Q-was-here wrote:A very legit argument could be made that Jokic is having the best season in NBA history. He is THAT good. He's currently on pace for the NBA single-season record in PER and Box Score Plus/Minus. Better than the best seasons from Wilt, Jordan, LeBron, and Giannis. He is absolutely incredible.
He's also just 26 years old.
Is he the best 2nd round pick of all time? Manu was the guy before that but Jokic if he stays healthy will pass him at some point if he hasn't already.
Great question, Monster. I'll say yes.
Ginobili was a borderline perennial All Star.
Jokic is now a perennial MVP candidate.
Abe I don't think it's that simple. Manu is a HOFer and won championships and played in the league a long time. At one point it looked like Gilbert arenas was going to be the clear best 2nd rounder ever but then injuries derailed his career. Now I would take Draymond over him but Arenas had a nice career for sure. Not surprisingly the two best 2nd round picks are international players. Marc Gasol is also easily in the top 10.
Regardless Jokic is an example even if obviously a total outlier (on pace for a unique HOF career) that every roster spot can matter. It's nice to see the Wolves actually get some worthwhile play from guys picked in the 2nd round or were undrafted.
One of Rosas' biggest accomplishments goes hand in hand with one of his biggest failures as a the POBO. That first draft class of 2019 where he moved up to get....gulp....Culver....is also the same class where he drafted Jaylen Nowell in the 2nd round and signed Jordan McLaughlin and Naz Reid to 2-way deals. Those three have been key to our resurgent bench play.
Agreed. The good teams find ways to mitigate their mistakes. Rosas also was able to make a move trading away his 2 biggest mistakes as a GM in Culver and Juancho for Patrick Beverly.
We still have a chunk of games left but looking back at the offseason it's looking kinda impressive considering the restraints they were under. The Wolves traded Rubio, Culver, Juancho for Prince, Beverly the Washington 2nd rounder and the ability to resign Vanderbilt to a team friendly contact and I think even the small amount of space to bring back McLaughlin as the 14th player. The jury is out on the 2-way deals Wright and Knight but sometimes those deals don't have immediate benefits. We have been a bit spoiled by the impact Reid (although he had signed to an NBA deal) McLaughlin and even to some extent Martin had their first season. We have also been fortunate staying healthy enough (and have guys worth actually playing) those 2-way guys haven't been needed much. Knight did contribute to 1 win in his first NBA start even if it was basically battle of NBA B or even C squads.
This might enrage Cool even more but I was listening to the Bill Simmons pod this morning and Russillo said that Wiggins has made just 9 FTs since Feb 1. My jaw dropped
kekgeek1 wrote:This might enrage Cool even more but I was listening to the Bill Simmons pod this morning and Russillo said that Wiggins has made just 9 FTs since Feb 1. My jaw dropped
Heh, no one (well, except may be Cool) would be shocked by his anemic stretch of play. He's never been able to sustain a high level of engaged play for long stretches and the disappearing act has plagued him since his time at Kansas.
That being said, if the rest of that squad gets healthy, he will be just fine playing the Harrison Barnes role. He's become a very reliable 3-point shooter on the catch and his defense has been solid overall. The key for Golden State is getting Green back and Klay rounding into form after such a long absence.
7 out of the top 10 teams in the West lost their last game. Of course Dallas and Denver along with us are the three teams that won. We just can't gain any ground on these guys.
Q-was-here wrote:7 out of the top 10 teams in the West lost their last game. Of course Dallas and Denver along with us are the three teams that won. We just can't gain any ground on these guys.
Meanwhile the Lakers lost to the Spurs last night which creates just a sliver of intrigue for that final playoff spot. The Lakers now have the hardest schedule left and the Spurs one of the easiest including playing the Blazers 3 times. The Spurs don't seem like an organization that has any interest in tanking so i would assume they are going to at least field a roster that is somewhat capable of winning. The Spurs and Lakers both play the Pelicans 2 more times. Things COULD get more interesting at the bottom of that WC playoff race.I can't help but keep an eye on it.
3/10: at Golden State (second game of B2B)
3/14: at Philadelphia
3/18: at Cleveland
3/20: vs Boston
3/24: vs Phoenix
4/1: vs Minnesota
4/7: vs Memphis
These are Denver's most difficult games remaining, in my opinion. The Wolves need some help and the odds aren't in their favor, but it's possible the Nuggets drop several of these games and open the door. Can Minnesota handle business down the stretch? That's the bigger question to me.
Just watched the Rockets go bonkers and easily win in OT. Eric Gordon was defending Lebron really well...I was NOT expecting to see that. Jalen Green looked fantastic. All their rookies played well.
monsterpile wrote:Just watched the Rockets go bonkers and easily win in OT. Eric Gordon was defending Lebron really well...I was NOT expecting to see that. Jalen Green looked fantastic. All their rookies played well.
monsterpile wrote:Just watched the Rockets go bonkers and easily win in OT. Eric Gordon was defending Lebron really well...I was NOT expecting to see that. Jalen Green looked fantastic. All their rookies played well.
Yes! Good to see the Lakers continue their slide.
Pelicans lost to the Magic the 2 worst teams in the league beat teams playing to stick in their playoff spots. So...yeah this adds some appreciation for the Wolves blowing up these bad teams they are facing (I will say Houston is way more talented than the Portland teams we faced) the last few games.
