Around the League 2022-23

[Lipoli390]

The Grizzlies beat a full-strength Miami Heat team tonight and did it without Ja Morant or Desmond Bane.. More interesting is that they won with two rookies and one second-year player playing major roles. Last year's #30 pick, Aldama, combined with this year's #23 pick, Roddy, and this year's #38 pick, Chandler, to help beat the Heat. So the Grizzlies notch yet another win that keeps them near the top of the Western Conference standings. They should have their star 3rd-year players Ja Morant and #30 pick Desmond Bane back soon.

So who said draft picks aren't valuable? They're obviously extremely valuable in the hands of a highly competent front office. The draft is the lifeblood of any small or mid-market NBA team. There's tremendous value in the picks themselves as the Grizzlies have been showing us repeatedly and as the Warriors showed us when they drafted Curry, Green and Thompson to form the core of a championship team. They also have transactional value as trade chips, but those chips need to be used cautiously and treated like the high-value currently they are.

[FNG]

The Grizzlies beat a full-strength Miami Heat team tonight and did it without Ja Morant or Desmond Bane.. More interesting is that they won with two rookies and one second-year player playing major roles. Last year's #30 pick, Aldama, combined with this year's #23 pick, Roddy, and this year's #38 pick, Chandler, to help beat the Heat. So the Grizzlies notch yet another win that keeps them near the top of the Western Conference standings. They should have their star 3rd-year players Ja Morant and #30 pick Desmond Bane back soon.

So who said draft picks aren't value? They're obviously extremely valuable in the hands of a highly competent front office. The draft is the lifeblood of any small or mid-market NBA team. There's tremendous value in the picks themselves as the Grizzlies have been showing us latterly and as the Warriors showed us when they drafted Curry, Green and Thompson to form the core of a championship team. They also have transactional value as trade chips, but those chips need to be used cautiously and treated like the high-value currently they are.

Yeah, interesting result. Jones has not played this season at the same level he did last year, but he seems to thrive whenever Ja is out...28-10-5 with 2 steals and only 1 turnover in 36 minutes! And while many of us are discouraged about our Wolves lingering around the .500 mark, Miami fans have to be on suicide watch. The Heat are now 11-13 after finishing first in the East last year despite minimal roster changes. He's not a classically pure basketball player by any means, but never underestimate the impact PJ Tucker can have on a team (although at 37 he doesn't seem to be helping Philly much).

[FNG]

I just mentioned the Heat in the same breath as the Wolves...the Athletic just came out with its quarter pole team-by-team analysis, and they grade the performance of both teams so far as a D+. I agree. The article talks about the "general apathy" of the starting lineup. Yep. On the positive side, they predict that the Wolves will end the season in the top 6 in defensive rating. They are currently 15th, so if their prediction comes true, this season is about to improve drastically.

[Lipoli390]

I just mentioned the Heat in the same breath as the Wolves...the Athletic just came out with its quarter pole team-by-team analysis, and they grade the performance of both teams so far as a D+. I agree. The article talks about the "general apathy" of the starting lineup. Yep. On the positive side, they predict that the Wolves will end the season in the top 6 in defensive rating. They are currently 15th, so if their prediction comes true, this season is about to improve drastically.

Interesting. I hadn't seen the Athletics' team-by-team analysis yet. I'd cut the Heat some slack because Butler's missed 9 of the Heat's 24 games and Herro has missed 8. So they've been playing without 2 of their three best players for over one-third of the season thus far. Another thought on Miami is that they were huge over-achievers last season. In my view, they're not nearly as good on paper as they were on the Court last season. So I think they were bound to come back to earth, especially with their best player, Jimmy Butler, turning 33 last September.

I don't think the Wolves overachieved the last half of last season and their key players were all young. Therefore, I would have expected the Wolves to pick up where they left off last season and have a good start to this season. But the Gobert trade upset the apple cart and prevented the Wolves from seamlessly building on last season's success. The good news is that slower start by the Wolves shouldn't be surprising under the circumstances (the Gobert deal). The Memphis and Indiana games offer some hope that this Wolves team can get it together. In that sense, I'd bet on the Wolves to turn things around before I'd bet on the Heat. However, we've all seen some troubling signs with this Wolves team that suggest this team is poorly constructed and not likely to ascend to more than a marginal playoff team at best. Meanwhile, it's hard to bet against the Heat with winning players like Butler leading the way and one of the League's best head coaches at the helm.

[FNG]

We'll have to see, Lip. I will say this...if the Athletic is correct and we end up the season as a top 6 defense, I think that will go a long way to supporting the view of those who are hopeful about the Gobert deal, because I'm not concerned about our offense this season. We're currently tied for 8th in points per game despite many of us believing we haven't totally hit our stride on offense yet.,

[Lipoli390]

We'll have to see, Lip. I will say this...if the Athletic is correct and we end up the season as a top 6 defense, I think that will go a long way to supporting the view of those who are hopeful about the Gobert deal, because I'm not concerned about our offense this season. We're currently tied for 8th in points per game despite many of us believing we haven't totally hit our stride on offense yet.,

If the Athletic is correct about where we'll end up defensively, then that bodes well for the Wolves. But I continue to have my doubts about Gobert's fit and impact on this team. We've given up over 135 points in 3 of the last four games and Rudy played in two of those three defensive debacles. Excluding his rookie session when he hardly played, his blocks per game are the lowest in his career by far. He's averaging significantly fewer rebounds than in any of his previous 4 consecutive seasons. More importantly, the Wolves are being routinely out-rebounded as a team and currently rank 18th in the League in rebounding even though the team is largely built around two bigs, including Rudy, and has more overall length in its three front-court players than any other team in the League.

[FNG]

Some fair points, Lip. I'll offer though that Gobert doesn't appear to be the problem when I watch our defense...to me it's the defensive ineptness of DLo, Ant and Nowell, especially in defending the perimeter. I like Jaden, Prince and JMac on the perimeter, but all three were missing in the first two blowouts, and Jaden was limited by fouls in the 3rd. And of course Gobert's absence made it much easier for SGA around the hoop. We need our best defenders healthy and available for us to be a good defensive team, but I don't think a top 6 finish is out of reach with good health.

[AbeVigodaLive]

We'll have to see, Lip. I will say this...if the Athletic is correct and we end up the season as a top 6 defense, I think that will go a long way to supporting the view of those who are hopeful about the Gobert deal, because I'm not concerned about our offense this season. We're currently tied for 8th in points per game despite many of us believing we haven't totally hit our stride on offense yet.,,

PPG can be irrelevant and misleading, for obvious reasons.

The Timberwolves rank #20 for offensive rating... and #18 for defensive rating. And Gobert definitely has something to do with at least the first rating.

Last year, the Wolves finished ranked #8 on offense and #13 on defense using their smoke and mirrors aggressive scheme.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Rumors are flying a bit more aggressively that the Chicago Bulls will or should start tearing it down soon given their results, or lack thereof. It's been looking that way for a little while now, unfortunately for them.

With that said, Alex Caruso would be a prime trade candidate for the Minnesota Timberwolves. I've thrown his name out there several times. Others here have as well. He's a hard player to NOT like given what he provides, how hard he plays, and how seamless his fit is. Every team needs a role player like him.

As far as matching salaries go, Minnesota's limited there after sending their mid-level deals in the Rudy Gobert trade, but I would be willing to use Taurean Prince's salary in order to get Caruso here, personally. And that's while being a strong advocate of what Prince gives us. I also think Wendell Moore Jr. is proving that he can handle some backup wing minutes, especially in the event Prince is traded.

It would also provide some point guard insurance in the event that D'Angelo Russell proves to be too expensive to re-sign, or both sides choose to go in a different direction entirely. You could potentially get away with Caruso in the starting five if there are multiple shot creators elsewhere -- ie. Anthony Edwards taking several significant steps as a facilitator, and Karl-Anthony Towns continuing to pass the ball like we've seen this season. That's far from a guarantee, but an insurance plan is never a bad thing, and Caruso is legitimately good.

[Lipoli390]

Rumors are flying a bit more aggressively that the Chicago Bulls will or should start tearing it down soon given their results, or lack thereof. It's been looking that way for a little while now, unfortunately for them.

With that said, Alex Caruso would be a prime trade candidate for the Minnesota Timberwolves. I've thrown his name out there several times. Others here have as well. He's a hard player to NOT like given what he provides, how hard he plays, and how seamless his fit is. Every team needs a role player like him.

As far as matching salaries go, Minnesota's limited there after sending their mid-level deals in the Rudy Gobert trade, but I would be willing to use Taurean Prince's salary in order to get Caruso here, personally. And that's while being a strong advocate of what Prince gives us. I also think Wendell Moore Jr. is proving that he can handle some backup wing minutes, especially in the event Prince is traded.

It would also provide some point guard insurance in the event that D'Angelo Russell proves to be too expensive to re-sign, or both sides choose to go in a different direction entirely. You could potentially get away with Caruso in the starting five if there are multiple shot creators elsewhere -- ie. Anthony Edwards taking several significant steps as a facilitator, and Karl-Anthony Towns continuing to pass the ball like we've seen this season. That's far from a guarantee, but an insurance plan is never a bad thing, and Caruso is legitimately good.

I've thought for a while that the Bulls will probably start tearing down this season and could be a prime trade target for the Wolves. As I've posted before, I like your idea of acquiring Caruso. I'd hate to give up Prince to get him, but I think I'd consider it if I were in Connelly's position.