Adding a wing

[Mr. Brightside [enjin:16464947]]

My personal biggest point of intrigue this offseason will be what type of wing player Thibs will add. Obviously, Thibs will be looking at two things when weighing the free agent options: tough perimeter defense and three point shooting. However, when looking at the list of potential targets, the Wolves will likely add one or the other.

This will be an interesting decision for Thibs as the wing he signs (or trades for) may lead to a shift in style of play. Will he target a player like PJ Tucker or Thabo Sefalosha, both of which are known for their gritty defense and ability to hit a three from time to time? Or will he prioritize three point shooting and target a player like CJ Miles? Rudy Gay is another intriguing option as I could see him becoming a lethal vet scorer off the bench a la Joe Johnson this season in Utah.

To me, the player added needs to be a SF due to Wiggins' ability to play both spots. A guy like JJ Redick likely won't sign here due to the presence of Zach LaVine and the large amount of minutes he will see when healthy.

If it were up to me, I'd add as much 3 point shooting this offseason as possible. It is so important to have multiple shooters on the floor at once and, right now, our only consistent threat from the outside is LaVine, and he's coming off an injury. My target would be CJ Miles, assuming he opts out of his $4 million player option. He's a vet who would come off the bench, hit over 2 threes a game on average, and has the ability to play both SG and SF. You can add 5 PJ Tucker's to each position to try to improve the defense. But until Wiggins and Towns improve in that area, the Wolves will continue to play below average defense. It's more about defense as a unit than it is about adding individual defenders.

I just think shooting needs to be prioritized over simply adding "wing defense." If Lip's intel is right and Thibs ranks shooting as his #1 priority, I hope that Miles will be the target.

What say you?

[Lipoli390]

I agree that the addition of 3-point shooting should be our #1 off-season priority. Having only one bona fide 3-point shooter (LaVine) doesn't cut it in today's NBA and our one 3-point shooter is coming off ACL surgery. Tucker and Sefalosha can hit some threes, but they're not three-point shooters. As you mentioned, at the end of the day, our defense has to improve from within and, as Thibs has said, it starts with KAT and Wiggins. CJ Miles would be a nice addition. Maybe there's a D-League 3-point marksman we can add as well. Our need for more three-point shooting may also cause Thibs to take Markkenan in the draft.

[Monster]

I think the Wolves need a volume 3 point shooter. I mean a guy that jacks them up at a crazy high rate. CJ Miles was 13th in the NBA per min 3 point attempts so that adds some more to the suggestion of adding him. I've always kinda liked the guy as a player because he seemed a bit underrated.

Gerald Green was 19th in 3's per minute. Gerald Green is not as good of an all around player as Miles but he probably won't cost more than a couple million bucks and could be worth bringing back home. Lol

Troy Daniels was #2 in the NBA in 3's per minute only to Steph. Memphis locked him up last year. He is a 3 point shooter and basically that's it but I sorta wish we had a guy like that around.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Good thread idea, Brightside...I agree that the off-season decision making in this area is vital.

I take a different perspective and see defense as a higher priority than shooting. Our 3-point shooting is a mystery to me, and I think it may have more to do with offensive philosophy than shooting ability. I have pointed out before that during the last half of 2015-6, the Wolves ranked 3rd in 3-point accuracy. And yet despite having guys who can make shots at a high percentage, we ranked dead last in 3-point attempts last season! How can a team that has demonstrated such proficiency in making 3-pointers the previous season not make that shot the cornerstone of the offense in the following season?

I don't know who to blame for this, because the lack of three point attempts has been an issue for awhile. Could it be Rubio, since he directs the offense? I don't know. But I tend to put the blame in this area on the coaching staff. Flip and Sam were much maligned for designing their offense around the long 2, and we had a lot of hope that Thibs would change that. But his offense is as antiquated as his predecessors, and as a result we took 1.4 fewer threes than the second 3-avoiding team last year, despite making them at a respectable 35% rate. (As we all know, a 35% rate on threes is equal to a 52.5% rate on twos). Zach, Wig, Ricky, KAT, Rush, Jones and even Gorgui are all capable of hitting the open three, if they are just given the opportunity. (And Isaac will be a good 3-point shooter too if we are lucky enough to get him in the draft). But Thibs' offense is designed more to create one-on-one matchups or to stay in the PnR, and as a result we only took 21 threes per game last season. That's not a winning formula in today's NBA.

I want to see Thibs target a gritty defending SF in free agency. Someone like PJ Tucker instantly makes us a better defensive team, allows Wig to play SG, gives us a huge scoring and shooting option off the bench in Zach, adds some vital veteran leadership to the locker room, and gives us another guy who will hit the 3-point shot at better than the league average.

But even more importantly, I hope Thibs is looking at the stats and questioning why his team is dead last in 3-point attempts. And I hope he looks in the mirror rather than blaming it on personnel, because I see him as no better than Flip or Sam in emphasizing the three...and perhaps worse. He needs to be looking at how other teams create open threes in today's NBA, and be prepared to model his offense after the teams that are doing this successfully. If he does this, I'm convinced our offense will be instantly improved as we move away from the long 2 philosophy we have all grown tired of. It's the coach's responsibility to catch up to the rest of the league and make this happen.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Good thread idea, Brightside...I agree that the off-season decision making in this area is vital.

Our 3-point shooting is a mystery to me, and I think it may have more to do with offensive philosophy than shooting ability...

I don't know who to blame for this, because the lack of three point attempts has been an issue for awhile... That's not a winning formula in today's NBA...

But even more importantly, I hope Thibs is looking at the stats and questioning why his team is dead last in 3-point attempts. And I hope he looks in the mirror rather than blaming it on personnel, because I see him as no better than Flip or Sam in emphasizing the three...and perhaps worse. He needs to be looking at how other teams create open threes in today's NBA, and be prepared to model his offense after the teams that are doing this successfully. If he does this, I'm convinced our offense will be instantly improved as we move away from the long 2 philosophy we have all grown tired of. It's the coach's responsibility to catch up to the rest of the league and make this happen.

A few weeks ago... I posted the Wolves ranking for each of the 28 seasons in the league for three point attempts. I think the highest ranking was 10th in attempts... and only 3 seasons above league average.

There were about 20 seasons with the Wolves in the bottom 10. And about a dozen (or more) in the bottom 5.

Many of them in recent years. Zigging when everybody else is zagging is fine if it works. But the Wolves have had the WORST record in recent years, too.

So... ummm... errr... you see... ummm... there could be a correlation... maybe?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Good thread idea, Brightside...I agree that the off-season decision making in this area is vital.

Our 3-point shooting is a mystery to me, and I think it may have more to do with offensive philosophy than shooting ability...

I don't know who to blame for this, because the lack of three point attempts has been an issue for awhile... That's not a winning formula in today's NBA...

But even more importantly, I hope Thibs is looking at the stats and questioning why his team is dead last in 3-point attempts. And I hope he looks in the mirror rather than blaming it on personnel, because I see him as no better than Flip or Sam in emphasizing the three...and perhaps worse. He needs to be looking at how other teams create open threes in today's NBA, and be prepared to model his offense after the teams that are doing this successfully. If he does this, I'm convinced our offense will be instantly improved as we move away from the long 2 philosophy we have all grown tired of. It's the coach's responsibility to catch up to the rest of the league and make this happen.

A few weeks ago... I posted the Wolves ranking for each of the 28 seasons in the league for three point attempts. I think the highest ranking was 10th in attempts... and only 3 seasons above league average.

There were about 20 seasons with the Wolves in the bottom 10. And about a dozen (or more) in the bottom 5.

Many of them in recent years. Zigging when everybody else is zagging is fine if it works. But the Wolves have had the WORST record in recent years, too.

So... ummm... errr... you see... ummm... there could be a correlation... maybe?

Ha, just perhaps! I'm a big critic of Thibs and think he had a very unsuccessful debut with us by any measure, but I also know he is recognized by his peers as having a great basketball mind. I know he spends more time looking at comparative stats than we do, and is fully aware what an outlier we are in 3-point shooting. And he also knows he has several guys who can hit the three at a decent rate. So, I'm cautiously optimistic that he is spending a lot of time this summer pondering how to get the Wolves at least to the middle of the pack in attempts. If he can do that, I'm convinced our already decent offense will become even more high-powered.

So while I'm convinced our three point failure is coaching and culture related, I'm not ignoring the possibility that our lack of attempts could be because of Ricky too (I don't think so, but it is a possibility). If Thibs stressed threes with Ricky last season and he didn't get the message...and perhaps can't get the message...then Thibs needs to find another option at PG that can help us join the modern NBA. But my gut tells me Ricky is capable of finding the open guy for threes if our offense is designed around the three. I think it's on Thibs to make this happen.

[Mr. Brightside [enjin:16464947]]

Good thread idea, Brightside...I agree that the off-season decision making in this area is vital.

I take a different perspective and see defense as a higher priority than shooting. Our 3-point shooting is a mystery to me, and I think it may have more to do with offensive philosophy than shooting ability. I have pointed out before that during the last half of 2015-6, the Wolves ranked 3rd in 3-point accuracy. And yet despite having guys who can make shots at a high percentage, we ranked dead last in 3-point attempts last season! How can a team that has demonstrated such proficiency in making 3-pointers the previous season not make that shot the cornerstone of the offense in the following season?

I don't know who to blame for this, because the lack of three point attempts has been an issue for awhile. Could it be Rubio, since he directs the offense? I don't know. But I tend to put the blame in this area on the coaching staff. Flip and Sam were much maligned for designing their offense around the long 2, and we had a lot of hope that Thibs would change that. But his offense is as antiquated as his predecessors, and as a result we took 1.4 fewer threes than the second 3-avoiding team last year, despite making them at a respectable 35% rate. (As we all know, a 35% rate on threes is equal to a 52.5% rate on twos). Zach, Wig, Ricky, KAT, Rush, Jones and even Gorgui are all capable of hitting the open three, if they are just given the opportunity. (And Isaac will be a good 3-point shooter too if we are lucky enough to get him in the draft). But Thibs' offense is designed more to create one-on-one matchups or to stay in the PnR, and as a result we only took 21 threes per game last season. That's not a winning formula in today's NBA.

I want to see Thibs target a gritty defending SF in free agency. Someone like PJ Tucker instantly makes us a better defensive team, allows Wig to play SG, gives us a huge scoring and shooting option off the bench in Zach, adds some vital veteran leadership to the locker room, and gives us another guy who will hit the 3-point shot at better than the league average.

But even more importantly, I hope Thibs is looking at the stats and questioning why his team is dead last in 3-point attempts. And I hope he looks in the mirror rather than blaming it on personnel, because I see him as no better than Flip or Sam in emphasizing the three...and perhaps worse. He needs to be looking at how other teams create open threes in today's NBA, and be prepared to model his offense after the teams that are doing this successfully. If he does this, I'm convinced our offense will be instantly improved as we move away from the long 2 philosophy we have all grown tired of. It's the coach's responsibility to catch up to the rest of the league and make this happen.

I totally understand the rationale behind targeting a wing defender like PJ Tucker. However, I wouldn't bet on LaVine heading to the bench and becoming a super 6th man. He was near the top of the league in minutes played before he was injured and Thibs absolutely loves him. Additionally, although everyone loves Zach and he seems to be a great guy, I could see him and his agent looking to go elsewhere where he could start and become more of a focal point of an offense.

[Mr. Brightside [enjin:16464947]]

I agree that the addition of 3-point shooting should be our #1 off-season priority. Having only one bona fide 3-point shooter (LaVine) doesn't cut it in today's NBA and our one 3-point shooter is coming off ACL surgery. Tucker and Sefalosha can hit some threes, but they're not three-point shooters. As you mentioned, at the end of the day, our defense has to improve from within and, as Thibs has said, it starts with KAT and Wiggins. CJ Miles would be a nice addition. Maybe there's a D-League 3-point marksman we can add as well. Our need for more three-point shooting may also cause Thibs to take Markkenan in the draft.

I agree with your Markkanen take, Lip. I believe he is Thibs' #1 target at pick #7 due to his shooting prowess. Personally, I would take Markkanen due for that reason as well. Additions of Miles and Markkanen would go a long way in helping our 3-point shooting.

[Mr. Brightside [enjin:16464947]]

Something else to keep in mind is that we may already have our wing defender in Kris Dunn. For as rocky of a season Dunn had, he showed a long of promise as a bulldog, gritty defender that could guard positions 1-3. If I remember correctly, Paul George was destroying the Wolves late in the season at Target Center. Dunn checked into the game and was in George's grill the entire time. George couldn't get anything going offensively while being guarded by Dunn. Also, Thibs started to play Tyus and Dunn together a lot towards the end of the season with Dunn seeing a lot of time at the 2. I will stand by my thinking that I believe Dunn will become our version of Avery Bradley/Marcus Smart and will be better in that sort of role than he would be orchestrating an offense from the point guard position. Obviously, time will tell.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

You may be right about Thibs' fondness for Zach, Brightside...he's a likable kid who plays with passion, and shoots as well as anyone on the team. But Thibs also has to be aware that Zach's defensive metrics and on/off numbers are terrible, and as a coach that stresses defense, that has to bother him. I suspect that Thibs will continue to start Zach at SG...I just don't know if it's the best decision.

I'm not worried about your second point though...that Zach and his agent will look elsewhere if he doesn't start. First, we control him for several years...to the end of his rookie contract and then matching rights after that. And although I may be wrong, I don't see Zach as a petty guy a la Kevin Love...he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would force a trade with a poor attitude while under contract. Further, I definitely see Zach as a starter in this league down the road. Flip was convinced he could become a plus defender, and I think he has all the tools. He just needs some seasoning, and the opportunity to watch a solid defending wing like Tucker from the bench while continuing to be a high-scoring option could really serve him well. I'd love to have a guy like Tucker for a couple years while Zach is learning to play SG defense and Wig is hopefully bulking up to become a better rebounder at SF. Then in 2-3 years I see Wig and Zach being our starting wings for a long time.