ALessKosherScott
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Everything posted by ALessKosherScott
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Maybe Wolves fans can have nice things.
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To me, I worry about Dunn's turnover rate and shooting problems. I can't wait to see some of the draft statistical analysis, but I'd guess he gets compared more to MCW than a future all-star. With that said, NBADraft.net has Ulis, Baldwin, Trimble and Payton mocked between 36 to 45 right now, and I'd take anyone one of those guys in those slots (Baldwin is my favorite PG in the draft). Granted, that requires buying a pick.
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In terms of wins and losses, no. In terms of where we're heading, yes. Towns gives you that feeling we've just won the lottery, both literally and figuratively. And the post-all-star break Wiggins who hit 40+% of his three pointers seems like the perfect second option. I also think you can't underestimate how important having Lavine on the floor gave Wiggins and Rubio more space to up their percentages. If you could add two shooters and two defensive role players to the mix of bench options, the Wolves will really have something.
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I don't think it's for the fans to say if Mitchell gets another year. The players seemed pretty frustrated with him, Garnett and Rubio in particular, throughout the season. If they've mended enough fences to give him another chance next year, that's what matters more. If there's still some frustration, it's probably best to move on.
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Murray strikes me as more shooting guard than point guard at this point. Kentucky got a lot better when they moved him off ball. If we really need another PG, you'd almost want to buy an early second round pick and grab one.
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I think you have to give some credit for Curry's off game to Rubio's defense. Curry shot under 40% against him two weeks ago too, and Rubio is one of the better perimeter defending point guards in the game. No one is going to shut down Steph Curry 100% of the time, but Rubio has as good of chance as anyone in the league of doing it any given game. It also showed how useful a guy like Muhammed can be. You're not going to beat Golden State by outshooting them. So it was interesting to see Towns, Wiggins and Muhammed take the ball right at them and get Green and Bogut into foul trouble. Bjellica also had a quietly effective game.And I think that's going to be how things play out long-term. There will be some matchups that favor Dieng. But there will also be some that favor Bjellica and even (as last night proved) Muhammed.
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Who'd have thunk it would be an old-school type like Shabazz who the invincible Warriors couldn't stop?
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I've always thought that if you took Christian Laettner out of the 90s and put him into the modern Era he's the perfect stretch four--his game was very Kevin Love esq in an era where the NBA was looking for Garnett's. Likewise, I'd argue Steph Curry in 90s is more of a Dana Barrios where Stackhouse or Carter was the ideal scorer. Eras change and shooters are the new gold standard.
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IMO, Hield works great if you're willing to commit to Wiggins at small forward. Granted, the current NBADraft.net mock has him going three to the Suns. If you want Wiggins to take advantage of the mismatches he creates at shooting guard, you probably need a more traditional 3&D wing at small forward. The question is what is the plan going forward.
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Too many long twos has been the big issue since last season. I'm pretty certain Prince has six games left as a Wolf, and he gave us more than we reasonably could've expected from his contract. Bazzy could fit into the plans as a scorer off the bench. But right now the biggest problem seems to be there isn't a plan. If Mitchell really does want to be the coach next year, he has the same six games as Prince to figure said plan out.
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I think for me, Ellenson fits the bill becasue he's the second best rebounding power forward in the draft (behind Simmons). But the fact that he put up .143 Win Shares/48 against a relatively weak schedule scares me. To put it into perspective, Love put up .391 WS/48 in his one college season. Jared Sullinger put up a consistent .283 and .282 WS/48. Or to put it into words, there's a good chance Ellenson is a poor man's, poor man's Kevin Love. On the flip side, you draft Hield to be a scorer on the second unit next year. You buy an early second round pick to bring in a point guard like Payton II for those moments you need a slashing, defensive backup point guard (with Tyus playing when you need a shooter). You make a run at a defensive three on the cheap like Snell or (ack!) Wes Johnson and a defense only 5 like Biyombo or Plumlee. You talk Garnett into one more year hoping he can give you the same 15 great defensive minutes a game next year. You hope Bjelica can cut his fouls or Payne takes a step forward. Pekovic retires and comes off the cap in February, so you've got a ton of cap money and a more alluring team for the better free agent class of 2017. How exciting is that?
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I think it's a little bit of a chicken/egg problem. They sat Dieng because stretch-fours have been killing him defensively. But they need Dieng because he's also the team's best four. I think drafting Ellenson is fine, same with drafting Hield or Murrary. But no one you draft at 5 is going to do much more than run with the 2s next year. IMHO, the question is still how do you replace Garnett's defensive impact if retires?
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IMHO part of the problem right now is that while Dieng and Towns are playing great together, Garnett brings a guy who can defend traditional power forwards. And they're kind of missing that with him hurt. It was Towns chasing Teltovic out to the three-point line for the game-winning shot, and part of the problem was Towns and Dieng matched up well against Len and Chandler. But Teltovic, not so much. The bright side is they're going to have a lot of open roster spots to find the right bench fit in the offseason.
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Rubio +15 last night. Wiggins +10. Towns +7. Everyone else was a negative. If this team had anything resembling a second unit, they'd be fighting for the tenth pick in the draft instead of the fifth.
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I don't know about that. Jimmy and Chuck (and Kim, to an extent) are all round pegs trying to fit into a square hole. We know Jimmy puts on the Darth Vader mask and becomes Saul because he has more fun coloring outside the lines, so to speak. The only thing Chuck could teach Jimmy how to do is become enough of a square peg to fit into the Davis and Main world until he eventually breaks. Chuck was never going to save Jimmy. The question is will Jimmy save Chuck (more than likely with some kind of revelation that he kept Jimmy out of the big law firm game to keep him from becoming Chuck).
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I get why you do Rubio for Middleton. Rubio and the fifth pick for Middleton, that scares me a little more.
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The Drumpf Chrome Plug-In is making my day.
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I don't know about that. What this team needs is a small forward who can defend and shoot threes, so Wiggins can play the 2 and attack the hoop. And Barnes does the later but not the former. If I'm going to overpay, I'd rather do it on a guy like Nic Batum who can do both.
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I take that back. I forgot the Knicks don't even have one mid-round pick in this weak draft.
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Getting someone to overpay for Rubio is easier said than done. And if it's a team like the Knicks, the only piece they have I'd place value above Rubio on is Porzingis, which won't happen. The sludge of the Knicks roster and their two mid-round picks in a weak draft don't interest me. My summary from the whole Bucks thing from reading Twitter is the Bucks offered MCW for Rubio. Newton laughed and asked for Middleton and more with the Bucks laughing back. Which given Rubio is a better player than Middleton is kind of funny to me.
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I'd guess Barnes gets more money than average, but HoopsHype has him as the #20 overall free agent next year. He's going to get burn because the Warriors are so good. But the Warriors are so good because of Curry, Green and Thompson. They can simply plug another shooter into that spot and the Ws know it. If they can get a true star like Durant, they dish out a max. But for Barnes? They'll leave that to the Kings or Nets. Pekovic's money coming off the books is going to go to Towns and Wiggins long term. The rest is just figuring out the pieces that go around them.
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I wouldn't mind Hield. He strikes me as the kind of guy who could turn into our Wes Matthews in a best case scenario or simply be a great shooter off the bench in a worst case one. Poeltl is the other pick who might make sense, since if Dieng is the power forward we need a new backup center. I'm also kind of liking the idea of Bender or Luwawu. Re: Rubio. I think my response would be the reason Jason Kidd was so aggressive in seeking out Rubio is that because he knows Rubio is the new Jason Kidd. Or more to the point: http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/sort/RPM/position/1 http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/sort/DRPM/position/1 http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/sort/ORPM/position/1 Or essentially, there are four more valuable point guards right now than Rubio in the league, and Rubio is the best defensive point guard in the game right now. Which is why from the more hockey standard +/- standard Garnett and Rubio are the only two players on the Wolves who are positive. Would it be great to have a Westbrook? Yes. But I think calling Rubio the problem is a bit like the old dog with two bones fable. It's good to want. But what we have right now is really good, just coming into his prime and signed to a really good contract.
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I think that was kind of my point. If the Wolves want someone, they'll have to A) Overpay to the point that no team in their right mind will do it (The Warriors could give Barnes the near max in theory, but they won't because he isn't worth it). Or they have to find young guys who have struggled that don't have a ton of options. Option B sound a lot better. A guy like Ben McLemore would be a great pick up.
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I think last night showed the potential of Zach Lavine could do to the lineup. Or more to the point, how having a guy you actually have to guard at the three point line changes the flow of the game for the Wolves. Throw in Tyus having a few nice moments as the backup point guard, and there were a lot of positives. It also helped that Boston didn't have a rim-protector on the floor and Dieng and Towns could both take advantage of them. The upside to Pek is that his contract can come off the salary cap right before the next trade deadline if he retires. One year from the last game he played, which if he doesn't play again would be January 31st next year. Golden State isn't going to match a near max offer to Barnes with Curry headed for a supermax deal. But what does a near max deal to Barnes do to our salary cap? IMHO, if you're the Wolves you're looking for your next Michael Beasley signing, in hopes it ends up being your next Chauncey Billups signing. Or, to keep it in the spectrum of last night's game, you're looking for your Jae Crowder.
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Post-Trade Deadline Breakdown for the casual fans: • The Bucks supposedly asked the Wolves to trade Rubio multiple times. The rumor is Newton said it had to involve Khris Middleton or no deal. I'm sure the Bucks thought they could get it done with MCW and spare parts and maybe sweeten the deal by taking on Kevin Martin. • Martin and Adreain Payne are still here, despite rumors the Wolves wanted to cut ties with them. This leads me to believe it would've cost us picks to send them out the door. • The one player the Wolves were tied to on the cheap was Ben McLemore, who's exactly the kind of on the cheap player they should be looking into. Granted, this is where it would help to have an open roster spot or two. * Newton says Pek should play again after the All-Star break. I'd almost rather see Pek sit on the IR for a year and retire at this point. • For no moves being made, it generally made me feel positive about the direction the Wolves are heading in.
