Tactical unit wrote:Camden wrote:Tactical unit wrote:Regular season DLO vs Playoff DLO curious on if the stats tell the same story?
Just from a viewing perspective, it seemed the team was better with J-Mac & Beverley all out hustle style of play.
I think Beverley as the veteran leader and a developing J-Mac could be a net win over DLO. Maybe add rookie guard or another cheap vet guard. Finch seemed to think J-Mac was the answer with everything on the line. If we keep DLO I think he should be moved into 6th man of the year type of role. I've already said this in the past but when he is hot you don't want another player on the court and he would be focused on what he does best, scoring.
It's rather obvious but it really depends on what you can get in return.
It depends on how you evaluate players and the game of basketball in general. For instance, D'Angelo Russell had the second-highest net rating for Minnesota in the playoffs behind Jaden McDaniels. He wasn't nearly as good as that rating would indicate, but he was much better (or less bad) than his terrible shooting would suggest. In any case, it would be unwise and illogical to make personnel decisions based on a single playoff series alone. Should Utah move Donovan Mitchell? What about Atlanta and Trae Young? Two higher usage guards that struggled and came up short in their playoff series. Maybe let's pump the brakes and consider the entire picture.
Patrick Beverley and Jordan McLaughlin cannot replace Russell unless we want to take a serious step back in the wins column. I shouldn't need to expend energy explaining that. It's also unlikely that a rookie or journeyman could give you enough to make up the difference. If Russell is moved or allowed to walk next summer, then the Wolves will have to bring in an outside replacement.
Also, Chris Finch rode the hot hand in a singular moment. Kudos to him for having the courage to bench one of his best players who was struggling, but he'd be the first to tell you that it was situational coaching and nothing more. Watch and/or read his exit interview and you'll see that he willingly shares the blame for how Russell was used in that series. There will be a day for Russell to primarily come off the bench for whatever team he plays for. He's not there yet-- not even close.
I think Finch speaking positive about DLO is more about if he's back he needs the best out of him and why tank his value shitting on him. How he really feels about him = turn the ball over in a critical point in the game with the playoffs on the line and he'd rather trust J-Mac situational or not that action speaks pretty loud to me.
Bev & J-Mac defend better and with the fire power on this team they don't need massive scoring options at every position. With DLO they start him with Bev and ANT at the SF. All year I said the way to get this team to reach a high ceiling was by developing McDaniels, turn him into an up and coming better version of R. Horry at SF then put Ant at SG and now you have something strong. To be fair moving Bev to the bench for McDaniels could be more of a net positive, and still moves ANT to SG.
I disagree with DLO isn't close to a bench type of player, I see him excelling and impacting the game quite a bit in a much more focused role of get buckets 6th man of the year type of role. Basically he comes in, if he's getting buckets you ride his hot hand for as long as it's hot.
I'll continue to say it depends on what you get for him as to weather you trade DLO or not. The focus should be more on upgrading PF and developing McDaniels at SF.
Yeah Buddy
