compare to what he's doing right now in that respect.

Which is all not to say that Book isn't great, because he is. I think he's going to be good, but the excitement about him becoming a future star is premature. He could get there, but what he's doing right now is not an indicator of that.

[JMac1]

Jmac1 wont be happy to hear this

I'm cool The season is almost over and Book put up 34 tonight...........if this guy ranks Lyles, Russell, Mudiay, and Okafor over D Book, more power to him.

The is me laughing at you making fun of me.....it was funny. Thumbs up!

I really don't want to argue against Book, because I love him and he's doing some good stuff. He was one of my favorite prospects in the draft, though I was terrified of him, and when Turner and Winslow went off the board with the two picks in front of the Jazz' pick, I was all in on drafting Booker. I hated Lyles as a prospect and didn't see why the Jazz were interested in him. So that's where I'm coming from.

That said, Booker is a rookie on a team that is playing out the string. His team is 3rd worst in the league and they've been much worse since he moved to the SL. He's scoring in copious amounts, but his TS% for February and March was 48% and 53%. It's 45% so far this month. He turned the ball over 4x per game in the month of March. He shot 28% from 3pt range. He averages around 0.5 steals p/36. And he's one of the 10 worst SGs in the league defensively.

He is also playing more minutes than basically any other player in the NBA.

Basically, he's the quintessential volume scorer putting up numbers on a terrible team. There is very little correlation with what he's doing now and winning basketball--which is the whole point of everything, really.

He was MUCH better in a more limited role early in the year. Playing off the ball and not forcing so many shots, spacing the floor and attacking closeouts off the dribble. That's his role and he's really good at it.


Lyles is providing punch to bench units for a Jazz team in desperate need of it as they make a run to the playoffs. A team that is 10-4 (4 losses are SA, GS, OKC and Chi) since the beginning of March with top 3 differential in the league. A team that just took San Antonio AND Golden State down to the last minute in the space of 7 days, and a team that has won crucial games against top competition.

Those are apples and oranges. And while numbers can be fun, it's ultimately about winning basketball games and Trey Lyles has been doing more to contribute to winning basketball games than Booker has by a large margin. In fact, there's only a couple other rooks who can compare to what he's doing right now in that respect.

Which is all not to say that Book isn't great, because he is. I think he's going to be good, but the excitement about him becoming a future star is premature. He could get there, but what he's doing right now is not an indicator of that.

Yup, you are right. Booker is a high volume scorer on a horrible team that continues to lose. Meanwhile, Lyles is a winner. I got it. You are 100 percent correct. I wished we had drafted Lyles then we would be winning way more games and have the franchise guy we have been looking for.

[Westbreezy]

Towns is insane. Does he have any real weaknesses in his game?

Too many names?

[EvanZ]

Hindsight is 20/20. For me it was hard to get a good gauge on how good Towns really is at Kentucky do to Cal's platoon lineup he had that year. Towns' minutes were too spotty and he didn't get enough extended run to really judge how good he would be at the next level. I admit he's exceeded my expectations thus far

Yup, even I wasn't completely sold. I was still campaigning for Okafor at No. 1 until about a month before the draft. But when I saw the DX workout videos, it was over.

Even still, coming into the season, most Wolves fans were predicting/expecting a rookie season similar to Al Horford's rookie year. Right now, we are seeing a statline comparable to peak Horford, when he averaged 17/10/3/1/1 in 12-13. Towns is currently at 18/10/2/2/1, playing an average of five fewer minutes per game. He's 20.

I was one of the early adopters of Towns. I started watching his game as a junior. Very high skill set and a great attitude. Rarely do those type of players not develop into something special.

I was never sold on Okafor either. I had Okafor as the 4th or 5th best prospect in the draft. The troubles some were having differentiating the two didn't make sense to me. Towns was the guy who could do it all versus Okafor who had a singular well defined skill.

I remember one poster saying my comparison of Towns to Duncan was "lazy", and its funny to look at the season Towns has had and find that it compares extremely well to Duncan's rookie season. Town's addition to the Wolves completely changed their franchise. I'd say some of the development we see from Lavine and Wiggins is partially owed to Towns giving them a bit more freedom.

It took me five minutes last year to figure out Towns was a much better prospect than Okafor. I didn't understand the "dilemma". Then again, Chad Ford is an idiot, and many people are just repeating his bs.

[Goudelock]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Do1l1WyNGWk[/youtube]

This fascinates me.