Q12543 wrote:FNG, Yes, clearly KAT's absence is the #1 reason we aren't competitive. But I was looking mostly at the players that have been on the floor.
As for DLO, even without a pure +/- stat, here is where he stands in those other numbers I cited for Vando and Beasley among fellow Point Guards:
PER - #18
BPM - #23
VORP - Tied for 20th
RPM - #38 (this tries to clear out some of the noise from pure +/-)
These are much more generous to DLO than the pure +/- stat. But even if you totally discount +/-, there is no question we are not getting even close to our money's worth on that max contract.
So I agree, I'd add DLO to the list above due purely to the fact that when he plays, he's done absolutely nothing to improve our chances. We get blown out of most games whether he plays or not.
Rubio, DLO, Culver, Okogie, Edwards. That's our basket of horribles. We need them to either start stepping up, trade them, or replace them in the rotation.
Great analysis, Q. I agree. I've been particularly disappointed in Okogie who appears to have regressed offensively.
If Rosas is going to try to fix things with a deal by the trade deadline, then one or more of the five players you've identified as our basket of horribles will have to be part of the deal. The only guy in that basket I wouldn't deal unless it's for Ben Simmons or Bradley Beal is Edwards because of his age and upside compared to the others. But you have to wonder what we could get in return for any or all of the other four.
Camden0916 wrote:There's a couple different ways to look at that trade. There's the view you have here with how the trade looks from A to C, which is certainly an understandable take given the yielded results so far.
And then there's the view from when the trade was made. Robert Covington had a ton of value around the league as a valuable and versatile three-point shooting combo-forward. He netted the Wolves everything you listed above, but could the return have been greater? Personally, I think so. The Wolves could have had the 17th and 22nd picks in the 2020 NBA draft while taking back a large expiring contract that would have allowed the financial flexibility to make other moves at a later date had they not included the Nuggets in the deal.
Firstly, I'm not a huge fan of trading for guys that are about to hit free agency -- unrestricted or restricted. I totally understand the cap reasons and how it can allow teams to add players long-term that they otherwise might not have been able to acquire. I get all of that. But especially in the case of Malik Beasley and Juan Hernangomez it allowed both players the opportunity to increase their market value over their 14 games with the Wolves. Beasley had already turned down an extension with Denver where he would have made $30-million over three years and he was actually having a pretty subpar season after the fact. There's no guarantee that he would have gotten that same offer as a free agent after the type of year he was having and the Nuggets would probably have let him walk as he was falling out of their rotation anyways.
The Wolves allowed Beasley to showcase what he could be with more opportunity and it absolutely saved his market value. A savvier front office would have allowed Beasley to continue to stymie his value in Denver and then target him in free agency as a low-risk, medium-high reward acquisition that cost nothing in draft capital. I'm confident he could have been had for the full MLE or less if not for those 14 games he started in Minnesota.
There's also the trade that sent Covington to Portland in the first place. Houston essentially received more for him than Minnesota did just months after the two made their trade. The Rockets received Trevor Ariza's expiring contract, the No. 16 pick in the 2020 NBA draft, and a protected first-round selection in the 2021 draft. Perhaps the Wolves should have been more patient and waited to trade Covington on draft night.
This is all subjective, admittedly. Perhaps I view trades differently overall. And while this trade turned out okay for Minnesota I think a smarter front office would have squeezed out more while still getting their guys -- Beasley and Hernangomez -- at a later date for cheaper cost.
I don't disagree with much of this, but a key in the trade was obtaining Beasley's and Juancho's RFA/Bird rights. Why they made the offers in FA without seeing what the market would pay, that I cannot answer. Especially for Malik and the ongoing court case.
Malik is proving to be worth the $, but I think 10-12 was feasible.
I do not understand the Juancho $, nor the Ed Davis trade.
