Who Do You Want Back Next Year?

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I voted Hummel, Chase and Brown.

Hummel hasn't been himself since his return from injury, but he showed earlier in the year (and last night) that he can be an ideal end of the bench type. Looks good in a coat and tie if the Wolves are healthy, but can substitute at multiple positions if needed. He's cheap, he's basketball smart, he'll take a charge, he's a decent shooter and rebounder, he's a good guy, and he'll give you a positive +/- more often than not. What's not to like?

For the past 20 games, Chase has shown why Kahn thought he was worth a first round pick. I keep waiting for him to come back to earth, but he continues to play the best basketball of his career. I assume he will not opt out, and I'm fine with him taking one of the 2nd or 3rd string wing positions.

I talked about Brown in another thread. He will never be athletic or a good shooter, but a lanky PG that can give you a 3 to 1 assist to turnover ratio is not a bad asset to have. I want Rubio to play 38 minutes a game and Zach to get some PG minutes as a combo guard, but I will take Brown any day as my 3rd string PG.

Hamilton reminds me in a way of a poor man's Thad Young, albeit at a different position. He's a competent scorer who just doesn't rebound or defend well enough to justify a roster spot. I'm hoping that Pek's bone removal will allow him to play more next year, and with Gorgui backing him up, Flip needs to find a Turiaf-type banger to be our third center...hopefully again, someone whose wardrobe we get to see a lot next year sitting in the second row.

I like Neal, but he thinks of himself as a complete basketball player rather than just a designated scorer, and I think will look for a place that can give him more minutes. I want Martin, Zach, Wiggins, Bud and Shabazz commanding as many of the wing minutes as possible.

[Carlos Danger]

Hamilton reminds me in a way of a poor man's Thad Young, albeit at a different position. He's a competent scorer who just doesn't rebound or defend well enough to justify a roster spot. I'm hoping that Pek's bone removal will allow him to play more next year, and with Gorgui backing him up, Flip needs to find a Turiaf-type banger to be our third center...hopefully again, someone whose wardrobe we get to see a lot next year sitting in the second row..

I agree with your take for the most part. But here's an interesting advanced stat. Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) from Basketball Reference. Here's the top three Wolves according to that metric this season:

1.) Gorgui Dieng (2.5)
2.) Thad Young (0.7)
3.) J. Hamilton (0.5)

Depressing? A further look shows only 7 guys showing up with a positive VORP this year. The rest are:

4.) Rubio (0.3)
5.) Brewer (0.3)
6.) Bazz (0.1)
7.) KG (0.1)

Yikes! Like any stat, I think sometimes you have to step back and look at other things. But still - shocking isn't it?

[TheFuture]

The only one of that group I want back is Neal. Brown is iffy. The rest are below average players who fill a spot on the bench that would be better filled with young potential, I.e. 2nd rounders or a decent young FA like an ed Davis or kj McDaniels.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Just so everyone knows, I only voted for Adrien once. So there are at least two other people that like him too!

My three were Adrien, Brown, and Hummel.

- I've been a Hummel fan from day one. No surprise there.

- Brown I'm a bit more "meh" on, but he's a cheap 3rd stringer and is still young enough to perhaps improve a bit more too. And he knows his role is to set-up others first and foremost.

- Jeff Adrien. Why do I like Jeff Adrien so much? Because all season long we've been pushed around, bullied, and beat up in the paint. And Jeff Adrien was the one guy that could stand up to it and fight back.

[Lipoli390]

Ok. Time to admit that I'm one of the other two votes for Jeff Adrien. Same reason given by Q.

Chase because he can score and rebound now that he has the bounce back in his step. He is probably the best on this team at cutting without the ball. He's very good off the ball and can score from the perimeter or cutting to the basket.

Neal because he can shoot and defend. He has some toughness as well and can play both the 1 and 2 positions. If we draft a guard, then I'd opt for Hummel or Hamilton, probably Hamilton.

[Monster]

I haven't voted yet but I keep hearing people say let's sign a Turiaf type guy that stays healthy. That's basically Jeff Adrian. Yep he is a couple inches shorter and not as talented but he can give you something in his minutes and like Jim Peterson says he is hard to play against. I'm not saying he should be on the roster but the guy can play basketball and do stuff when he is out there. There is a reason he keeps showing up on NBA rosters and or is the last cut in TC.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I haven't voted yet but I keep hearing people say let's sign a Turiaf type guy that stays healthy. That's basically Jeff Adrian. Yep he is a couple inches shorter and not as talented but he can give you something in his minutes and like Jim Peterson says he is hard to play against. I'm not saying he should be on the roster but the guy can play basketball and do stuff when he is out there. There is a reason he keeps showing up on NBA rosters and or is the last cut in TC.

The rub is that there are also reasons why he doesn't stick around for long. He's limited. Basically, he's kind of like a bigger Lo Brown. He's serviceable. And there's a place for that... if a team wants that instead of more promise.

Meh. Give me Gary Trent instead. Or Craig Smith. But I would maybe take him over Andrew Lang.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Hamilton reminds me in a way of a poor man's Thad Young, albeit at a different position. He's a competent scorer who just doesn't rebound or defend well enough to justify a roster spot. I'm hoping that Pek's bone removal will allow him to play more next year, and with Gorgui backing him up, Flip needs to find a Turiaf-type banger to be our third center...hopefully again, someone whose wardrobe we get to see a lot next year sitting in the second row..

I agree with your take for the most part. But here's an interesting advanced stat. Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) from Basketball Reference. Here's the top three Wolves according to that metric this season:

1.) Gorgui Dieng (2.5)
2.) Thad Young (0.7)
3.) J. Hamilton (0.5)

Depressing? A further look shows only 7 guys showing up with a positive VORP this year. The rest are:

4.) Rubio (0.3)
5.) Brewer (0.3)
6.) Bazz (0.1)
7.) KG (0.1)

Yikes! Like any stat, I think sometimes you have to step back and look at other things. But still - shocking isn't it?

Unless I'm analyzing the stat wrong... that doesn't surprise me at all.

The Wolves are 16 - 6(6). That's not ONLY because of injuries. It's a bad team, so I'm not surprised that few guys are better than their possible replacements.

[Carlos Danger]

I haven't voted yet but I keep hearing people say let's sign a Turiaf type guy that stays healthy. That's basically Jeff Adrian. Yep he is a couple inches shorter and not as talented but he can give you something in his minutes and like Jim Peterson says he is hard to play against. I'm not saying he should be on the roster but the guy can play basketball and do stuff when he is out there. There is a reason he keeps showing up on NBA rosters and or is the last cut in TC.

The rub is that there are also reasons why he doesn't stick around for long. He's limited. Basically, he's kind of like a bigger Lo Brown. He's serviceable. And there's a place for that... if a team wants that instead of more promise.

Meh. Give me Gary Trent instead. Or Craig Smith. But I would maybe take him over Andrew Lang.

I agree with this take. I realize we all want a hard nosed defender to plug the middle. But why can't we find one of those in the upcoming draft? Jeff Adrien did just fine while he was here. But he's basically an older, limited, emergency stop gap player vs. someone who might get better and be part of the young core.

[Carlos Danger]

Wow - look at the Robbie Hummel love on this forum now! I seem to recall at the start of the year, only a few of us had anything good to say about him. Look at him now! :-)