Q12543 wrote:FNG wrote:Q12543 wrote:FNG wrote:Q12543 wrote:FNG wrote:At least all is right in the world again- Russell has assumed his rightful position of worst +/- on the team tonight. I hate to keep harping on it, but it's really quite astounding how consistently negative he is.
-110 in the last 4 games combined. That's incredible. He did look like an all-star for about 8 or so minutes in that 3rd quarter.
To add some further context to that amazing stat, Q, the Wolves are only -95 in those 4 games. that means the Wolves are a +15 when D-Lo is not on the court! I'm not going to take the time to research this, but we'd be hard pressed to find a player who is hurting his team more than D-Lo is right now...and I'm certain we couldn't find a max player who is doing so much damage.
To be fair, DLO probably overlaps with the other team's starting unit/stars more than any other player. You put Ed Davis, Juancho, and Culver out there with him and he's basically playing with one arm tied behind his back. Still, those numbers are incredible because they show how much of a gap exists between DLO and other teams' top 2 players. While I don't think he's as bad as the numbers suggest, he's not even close to an all-star caliber guard in today's NBA. There are at least 15 other PGs I'd rather have running my team.
Q, after 5 years of watching him in the NBA, I think we're way past the "to be fair" stage with D-Lo. Yes, he almost always starts games so he plays a lot of minutes against the opponent's best players. But still, he consistently puts up +/- numbers worse than the other starters...no matter who they are! Juancho and Culver also started both halves with D-Lo, but they ended the game only -7 and -8, respectively. You don't often see huge discrepancies like that in your starting lineup, but you regularly do with Russell. The difference was Russell got his second foul, and the other starters (other than Davis, who was saddled with D-Lo for almost all his minutes) got the benefit of a few minutes with a true PG.
He's such a puzzle to me, because I recognize his enormous potential. And we all love those 8-minute runs he sometimes puts up that make us sit up and say "hmmm, maybe...". But the more I watch him, the more I realize who he is...although his style is much more "old man" and much less athletic, ultimately he is Zach LaVine. They're both guys who can fire up a fan base with a 30-point night, but at the end of the day the box score will show yet another -20.
3 NBA GM's have given up on him, and he's still only 24.
The question for the Wolves is this: can Rosas find another sucker who will take his contract off our hands?
My answer (which I mention in the DLO thread as well) is no, they won't find another sucker and they are going to have to find a way to make the best of the situation. In my mind, the only way to do that with a player like DLO is to dilute his influence and responsibilities. That means Rosas needs to continue the hunt for a 2nd star to go along with KAT. While that guy was originally supposed to be DLO, it's clear he's not up to the task. So while the front office can continue the facade of DLO being one of our stars, they need to keep hunting for an
actual 2nd star.
Q - I agree with you that the Wolves won't find a patsy to take DLO off our hands. At this point, trading him would require the the Wolves to give up a future first round pick, which we should never give up to jettison a player. It speaks to the level of Gersson's incompetence that we gave up a lottery pick and 2nd round pick to get DLO and we'd probably have to give up a 1st round pick to get rid of him.
Bottom line - I think you're right that the Wolves front office has to make the best of it by finding a second star because, as you noted, it's not going to be DLO. But there's an obvious problem. The Wolves don't have the assets to land an established star in his prime. And even if there is a package of assets the Wolves could get for a second star like Beal, I suspect it would be a price the Wolves shouldn't pay. There is also a salary cap issue because the Wolves are already near the luxury tax threshold.
In my view, all these factors mean the second star will have emerge from our current roster by the end of next season to preempt the possibility of a trade demand by KAT. The likelihood of that isn't zero, but it's certainly a long shot. Perhaps Rosas can upgrade the front court though a relatively minor trade. Perhaps a roster tweak or two plus the return of KAT can get this team on an upward trajectory by the end of this season and into next season. Add to that the development of Edwards, Culver, Okogie, Naz Reid and McDaniels and perhaps this team can be a playoff contender next season even if Edwards hasn't developed into our second star by that time. A better head coach would be another positive step. If this team is a playoff team and on a clear upward trajectory by the end of next season, then I don't think KAT will demand a trade and Edwards will have time to become the 2nd star that this team needs.
The alternative will be trading KAT at the end of next season. We'll get a huge haul in return for him that we can add to Edwards, Naz, McDaniels, et al. Then we'll have a good shot at an effective rebuild.
