An addition to “The Crazy Core-Roster Conundrum”
A response/addition to “The Crazy Core-Roster Conundrum”
Wolves coach Kurt Rambis set the cap on minutes at 29 tonight, six of his players played between 27 and 29 minutes, but for some reason Kevin Love(notes) (12 rebounds in 28 minutes) can’t get the burn – the star, burn – he deserves.
Kurt, this guy’s a star. He averages nearly as many points per minute as Al Jefferson with way more rebounds, but for some reason, five fewer minutes per game. And I don’t want to hear about fouls because the guy fouls fewer times per minute than Jefferson, and the Wolves are 5.7 points better per 100 possessions with him on the floor, as compared to 1.7 better with Jefferson. This isn’t an either/or thing, either. Or. This is to show you that the same treatment should apply to your other 6-8 guy.
Listen, the guy is a stud and has the numbers to prove he is effective and efficient with his minutes but he hasn’t, and probably won’t for a while if ever, be granted the superstar accreditation for a few reasons:
- He only averages 15.2 points per game while coming off the bench — he’s the Wolves sixth man.
- He stands in the mere shadow of the giant Al Jefferson, who’s stats, and shadow, has been shrinking ever-so slightly this season to Love’s advantage.
- He plays on a bad, no, rebuilding team.
Those three reasons on why Love isn’t the #1 guy this year will become barriers he needs to overcome for next year in his quest to be deemed a franchise player. Next year will expose more about who Love can become as a player and, perhaps if Jefferson gets traded away, we can see if Love can be the #1 guy on the Wolves. If not, the Wolves may have a highly touted rookie — John Wall? Evan Turner? — or a free agent to be that guy and fill the void Love can’t provide. We are rebuilding, so we are always looking to somewhere else for more help and either of those options, the draft or free agency, could help Love and the Wolves exponentially for next season.
Next season should also be the year where this team starts showing glimpses of what they can become, if all goes well like injuries and the team gelling and what not. The Wolves’ rebuilding process is awfully similar to that of the Portland Trail Blazers, in that they are rebuilding through draft picks and cap space. The Blazers rebuilt their franchise during the ‘04-’05 and ‘05-’06 seasons — they actually posted the league’s worst record in ‘05-’06 at 21-61. So basically, it took them two years to get to where they wanted to be, or at least close to it. The Wolves have been rebuilding since 2007, the Kevin Garnett trade, which happened two years ago. That means our two years of disappointment and hopelessness should be over after this season, right? I mean, sure, it’s not a set rule that it takes two years for a team to rebuild and become competitive again. But if you look at this team closely, the current roster and all the assets, we have the right pieces in place to make things happen very soon.
You and I should both be looking for bigger and better things from our Wolves after this year’s off season. Maybe not a playoff team, but at least having them be competitive and seeing what Kevin Love’s true role can be – a team’s #1 or #2 — will obviously play an important part to the Wolves’ future success.
New @HowlinTWolf: An addition to “The Crazy Core-Roster Conundrum” http://bit.ly/bYthaR #TWolves #NBA #MN
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
Howlin’ T-Wolf: An addition to “The Crazy Core-Roster Conundrum”: A response/addition to “The Crazy Core-Roster Co… http://bit.ly/b7VW6e
This comment was originally posted on Twitter
It took the Blazers 2 year because they struck gold in two straight drafts, but the Oden draft is what is keeping them in the shadow of other teams. What does this tell you? Draft, draft, draft, draft. The Wolves have drafted well recently (Love, Brewer, Flynn, Rubio) but still have left pieces that probably would have fit better on the table (Lopez, Noah, Curry) I’m cool with Love over Lopez because I think Love makes up the ground in having a dominant cente with intangibles. But I’d def rather have Noah than Brew and Curry than Flynn, not that I dislike either Brew or Flynn. We gotta hit big on draft picks, and while I think Rubio was a no brainier and I ultimately think we will build around him (Which Love would be a brilliant compliment for). But we gotta draft BEST. not better, but best. Obviously this is easy if we get one of the top 2 picks we go Wall or Turner, but the elephant in the room that no Wolves fan is talking about is what if we fall to 3-4? Do we risk a run at Demarcus Cousins? Do we draft Derrick Favors and try to make a three power forward lineup work (althought I think most people think Favors will be more of the Josh Smith hybrid 3-4 style so if we got a real center he and Love could play together). Do we reach for Cole Aldrich? Take a flier on Hassan Whiteside? Whatever we do the draft is of utter importance because when you are rebuilding you don’t want to be caught up in the salary cap. You want to draft players to build around and keep them or trade them but not lose them. The only FA I’d suggest going after is Pryzbilla to get at least one real center in here.
What I would do if I was the Wolves GM: First I would pray for a top 2 pick (ha) assuming its 2 draft Evan Turner. Get a feel for where Aldrich is going (lets assume 7 cause that seems to be the average on mock draft sites) trade Jefferson to a team with that pick and a young player (Pistons came to mind, no.7 and Austin Daye). You now have 2 picks left in this draft, you make sure you can get Xavier Henry with one of them, so if the CHA pick isn’t till 16 and Henry is looking to go around 12 trade both picks to get him, or a pick and expiring contract to get him. Then if you have one pick remaining trade it for a future pick. FA sign Pryzbilla to bring the veteran presence you lost with Jeff. You now have a “Crazy Core” that features a 2010 opening day 5 as Flynn, Turner, Brewer, Love, Pryzbilla (already better than what we are currently doing) and a bench featuring Sessions, Ellington, Henry, Goes, Aldrich (quite possibly better than the starting 5 we have now) you still have the possibility for a 2 pick draft in 2011 if you need that extra player and you have a team Ricky Rubio can def roll with when he gets here
thoughts?
You make a great point by bringing up the lottery. I mean you say “what if we get the 3-4?” What if we get 5-6?! I mean, you never know because it’s such a crapshoot. But all those options you provided will be considered, especially Aldrich. I think if the Darko experiment proves to be successful, even if he bolts for Europe, it will show David Kahn that a legit center is a big missing link on this team, especially for the sake of Kevin Love’s game.
I loved that you brought up Whiteside. He will be considered as well, if he comes out of college that is. I have some odd infatuation with Hassan Whiteside because he very well may be the next Marcus Camby, who is a great center in this league and has been for a long time, plus he may be better on offense and better at shot blocking than Camby. Impressive? I think yes.
Favors is a 3-4 hyrbid and that could help the play of Flynn and Brewer for a faster paced game but don’t we already have on of those in Gomes? Cousins, don’t even think about him. If we drafted Cousins, we would look like the Oakland Raiders or Detroit Lions on draft day to the other NBA teams. We’ve had enough embarrassment on draft day, so let’s save ourselves the humiliation.
Now about your “mock offseason,” I will say it seems like you have a lot going on. This team is rebuilding but do you really think we might need three trades on draft day to get what we want? I’m not so sure. Henry, to me, may be a huge bust. He’s been inconsistent and all he’s shown in college is that he can shoot, that’s it. Sure that’s what the Wolves need but why not try to get more out of one player than just one specialty?
I like the idea of drafting Aldrich or perhaps Whiteside if they take a risk. And then of course Wall or Turner would be great! But that is the hands of the ping-pong balls — we would need 1 or 2.
The guy I think you’re forgetting about is Wesley Johnson. He is a Carmelo Anthony type player but on a lesser scale. He can shoot inside and from range and has great rebounding instincts. He’s bigger and more physical than Turner and shoots from 3-point range way better. Personally, I am not quite as hyped on him yet but I’m throwing his name into this conversation because he does deserve to be there since he will be a lottery pick.
Now as for your infatuation with Pryzbilla, did you know he’s only started nine games this year? And has only played in 30? He’s only averaging 4.1 points per game. Sure, his 7.9 rebounds per 22 mins is nice but we have Kevin Love, who is arguably one of the best rebounders in the league. I’m just not so sure that Pryzbilla would be the guy, even though it would be great to see a Golden Gopher playing for the Wolves.
To address the center position, they may have to look elsewhere. And by that I mean CONVINCE DARKO TO STAY!!! He honestly does have what we need, even in a back-up center. He can rebound, play the high post and show off some very good passing skills down to the lower post and along the baseline. Darko would be the typical back-up center for this team, not Pryzbilla.
Oh, and as for Ricky Rubio, I’ve told people this before but the Wolves just can’t choose a player that MIGHT gel with Rubio because we don’t even know if he’ll ever put on a T-Wolves jersey. My bet is that he won’t and so if we add players to build around him this next season and we end up trading him, then we just wasted money building around a non-existent wolf. It sure would be nice to have him but the situation is too complicated to even consider right now.
Couple things.
1. In defense of my “mock offseason” haha, or the idea of us making a billion trades. I say you do it to get the best group of players around you. I believe in that Blazer draft in 06? they made two big trades right? To get Lamarcus Aldrige and Roy or where those two different years? Either way they traded to get those players. I think you target players you feel you have to get (in my mind Turner, Henry Aldrich) and you get them: we have the assets too. We aren’t going to win more than 30 games next year if we keep Jefferson, so why not move him for player(s) you think will work better towards building a winning team
2. Xavier Henry, it’s not that I think he is going to be a stud, however the guy is absolute money. I think he has stud in him, but even if that fails…he’s money with a pretty good attitude (wouldn’t JR Smith be amazing if he had a head on his shoulders?)
3. Pryzbilla: he is a ture center, and a great defensive one. He isn’t that proficient offensively but will protect the paint and free Love’s game up. In my “mock offseason” think of him as Ramon Sessions and a security blanket in case Aldrich takes a little longer to develop than normal. Even if we keep Jefferson having the Vanilla Gorilla coming off the bench to terrorize shooters would be great. Plus he’s a free agent we could get and wouldn’t cost us an arm and a leg
4. I think Rubio will play for us, I really do. I think if our core is Flynn, Turner, Brewer, Love, Aldrich add him too that and we’ll be in the playoffs, and he’ll realize this could be a pretty good thing. He’d start instantly over Flynn unless Flynn makes dramatic strides in the next 18 months (which would be great).
I like your defense, good sir. Now my rebuttal, if I may?
1. The Blazers did trade for Roy — Oh, it’s so hard to keep bringing that up in my mind — as well as Aldridge. The thing I don’t get, or maybe missed in your first post, was how we would get Turner, Aldrich and Henry. If we had the #2 pick, we pick Turner. Trade Jefferson for a top 10 pick then? And package our two mid-first rounders for another top 10? I assume Henry and Aldrich to go in the top 10 and I’m not sure of which team would give up another top 10 to the Wolves for two later first-rounders. Maybe, but you don’t know. If it was me, I probably wouldn’t but it all depends right?
2. Ok, ok. I do like the Henry-Smith comparison. And you’re right, he has a cooler head and is a way nicer guy — I’ve actually met him through a mutual friend. The only difference between our logic is that I just don’t know if I see him as being a stud. He would improve our scoring, that’s for sure and that’s what might make this a good pick. But the thing is is that it’s unknown whether or not they can move into the top 10 for their third pick.
3. I’d still rather have Darko, sorry. Pryzbilla is good defensively and could mentor Aldrich nicely but if the team wants to start winning next year, they have a better chance at doing it with Darko.
4. I can imagine it now… Rubio grabs the long rebound after forcing his opposition to throw up a brick, flies down the court with his clumped locks of hair, full of sweat and determination, swaying in the breeze as he weaves through traffic into the opposing paint, throws up an awkward, off-balanced lay-up and…Brewer is there to slam it home! Sounds nice, don’t it? I still probably wouldn’t ever bet on hearing it though. Maybe if Flynn grew his hair out…Na, never-mind.
Sure sure, I mean the reality is my “mock offseason” won’t happen haha, and we will probably be stuck with Al Jefferson for another year of not passing out of triple teams (although his defense is vastly improving which is great).
My novice NBA draft research currently finds most mock draft websites as Xavier Henry being between 9-15. I would think our picks are gonna be what? 16, 25? If he is available around 12 or so isn’t that a pretty legit trade? You know more than I do about this. What I like about Henry is if our starting wings are gonna be Turner and Brewer we bring to dead eye three point shooters off the bench in Henry and Ellington. I think he has stud potential too which is nice, but I am not counting on it.
I like Darko, I do, but if he goes back to Europe which for the time being we are probably going to have to assume, then we need a good center and Pryzbilla is probably the best and cheapest we could get. Haywood will stick with the Mavs and Camby is going to play for a contender. Pryzbilla is one of those players who has a chance to get paid and play and will probably take that considering he has a longer career a head of him than Camby.
My draft recap(to be clear): had us lotterizing the no.2 pick, trading Al for a top 10 and trading our other two picks for a 10-15 pick, and that was how I had us getting that crew. If we don’t get the number 2 I’d say trading Al and whatever else possible to get it. Turner is so legit.
Which brings me to my last point. Evan Turner might be the guy to build around, and we should have the assets to get him one way or the other. He can play defense, pass, and create his own shot. Bill Simmons just compared him to Dewayne Wade….I say we go all in and get him and figure the rest out after
Well, I’ll be happy to jump aboard the U.S.S. Turner! Not so sure if he could become a Dwayne Wade, but I do like him a lot.