Post#745 » by minimus » Tue Dec 6, 2022 12:21 pm
After every ugly loss I see "we are doomed, TC traded away all picks, we traded our future" etc. Here is something I want to add when I see such posts. I need to remind myself that running, developing team is process, not something fixed.
1) lets speak about timeline, for instance, Patrick Beverley played well for us, but he also showed signs of declining, we overpaid him on 13 mil 1 yr deal and right now he is not worth that money. Also keeping him would not solve our PG problem, if Beverley plays significant minutes, it would leave no opportunities for young players. I would be happy to keep Beverley for let say 25 mil/3yrs (10+5+5 last year team option), so he can stay with us, mentor guys, be vocal leader, but 13 mil one year deal leaves us no prospects after this season, moreover with how Nowell and DLo negotiations go, we would have Beverley, Nowell and DLo deals all expiring in the same offseason.
2) I see Vando hitting 4/4 threes, I see Malik Beasley showing off some dance moves after hitting big threes. I am really happy for them, but I remember that Beasley struggled first half of last season, Vanderbilt was ineffective against LAC and MEM etc. They all are excellent role players, but they all have clear ceiling and limitations, and that was the reason why we were able to sign them to team friendly deals (please dont forget Beasley problems with law). The real question here is whether our FO is able to replace such role players, and in my opinion Kyle Anderson and Taurean Prince are excellent acquisitions, we struggled for years to attract MLE candidates, even Derrick Jones Jr. declined our offer. Rivers has been useful as well, and Forbes has been awful.
3) I see Kessler playing well, I would not be surprised if he gets more playing time in rebuilding UTA than in MIN, hence he might look a lot better and progress faster. But the real question for me is whether we can still find and develop our talents. I see scenario where Reid, Nowell and DLo all will leave our team for bigger money/opportunity. But I also hope that we have first wave of candidates who can replace them: Garza, Moore, Lawson. Maybe it is not 1-to-1 comparison, and this team will need to make some adjustments, but I think Garza, Moore and Lawson are NBA players. The trick here is two-way contract, which means that Garza and Lawson will be RFA next summer, and if they outperform we will have a way to keep them, if they want to pickup QO, it will be again two-way contract for next season. So basically we have two years of team control, just like in McLaughlin situation.
To sum up. I call McDonalds approach:
* - we must develop young players faster than they leave. I honestly believe that MIN has been one of the best organisations in terms of finding and developing talents. First with Rosas who converted RoCo into Vando, Beasley, Juancho, MCD, found Reid, Nowell, McLaughlin and now I hope this trend continues with TC who got Garza, Moore, Lawson, PJ Dozier, Minott.
* - we must find MLE type guys who are in their primes such as KA and TP.
This process must function as production pipeline - non stop. If I understand correctly doing Gobert trade we put everything on MIN ability as organisation to work this way.
