Ant-Man is it

[GYK]

Naw I mean I think he was never gonna come in as efficient but he can’t be off ball this early in his career. You watch him and see a whole lot that should work. Weirdly his finishing has been terrible for his gifts but they also been full steam no finesse. Two many points for a guy who desperately needs to be the lead at this stage. I like his 3pt focus and FT percentage but again ball needed to find more drives and free throws which will open up more passing lanes.
Not starting your #1 pick because your non playoff team “wants” to win.

[John Murdoch]

he is dead last in WS and BPM

[FinnTheHuman]

I understand but...

Every now and then he does something, or makes a move that only maybe 4 or 5 other wings can do, from an athletic standpoint. He is ELITE first step and leaping ability, like, every once is a while he'll make your jaw drop.

You don't give up on that or label too soon. I will admit that he has an uphill battle, being on a horrific team and the questions about his love for the game but...

There is too much body, too much jump and too much pop to just cast him out.

You gotta wait much longer then this.

Exactly. To me, Ant looks like an amazing potential when I watch him out there, despite the numbers, and I'd take him 1st again from what I've seen if I'm a rebuilding team that's gonna rebuild for the next 2-3-4 years. He just needs time and that's all.

[jbk1234]

I absolutely would've traded out of No. 1 last draft and not worried about what sports pundits said about the return. It was pretty clear the didn't have anyone rated that high.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J327A using RealGM mobile app

[DCasey91]

It’s unfortunate because he definitely has the size/physical tools to be a bigger Donovan Mitchell (Elite lvl SG).

But alas his skill level is a long way back (disregarding rookie warts) and worse still I suspect his mental makeup is just not fit for NBA.

Won’t be the first and certainly won’t be the last to be drafted on what they look like vs what they really are.

Dennis Smith JR is a good example for athleticism over skills

Josh Jackson is a good example for maturity. Hopefully he works out in the end

Some players need 3-4 years before they’re actually ready to handle an elite/professional/pressure filled environment. Add in more money then any 19-20 yr old can even think to do with it (even anyone at any age I might add).

Hence why the draft can be a crapshoot at the best times. Forecasting players overall ceiling over a period of time is very unlikely unless there extremely mature for their ages both developmentally in their skillset and can handle things regular people have never experienced or can’t.

His physical tools alone will give him a couple of seasons. But after that who knows

[Godymas]

Tbh Wiggins is showing stuff he never showed in Minnesota and is having his most efficient season ever in Golden State so really is it Ant Man or just the fact that the TWolves have now replaced the Clippers as the worst franchise in the history of the NBA

[Godymas]

He has the athleticism of a young Wade.
He picked up Bball late.
He's a player I'd wait for 3-4 years in the NBA system before calling a bust.

Then no1 should have drafted him and let him play in college for 3-4 years.

Theres alot of guys drafted purely on physical ability and bust our of the league where if maybe if they did stay in college longer they would end up having a better chance at a long and successful NBA career.

Now honestly if i knew I was going to get drafted high im taking my money and running.

So it ees wat it ees.

Lol good players will grow at a much more accelerated rate playing against higher competition. The internet just allows people to come to share their idiotic takes literally 1 month into a player’s career that that player is a bust.

[LloydFree]

He has Donovan Mitchell type talent. You just have to hope he has that kind of commitment and determination to succeed.

[Wolves21]

I think alot of the the blame has to be put on their new head coach Ryan Saunders. Hes a young head coach only 34yrs old and seems like hes too lax with the players instead of holding them accountable. The individual pieces the wolves have are talented but there is no cohesiveness in their offense from what I've seen bc there is no system set in place it looks like there just playing AAU or pick up ball out there. Edwards did pretty well early on to start the season but after his minutes slowly got reduced little by little each game hes been struggling badly. The coach needs to instill confidence in his player by first of all, starting him and putting the ball in his hands more. Edwards is a talented offensive player but like alot of scorers hes a player that is much more comfortable with the ball in his hands more than playing an off ball role which he is currently doing with dlo and rubio handling the pg duty.. at the very least the coach should draw plays for him which instills confidence in the player. Let him make all the rookie mistakes. Wade avg 3 turnovers a game his rookie season. Keeping a #1 pick coming off the bench instead of starting him when the team is struggling this bad is just a horrible look on the organization. They have no direction.

Right on,Saunders has done a terrible job using him and putting him in terrible roles.Edwards should be starting and having plays run for him,yes he's been shooting terribly for like 8 games or so now but a lot of that is him finishing at the rim.Which in time he'll be much better at,his biggest issue right now is worrying that he's been fouled and not getting calls and not finishing strong at the rim.Those things will improve in time.

Saunders also screws around with his minutes way to much.He should be playing 30 minutes or more per night and letting him learn on the fly.

[Midw35t]

Did Wolves not learn their lessons from JR Rider & Wiggins fam? This dude is a legit bum, no cap. Should be lit in the dunk contest tho.

Nonsense, here he is with a cap

The "street cred" talk is getting out of hand. I had to google what "no cap" means and i thought its an addition to the english language that was not really needed

All the lingo and acronyms are getting out of hand.

[LofJ]

He has Donovan Mitchell type talent. You just have to hope he has that kind of commitment and determination to succeed.

He doesn't have Mitchell's head though, that's what separates him from the pack and makes him great. Everyone is athletic in the NBA, you need more than that to succeed.

[Capn'O]

We have this conversation annually. Most one and done rookies come in with talent but without the ability to do anything consistently and contribute towards winning. Particularly any that anticipate scoring at volume early on. Advanced metrics were BRUTAL towards RJ Barrett last year. His play lately suggests he'll be challenging for All Star berths as early as next season.

This year's class didn't even get a summer league or full training camp. Rawer players are getting slammed by this. Another twenty games in and we'll likely start to see what guys like Edwards are capable of. As a talent, he reminds me of Mitch Richmond. That's a very high outcome for him though, which would be highly contingent on him exhibiting a passion for the game.

[KO7]

Surely I'm not the only one who saw the thread and thought "Who the **** is Ant Man?"

When I saw the thread, I thought “Anfernee Simons of the Blazers? But how many people are going to know it’s referring to him?”. Then I found out I was wrong...

[abark]

I think alot of the the blame has to be put on their new head coach Ryan Saunders. Hes a young head coach only 34yrs old and seems like hes too lax with the players instead of holding them accountable. The individual pieces the wolves have are talented but there is no cohesiveness in their offense from what I've seen bc there is no system set in place it looks like there just playing AAU or pick up ball out there. Edwards did pretty well early on to start the season but after his minutes slowly got reduced little by little each game hes been struggling badly. The coach needs to instill confidence in his player by first of all, starting him and putting the ball in his hands more. Edwards is a talented offensive player but like alot of scorers hes a player that is much more comfortable with the ball in his hands more than playing an off ball role which he is currently doing with dlo and rubio handling the pg duty.. at the very least the coach should draw plays for him which instills confidence in the player. Let him make all the rookie mistakes. Wade avg 3 turnovers a game his rookie season. Keeping a #1 pick coming off the bench instead of starting him when the team is struggling this bad is just a horrible look on the organization. They have no direction.

Right on,Saunders has done a terrible job using him and putting him in terrible roles.Edwards should be starting and having plays run for him,yes he's been shooting terribly for like 8 games or so now but a lot of that is him finishing at the rim.Which in time he'll be much better at,his biggest issue right now is worrying that he's been fouled and not getting calls and not finishing strong at the rim.Those things will improve in time.

Saunders also screws around with his minutes way to much.He should be playing 30 minutes or more per night and letting him learn on the fly.

Problem is, with the way he's playing, he'd be in the g-league right now if he wasn't the #1 pick. The only 2 games he hasn't gotten 22+ minutes he went a combined 1/14 for 2 points in consecutive games. Even on a garbage team, you have to worry about how the other players feel about an inferior player getting preferential treatment.

In the few games I've seen he's looked the same as he did in college. Raw athleticism, inefficient, and no feel for the game. Advanced stats paint him as basically the worst player in the league. He's a negative in every one where that's possible. Posting a 42.4% TS and a -10 BPM. That's kind of unheard of.

At 24.9 MPG, he's actually playing more than either Lamelo or Wiseman. I don't see how a coach can justify more minutes until he starts playing to the level of an actual rotation player.

[Forte IV]

Surely I'm not the only one who saw the thread and thought "Who the **** is Ant Man?"

It took me longer than it should have to figure out who OP was talking about.

[Ambrose]

We have this conversation annually. Most one and done rookies come in with talent but without the ability to do anything consistently and contribute towards winning. Particularly any that anticipate scoring at volume early on. Advanced metrics were BRUTAL towards RJ Barrett last year. His play lately suggests he'll be challenging for All Star berths as early as next season.

This year's class didn't even get a summer league or full training camp. Rawer players are getting slammed by this. Another twenty games in and we'll likely start to see what guys like Edwards are capable of. As a talent, he reminds me of Mitch Richmond. That's a very high outcome for him though, which would be highly contingent on him exhibiting a passion for the game.

No, it really doesn't.

[Capn'O]

We have this conversation annually. Most one and done rookies come in with talent but without the ability to do anything consistently and contribute towards winning. Particularly any that anticipate scoring at volume early on. Advanced metrics were BRUTAL towards RJ Barrett last year. His play lately suggests he'll be challenging for All Star berths as early as next season.

This year's class didn't even get a summer league or full training camp. Rawer players are getting slammed by this. Another twenty games in and we'll likely start to see what guys like Edwards are capable of. As a talent, he reminds me of Mitch Richmond. That's a very high outcome for him though, which would be highly contingent on him exhibiting a passion for the game.

No, it really doesn't.

His Jan splits of 19/7/3.5 with good defense on 53% TS would put him into consideration right now had he done the same in December.

[Clyde Ward]

We gotta get Shaq on the line to break it down for him like D. Mitchell...

[FreeThrowLine]

Nonsense, here he is with a cap

The "street cred" talk is getting out of hand. I had to google what "no cap" means and i thought its an addition to the english language that was not really needed

All the lingo and acronyms are getting out of hand.

True hat!

[Clyde Frazier]

I wouldn't have wanted him if I was a wolves fan but proclaiming a player a bust a month into their rookie year is flat out dumb. You can guess they *will be*, but for the vast majority of players we don't know what they're gonna be til year 3. Pump the damn brakes.