Thibs Grade As PBO

[Lipoli390]

I'm starting this thread a bit prematurely. It's premature in two ways. First and most obvious, is that we won't know how well Thibs has done in his role as PBO until the end of this next season based on how well the Wolves do along with a comparison to how well LaVine, Dunn and Rubio do. Second, it's premature in a more immediate sense because the off-season isn't over and Thibs is going to sign at least another couple free agents.

However, with no cap space and no cap exceptions other than the vet minimum available to the Wolves, any additional signings by the Wolves are likely to have only a marginal impact. So here's how I would grade Thibs's two years as our PBO. I'm giving him two separate grades, one for last season through the Feb. trade deadline and the other for the current off season, including both the draft and free agency:

LAST YEAR: B+ I think Thibs did a nice job last year keeping his powder dry and taking the season to evaluate his team before making any trades or committing any significant cap room to free agents. He obviously resisted what had to be a strong temptation to do the Butler deal last season and I applaud him for that. The only reason I wouldn't give him an A- for last year is that his FA signings were poor and he didn't add any below-the-radar prospects and he drafted Dunn over the guy I wanted, Buddy Hield. But I can't down-grade Thibs too much for drafting Dunn since it's too early to proclaim Dunn a flop and if nothing else, Dunn helped us get Butler this summer.

THIS OFF-SEASON: B-. The Butler deal alone might merit an A-. But it wasn't a coup in my view. In other words, I see it as a good move for the Wolves, but not one-sided as many seem to think. More importantly, I'm not please with the moves Thibs has made since the Butler deal. He's built a grind-it-out roster with less three-point shooting than we had last season in a league where 3-point shooting is critical to championship contention. Using all our remaining cap space on Taj strikes me as a bad move. The Teague/Ricky swap is a wash at best, although I like that Thibs secured a first round pick next year.


OVERALL: B

But I have one big caveat. Depending on who Thibs adds this summer and how he uses the players we have in his role as head coach, I could see revising my grade up to an A by mid-season. This could work out really well if Wiggins shows even more improvement in this three-point shot and if Thibs maximizes the three-point shooting of KAT, Wiggins and even Gorgui. And we will DEFINITELY be a much better defensive team. So I'm still excited about next season and my grade of Thibs as PBO is definitely preliminary.

[WildWolf2813]

I can't grade him til next year because all these moves will look awful if the results aren't good enough.

[TheFuture]

B last year
B+ for the Butler trade
D for the remainder of the offseason moves

[TheFuture]

I can't grade him til next year because all these moves will look awful if the results aren't good enough.

The point of this thread seems to be to broach future expectations...

[WildWolf2813]

I can't grade him til next year because all these moves will look awful if the results aren't good enough.

The point of this thread seems to be to broach future expectations...

my only expectation for him now and in the future is that he makes the playoffs. That's my only expectation. Based on that he failed last year. My bar is set low. If he made the playoffs, he coulda gave Taj a max and it would look good for me.

[TheFuture]

I can't grade him til next year because all these moves will look awful if the results aren't good enough.

The point of this thread seems to be to broach future expectations...

my only expectation for him now and in the future is that he makes the playoffs. That's my only expectation. Based on that he failed last year. My bar is set low. If he made the playoffs, he coulda gave Taj a max and it would look good for me.

As long as we are looking to perceive future expectations. What are your feelings if we miss the playoffs? Whatgrade?I ask this not to be an ass, but rather to assess the narrative on this board.

[WildWolf2813]

I can't grade him til next year because all these moves will look awful if the results aren't good enough.

The point of this thread seems to be to broach future expectations...

my only expectation for him now and in the future is that he makes the playoffs. That's my only expectation. Based on that he failed last year. My bar is set low. If he made the playoffs, he coulda gave Taj a max and it would look good for me.

As long as we are looking to perceive future expectations. What are your feelings if we miss the playoffs? Whatgrade?I ask this not to be an ass, but rather to assess the narrative on this board.

He won't have any excuses. At that point, he'll have Wiggins and Towns, but then Butler's 1 year away from free agency as is Gibson and possibly Teague. At that point, he can only do but so much to keep the fanbase from turning on him.

It's playoffs or bust. I don't think fans will have patience if he busts, especially if he busts because he ignored the idea of more spacing and establishing a decent bench.

[khans2k5 [enjin:6608728]]

A+

He added a top 15 player and probably the second best two way player in the league. Shut it down. Let's go home. I really don't care about the other moves in the grander scheme of building this team because they were all too short term to matter if they don't pan out.

[Phenom]

He traded Rubio who was holding this team back. Playoffs is the minimum now.

[thedoper]

Thibs is the first GM to lure an active top 15 player to this franchise while sending out players who at best will only sniff the top 15. Relative to any of the past people in this position this offseason has been an A+ by any measure.