2015-16 Wolves thread

[Mike Sixel]

Not an NBA guy at all......I'm just here to say I'm either impressed, or sad for you, that you can stay a fan of this team.......

[ALessKosherScott]

 

I guess my issue is that the most promising players behind the big 3 don't fit well together.  Dieng and Towns shouldn't be playing together and neither should Lavine and Wiggins.

 

Bjelica and Muhammad look like solid NBA players but they might not be starters.  Payne looks like a solid 10-15 min/game backup.

 

That means that the Wolves need several key players that aren't on the roster yet.  That sounds hard.

 

Hard is trying to rebuild Philadelphia or the Lakers, who desperately need Simmons or they're punting the next three years. Or even a team like the Blazers who need to replace Aldridge but won't be bad enough to do it. 

 

With the Wolves, you have a great 20-year-old player in Towns and a great 20-year-old upside piece in Wiggins, Throw in a really good distributor and defender in Rubio, and you're not horrifically screwed. You're just not advancing because the people who should be winning games for you right now needed to be brought in during the Kahn years. Now it's just putting the pieces around them. You're essentially looking for one great shooter and one great defender to pair with them. 

 

Getting Ingram or Simmons would be great. But the reality is what you're looking for in the offseason is to trade for a Stanley Johnson, Justice Winslow or Aaron Gordon to get some more good youth that solve your lineup problems.

[bluechipper]

 

Not an NBA guy at all......I'm just here to say I'm either impressed, or sad for you, that you can stay a fan of this team.......

Get ready to jump on the bandwagon. With a new coach and a few roster tweaks, this team is going to seriously compete for the playoffs next year.

[Shane Wahl]

I know I like Towns and Wiggins.

I think I like LaVine, Muhammad, Dieng

I am scared about Rubio and Pekovic

I don't know what to think about Jones, Bjelica and Payne

I doubt Rudez is really much of an NBA player

 

Martin and Prince should fit somewhere with a playoff team (Spurs need a shooter like the Martin of old, many teams might like Prince's length defensively--Clippers?)

 

KG and Miller will be gone. If they hold onto the first ten players mentioned above, who are two players in the draft next year to add, assuming about pick 5 and 46 or whatever? Hield and ???

[ALessKosherScott]

 

Not an NBA guy at all......I'm just here to say I'm either impressed, or sad for you, that you can stay a fan of this team.......

 

I survived the mid-90s Twins. I can survive anything

[bluechipper]

 

I know I like Towns and Wiggins.

I think I like LaVine, Muhammad, Dieng

I am scared about Rubio and Pekovic

I don't know what to think about Jones, Bjelica and Payne

I doubt Rudez is really much of an NBA player

 

Martin and Prince should fit somewhere with a playoff team (Spurs need a shooter like the Martin of old, many teams might like Prince's length defensively--Clippers?)

 

KG and Miller will be gone. If they hold onto the first ten players mentioned above, who are two players in the draft next year to add, assuming about pick 5 and 46 or whatever? Hield and ???

i really like Henry Ellenson or Jaylen Brown with the top pick, Hield would be interesting too. A second round target could be the B10's leading scorer and shot blocker Jarrod Uthoff.

[bluechipper]

I think free agency is going to be huge this offseason. I'm looking at one of Al Horford, Ryan Anderson, Nic Batum, or Luol Deng. Also, one restricted free agent who I am a huge fan of is Terrance Jones, but I doubt Houston will let him get away.

[ALessKosherScott]

Assuming you're picking 5 to 7 right now, it comes down to what strengths you're trying to add and what weaknesses you're willing to live with.

 

Hield might be the best shooter in the draft. But his defense is kind of Kevin Martin-esq, who might be a good comp for what he can be.

 

Brown is a good cross between Muhammed's strength and Wiggins athleticism at small forward, but he's a questionable shooter and he scores by attacking the hoop kind of like Lavine and Wiggins.

 

Ellenson is a power forward who can shoot and rebound and who might be the next Kevin Love. But he also hasn't been anywhere near as dominant as Love was in his one year of college.

 

I like Ivan Rabb a lot, who is a might be the best two-way power forward in the draft. But he's not the kind of power forward who's going to knock down the three and he probably needs a little more strength in the NBA.

 

Kris Dunn may be there, or he may go three. He's kind of everything that Rubio isn't in that he's athletic and can finish at the rim (which is what holds Rubio's shooting percentage down). But he's also turnover prone and shooting .674 from the free throw line, which is a sign his shooting percentage may not translate to the NBA. He shares the good assist, good defense thing with Rubio though.

 

Jakob Poeltl is pretty flawless as a cromulent center. But can KAT play the four?

 

Labissiere has scary potential. But his numbers and his advanced stats are just as scary.

 

I still like the idea of moving the pick if you can add the right young player.

 

 

[kab21]

 

4-20 since their 8-8 start. New players, same story every year for this team. Can anyone explain why Prince is starting and playing somewhat significant minutes for this team? Has KG completely checked out?

It's time to tank for Simmons.

The interview with Mitchell summed it up.  He doesn't want Wiggins guarding the larger SF's across the NBA.  That basically leaves them with Prince and Muhammad.  He is choosing Prince right now.

 

It would be insane if the Wolves won the lottery from the 5th to 7th spot. 

[Shane Wahl]

That's a bit silly, then. I mean . . . Wiggins would then create a matchup problem on the other end.

[kab21]

 

That's a bit silly, then. I mean . . . Wiggins would then create a matchup problem on the other end.

One would think but Mitchell seemed to obsess about giving up size in the interview and how it wore out the smaller player even mentioning that Towns and Dieng give up quite a bit at C.

[bluechipper]

 

The interview with Mitchell summed it up.  He doesn't want Wiggins guarding the larger SF's across the NBA.  That basically leaves them with Prince and Muhammad.  He is choosing Prince right now.

 

It would be insane if the Wolves won the lottery from the 5th to 7th spot. 

I'd like to see Bazz start for a while at SF to see what he can do in extended minutes. I know he is an awful defender for some reason, but his offensive skill and energy could provide some life to the starting unit.

[Shane Wahl]

 

One would think but Mitchell seemed to obsess about giving up size in the interview and how it wore out the smaller player even mentioning that Towns and Dieng give up quite a bit at C.

Yeah, too bad that runs counter to the direction (Spurs aside) the NBA is actually going . . .

[bluechipper]

 

Yeah, too bad that runs counter to the direction (Spurs aside) the NBA is actually going . . .

Which is why a new coach and PF is needed this offseason.

[ALessKosherScott]

Looking at it through the lens of a 30 point win certainly makes things look a little better.

 

Fun numbers over the last five games, which all haven't been this good. Small sample sizes, but still:

 

Wiggins is shooting .487.

 

Rubio is shooting better than 44% and 38.5% from three.

 

KAT looks like he's run straight into the rookie wall.

 

Bjellica has been playing a little better.

 

Now, we're sitting at the 4th pick overall in the draft.

 

 

[Vanimal46]

I saw this article on Deadspin, more of a remember this guy? moment. 

Michael Beasley is apparently lighting up the league in China. 

[Seauville]

 

Looking at it through the lens of a 30 point win certainly makes things look a little better.

 

Fun numbers over the last five games, which all haven't been this good. Small sample sizes, but still:

 

Wiggins is shooting .487.

 

Rubio is shooting better than 44% and 38.5% from three.

 

KAT looks like he's run straight into the rookie wall.

 

Bjellica has been playing a little better.

 

Now, we're sitting at the 4th pick overall in the draft.

Rubio is quietly having an average shooting season (funny laying it out that way, but that is a step up for him). LeBron isn't a lights-out 3-point shooter by any means, but Rubio is shooting better 3P%-wise than him on the season.

[ALessKosherScott]

The Wolves are now 4-5 when leading by 17 points or more in a game.

 

Oooof.

[Seauville]

 

The Wolves are now 4-5 when leading by 17 points or more in a game.

 

Oooof.

We have too much talent on this team. Because of that, we think we can talk the foot off the gas pedal and coast to victories over these obviously inferior teams.

 

/s

[ALessKosherScott]

If I had to create a hypothesis why they keep blowing big leads, the two places I'd start would be:

 

1. The difference between Rubio (+2.7 BPM, 42.8% Assist Rate, ) to Lavine (-1.9 BPM, 24.0% Assist Rate) at point guard. 

 

2. That the best defensive piece on the team is Garnett (+3.0 DBPM), who's also limited to how many minutes he can play. 

 

IMHO, one of the big questions for next year is can Tyus Jones be a cromulent backup point guard or do you need to go out and sign a free agent? The free agent backup point guard market looks pretty bleak.

[TheLeviathan]

I only watched a part of the game from the 1st and into the 2nd quarter, but it seemed like the second unit was out there way longer than they should have been.  

 

That also seems to be a reoccurring thing to my very untrained eye.  Am I wrong on that?  It seems like the Wolves stick with the hockey line change, second unit for way too long.

[ALessKosherScott]

 

I only watched a part of the game from the 1st and into the 2nd quarter, but it seemed like the second unit was out there way longer than they should have been.  

 

That also seems to be a reoccurring thing to my very untrained eye.  Am I wrong on that?  It seems like the Wolves stick with the hockey line change, second unit for way too long.

 

I think that's pretty fair analysis. And of course right after I type Lavine as the problem, Rubio goes and commits three turnovers to help blow a ten-point lead with five minutes left.

 

Tonight, it seemed like the fatal flaw of the Wolves roster construction showed. When you have four guys whom you can't play more than 20 minutes a night on a roster (Garnett, Prince, Miller, Pek) coupled with guys like Jones, Rudez and Payne who shouldn't play that long, you get some tired legs at the end of back-to-back games. Wiggins, though, is on a really nice run right now.

[bluechipper]

 

I only watched a part of the game from the 1st and into the 2nd quarter, but it seemed like the second unit was out there way longer than they should have been.  

 

That also seems to be a reoccurring thing to my very untrained eye.  Am I wrong on that?  It seems like the Wolves stick with the hockey line change, second unit for way too long.

I totally agree with you on the hockey line changes that Mitchell goes with. I think at this point one of Towns and Wiggins needs to be on the floor at almost all times, especially with Zach Lavine struggling scoring the way he is right now.

 

KAT probably just had his best game of his career tonight by the way. 27-17-and 6 blocks. He and Wiggins are really playing well right now.

[bluechipper]

 

I think that's pretty fair analysis. And of course right after I type Lavine as the problem, Rubio goes and commits three turnovers to help blow a ten-point lead with five minutes left.

 

Tonight, it seemed like the fatal flaw of the Wolves roster construction showed. When you have four guys whom you can't play more than 20 minutes a night on a roster (Garnett, Prince, Miller, Pek) coupled with guys like Jones, Rudez and Payne who shouldn't play that long, you get some tired legs at the end of back-to-back games. Wiggins, though, is on a really nice run right now.

Yeah It's tough when you can expect about 5 points a night from your starting forwards each night. Wiggins has to do so much in isolation because no one else is an offensive threat.

[Shane Wahl]

I still don't understand how they didn't trade Martin at some point in the last six months. He has value for some teams out there, but is fairly useless on this team.

 

To those of you in Minnesota, what is the story with Andre Miller? 20 games and under 11 minutes. How much is due to straight up being unavailable vs. just not being used?

Rubio has gotten it done in January in terms of shooting, and then the assists drop. I don't know what to say about him.

 

The T-Wolves getting a 4 or 5 pick next year will solidify things for the long haul. I think they should just try to roll with Wiggins, Towns, LaVine, Muhammad, X draft pick, and Dieng as the core going forward, while hoping Jones, Bjelica and Payne are going to be solid second unit players.

I am not against keeping Rubio and Pekovic around, but I just would favor trading them. Draft a point guard and a power forward.

[Shane Wahl]

Assuming health, shouldn't the starting lineup be:

Rubio

Wiggins

Muhammad

Garnett

Towns

Let Prince sub in for KG. Those two should never be on the floor together.

(On the other hand . . . are we really sure that KG couldn't just play offensive normally and do well for 12-15 minutes instead of almost never shooting for 20 minutes?)

[kab21]

 

I still don't understand how they didn't trade Martin at some point in the last six months. He has value for some teams out there, but is fairly useless on this team.

 

To those of you in Minnesota, what is the story with Andre Miller? 20 games and under 11 minutes. How much is due to straight up being unavailable vs. just not being used?

Rubio has gotten it done in January in terms of shooting, and then the assists drop. I don't know what to say about him.

 

The T-Wolves getting a 4 or 5 pick next year will solidify things for the long haul. I think they should just try to roll with Wiggins, Towns, LaVine, Muhammad, X draft pick, and Dieng as the core going forward, while hoping Jones, Bjelica and Payne are going to be solid second unit players.

I am not against keeping Rubio and Pekovic around, but I just would favor trading them. Draft a point guard and a power forward.

The problem with your core going forward is that Wiggins and Lavine or Muhammad might not be able to effectively play well together.  And the same problem is with Towns and Dieng.  Obviously it is nice to have 2 potential superstars on the team but it is discouraging that most of the other upside players don't fit well with them.

 

Rubio is completely essential to this team.  Unless the Wolves luck into a top rated PG in the draft they won't be upgrading.  And they don't need to.

 

I still think it is funny that you think that Martin had any trade value.  Even if he matches up with another team then they still need to navigate the salary cap and salary matching rules.  It would have been difficult getting a 2nd rd pick back for him that didn't include a similar matching salary.

[ALessKosherScott]

 

I still don't understand how they didn't trade Martin at some point in the last six months. He has value for some teams out there, but is fairly useless on this team.

 

To those of you in Minnesota, what is the story with Andre Miller? 20 games and under 11 minutes. How much is due to straight up being unavailable vs. just not being used?

Rubio has gotten it done in January in terms of shooting, and then the assists drop. I don't know what to say about him.

 

The T-Wolves getting a 4 or 5 pick next year will solidify things for the long haul. I think they should just try to roll with Wiggins, Towns, LaVine, Muhammad, X draft pick, and Dieng as the core going forward, while hoping Jones, Bjelica and Payne are going to be solid second unit players.

I am not against keeping Rubio and Pekovic around, but I just would favor trading them. Draft a point guard and a power forward.

 

I suspect Martin is gone by the trade deadline. They supposedly asked for Courtney Lee from Memphis, which makes sense from the Wolves standpoint. But why would Memphis give a younger Martin with a better contract for him? It's all about finding the right deadweight salary that comes off the books next year and a second round pick sometime in the future. Then, you're going to take that money and make a run at Bazemore, Batum or Fournier in free agency next year, with Evan Turner being the consolation prize. 

 

Miller is simply old, and can't handle big minutes-- like Garnett and Prince. He's the most effective backup point guard when he plays though.

 

Next year's draft looks pretty thin. So IMHO unless you beat the odds for Simmons or Ingram, you're looking to draft someone who can run with the twos the next couple of years, but brings a needed skill to the table. Per ESPN 1500, the Wolves had three scouts in Ames looking at Hield and a few second round possibilities on Monday. If you can add Hield, some kind of young stretch 4 and a veteran backup point guard, you've had a pretty good offseason. 

 

[bluechipper]

I suspect Martin is gone by the trade deadline. They supposedly asked for Courtney Lee from Memphis, which makes sense from the Wolves standpoint. But why would Memphis give a younger Martin with a better contract for him? It's all about finding the right deadweight salary that comes off the books next year and a second round pick sometime in the future. Then, you're going to take that money and make a run at Bazemore, Batum or Fournier in free agency next year, with Evan Turner being the consolation prize. 

 

Miller is simply old, and can't handle big minutes-- like Garnett and Prince. He's the most effective backup point guard when he plays though.

 

Next year's draft looks pretty thin. So IMHO unless you beat the odds for Simmons or Ingram, you're looking to draft someone who can run with the twos the next couple of years, but brings a needed skill to the table. Per ESPN 1500, the Wolves had three scouts in Ames looking at Hield and a few second round possibilities on Monday. If you can add Hield, some kind of young stretch 4 and a veteran backup point guard, you've had a pretty good offseason.

 

Georges Niang in the 2nd round would be great.

[ALessKosherScott]

If you look to the other Iowa school, Jarrod Uthoff wouldn't be a bad second round pick either.