TheZachAttack wrote:There is a lot of discussion about how to improve the Timberwolves and there is a lot of worry about the lack of talent on the roster. However, I think it's possible that the Wolves can address a portion of their structural issues in terms of talent and skillset versus system with the players that the Wolves are developing.
Rosas may have whiffed on D Lo and there may be questions about some of the moves the organization has made, but I think that this regime may have hit in a huge way on some of their late-round picks. I think that they clearly identified players in the 2nd round and after the draft that they believed could be good fits for their system.
While the Wolves season is disappointing and the Wolves do have to balance developing rookie and young players (and dealing with rookie inconsistency) while also understanding that you have to win for KAT... I think there are more answers in-system than it currently appears.
Further, Layman, KBD, Nowell, Martin, and Naz are all team controlled on longish contracts. These players are all players that can play a role for this team and fit the system and can do so in a very cost-effective way. As the Wolves move on from Teague, Dieng, Graham and others... if the Wolves can develop the 5 players listed into 20+ mpg contributors... they should have a lot of flexibility to make additional moves going forward.
Again I just wanted to call-out that I think Wolves fans should be really optimistic about how well some of the Wolves young players are developing into players that can seemingly be solid roles players with the kind of skillsets that fit the scheme.
Thank you! That type of posts are making me feel better, because positivity is something based on that we see in current situation, and as you described with details in your post there are plenty of good signs.
First of all, it is clear to me that Rosas and Ryan share same constantly aligned vision for this season. It means that some decisions are made based on more on GM needs/priorities, some on coaching/development needs/priorities. For instance:
* - sitting KAT with fake injury ===> more opportunities for Dieng ===> increase his trade value
* - limit Vonleh/Bell playing time ===> more opportunities for Reid ===> speed up Reid development
* - playing Teague from bench ===> more opportunities for Culver ===> speed up Culver development
* - sitting Layman with fake(???) injury ===> more opportunities for Culver, KBD ===> speed up Culver, KBD development
It is hard to balance always between these two sides, but
overall results are way to better than I expected:
* - both KAT and Wiggins have showed improvements
* - Diengs trade value is higher than in offseason
* - Culver, KBD, Nowell, Martin, and Naz show improvements
* - Napier looks as solution at backup PG. Hope we will re-sign him on reasonable deal.
* - Layman looks as solution at backup PF/SF
* - Martin looks as solution at backup SG/SF. Hope we will re-sign him on full 1+3 contract
Some things are still concerning:
* - Teague seems to not to buy into system
* - Okogie has not shown great improvements in decision making and shooting, although last couple games he played better. I think Okogie will play better once our PG situation is stabilized, and roster is more balanced with shooters
* - Wiggins currently has a cold stretch. It is not clear why he struggles now, maybe he depends on KAT more than I thought.
In my opinion our two biggest issues now are:
* - lack of starting caliber ballhandler who is not liability as shooter. Wiggins, Culver, Napier and Teague are our ballhandlers. None of them is consistent enough
* - lack of size/athleticism at PF position. There are too many uncertainties going into next season, but one thing is clear to me: if KAT/Reid are our bigs at C, then we need a big help in terms of defense and rebounding from PF/SF position. That is why lack of size/athleticism at PF position might kill us in future. Part of solution might be moving RoCo back to SF position and fill PF slot with strong, defensive minded stretch four. But in this case we need solid help from SG/PG position in terms of 3pt shooting and ballhandling.
KAT/Reid/???
???/Layman/KBD
RoCo/Culver/Martin
Wiggins/Okogie/Nowell
???/Wiggins/???
I dont see us adding another 1-2 young players to this group next year, because we simply wont have enough playing time and opportunities to develop all our young players Culver, KBD, Nowell, Martin, Okogie and Naz. Unless we trade some of them in order to get maximum compensation now.
Thats why I think that Rosas is actively looking for trade to address our biggest needs without giving up a ton of assets. These are dark days for MIN fans, for sure. A lot of frustration. But I see all little signs that make me believe that MIN will be much better next season.
