I'm not opposed to seeing what Moore Jr. can do, but only if (and I don't think this will happen) we give up on this season. Carlos, a lot of his minutes seem to me to have come at garbage time, so it's difficult to draw any conclusions about his stats to date. I can't say I am enamored with Rivers, but he is the much better option right now.
You don't think Moore Jr. could have taken River's 20 minutes last night and given us more than: Zero points, Zero rebounds, one assist and one turnover?
OK, admittedly, I'm just pushing buttons now. I totally get what you, Monster and others are saying. You all make fair points and nothing should ever be handed to rookies - make them earn it. I'm cool with that. Just let the record show I am not an Austin Rivers fan.
The reality is this team has bigger fish to fry than Austin Rivers/Moore Jr. We need the top of the food chain to kick this thing into gear (KAT, Gobert, DLO and Edwards). In the meantime, I'll be concentrating more on the MN Vikings....
Carlos - I think you might be right about playing Moore over Rivers - or certainly playing him over Matt Ryan or Forbes. The Grizzlies aren't shy about playing rookies when competing for a top seed in the Conference. Desmond Bane played in 68 games and averaged 22.3 minutes in those games. Brandon Clarke averaged 22.4 minutes in 58 games his rookie season with the Grizzlies. Their current rookies, LaRavia and Roddy have played in 22 and 32 games respectively so far this season - LaRavia averaging 15.5 minutes and Roddy nearly 19 minutes. Aldama, in only has second season at age 21, is averaging 23.3 minutes in 33 games for the Grizzlies this season. The Sixers played Tyrese Maxey an average of 15.3 minutes in 61 games his rookie season.
The best organizations in mid-market non-destination cities draft well and don't shy away from giving their picks meaningful playing time as rookies and second-year players even when their team is already a contender.
Well, so much for those green shoots, LOL! Yikes, things are really bad.
And after seeing what Rivers has done these last two games (in 38 minutes played he has 3 points on 1-5 shooting, 0 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 fouls, and 2 turnovers), I think I might be coming around to Carlos's point of view on playing Moore Jr.!
Bringing back some positivity that was originally intended for this thread...I'll point out that the Wolves are undefeated in 2023.
I'll use the 2023 sample of games played (do we really need more?) and forecast that same winning percentage for the rest of the year (that's how math/science works!). That means we go 44-0 the rest of the way and end the year with a Franchise best 61 wins.
I don't know what everyone is complaining about. We are clearly on a record setting pace.
While I think this season will be an uphill battle the rest of the way, I do take heart in the continued growth and leadership of Jaden McDaniels and Anthony Edwards. Jaden especially just keeps getting better, while Ant is gutting things out playing through a hip injury.
Can these two eventually form the foundation of a future contender, either with Gobert and KAT or with some other future iteration? I don't know, but I like the fact both appear to keep making strides in their game. Jaden especially has made another big stride in my opinion. He's getting closer to Mikal Bridges territory with each passing game!
