Rubio and Dunn

[Coolbreeze44]

Dunn is older than Towns, Wiggins, Zach, and Tyus. If he was the 3rd best player in the draft, he should be ready to play at the age of 23.

Cool, I haven't heard anyone saying Dunn won't be ready to play this year. He has some flaws to work on, but he should be able to make some contributions this year...I think he is as NBA-ready as almost anyone in the draft this year. What some of us are arguing is that he likely isn't good enough to start ahead of Rubio yet. Are you suggesting that Dunn is ready to start ahead of Ricky this year? Or are you suggesting the Wolves made a bad choice because they drafted a guy 5th who isn't likely to stat this year.

I'm suggesting we didn't draft Dunn to come off the bench, at least not for very long.

[Coolbreeze44]

Watched an interview today where Avery Johnson flat out said Rubio is going to come off the bench now.

[60WinTim]

Watched an interview today where Avery Johnson flat out said Rubio is going to come off the bench now.

Well that seals it, doesn't it?

:)

[Monster]

I just listened to Thibs and Layden on spots on Kfan. They didn't come out and actively dispel the Rubio rumors and lets be honest they shouldn't because its possible they move him. In addition they probably have no interest in commenting on every rumor that comes up. What they both said over and over again and Thibs has said its about team. Its about sacrificing for the team. That sounds like Rubio to me. All he wants to do is win and there are a number of people that have said Rubio loves it here. He wants to be here. I feel there is a good chance they go in with both guys and feel great about it.

Listening to Layden talk about two-way players it hit me that I wondered if Flip would have made this same pick. We will never know and its complete speculation, but we all know Flip loved PG types and was also a guy that talked about size and athletic ability to be able to defend multiple positions which Thibs mentioned about Dunn. It feels like in some way Layden and Thibs are continuing Flip's legacy. I'm sure its not going to be exactly what Flip would do but that did come to my mind. Of course according to Lip's info Ryan was also in on the draft so that's obviously part of Flip right there. Its hard to believe it hasn't even been a year yet since he passed away.

[worldK]

I would love to have both rubio and dunn on the same team next season. I think they can certainly play together effectively for 10-15mins a game. When Barea was here, the rubio-barea backcourt was one of our better combinations. Dunn is a lot bigger and more athletic than jj.

I agree that 1 of them ( more likely rubio) will be moved down the line, but for next season, I hope to have both on the team.

[Phenom]

Watched an interview today where Avery Johnson flat out said Rubio is going to come off the bench now.

Well that seals it, doesn't it?

:)

Yea I saw that too. He called Rubio bench quality. He also had a short coaching career.

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Dunn is older than Towns, Wiggins, Zach, and Tyus. If he was the 3rd best player in the draft, he should be ready to play at the age of 23.

Cool, I haven't heard anyone saying Dunn won't be ready to play this year. He has some flaws to work on, but he should be able to make some contributions this year...I think he is as NBA-ready as almost anyone in the draft this year. What some of us are arguing is that he likely isn't good enough to start ahead of Rubio yet. Are you suggesting that Dunn is ready to start ahead of Ricky this year? Or are you suggesting the Wolves made a bad choice because they drafted a guy 5th who isn't likely to stat this year.

I'm suggesting we didn't draft Dunn to come off the bench, at least not for very long.

Man, I hope you're right, cool...we/ve all seen Rubio's on/off numbers, so if Dunn ends up better than Ricky soon, we/re going to be very, very good this year.

Here's why I think Thibs drafted Dunn at 5...because he was the BPA, and 29 win teams don't draft for need. I don't think he gave much thought as to whether Dunn would start ahead of Ricky...I just think he thought adding the BPA instantly made us a better team. I think he had another motive too. He clearly has a hard on for Butler, and knowing Chicago needs a PG, he knew Dunn would be a great starting point in putting together a package.

Ricky was our best +/- guy among players with significant minutes, and Thibs likes guys who take care of the ball, so I see it as a long shot that Dunn replaces a healthy Rubio as our starter. But if he does, it means he's a terrific rookie PG...and we're going to win 58 games.

Who's up for a poll question about who starts more games at PG this year?

[mrhockey89]

Here's my take...

Thibs is extremely unlikely to trade Towns, Wiggisn, or Lavine in any trade.

Thibs is willing to trade either Ricky OR Dunn in a trade that brings back the right player (because he knows both are good players, but ideally they both are best fit for PG), but he's not willing to give them away just to get rid of the depth of having two starter caliber PGs (nor should he).

I think that a 3 guard rotation could work with starting Rubio+Lavine, then bringing Dunn off the bench early to spell Rubio, then Rubio spells Lavine and so on. That would split Dunn's minutes at PG and SG while leaving plenty of minutes for Lavine at SG and Rubio at PG. Dunn's perfect position is PG, but I think he has the ability to play SG part time.

A defensive lineup of Rubio, Dunn, Wiggins, KG, and Towns looks pretty solid.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Here's my take...

Thibs is extremely unlikely to trade Towns, Wiggisn, or Lavine in any trade.

Thibs is willing to trade either Ricky OR Dunn in a trade that brings back the right player (because he knows both are good players, but ideally they both are best fit for PG), but he's not willing to give them away just to get rid of the depth of having two starter caliber PGs (nor should he).

I think that a 3 guard rotation could work with starting Rubio+Lavine, then bringing Dunn off the bench early to spell Rubio, then Rubio spells Lavine and so on. That would split Dunn's minutes at PG and SG while leaving plenty of minutes for Lavine at SG and Rubio at PG. Dunn's perfect position is PG, but I think he has the ability to play SG part time.

A defensive lineup of Rubio, Dunn, Wiggins, KG, and Towns looks pretty solid.

I was just logging in to say exactly this.

[Shumway]

I just listened to Thibs and Layden on spots on Kfan. They didn't come out and actively dispel the Rubio rumors and lets be honest they shouldn't because its possible they move him. In addition they probably have no interest in commenting on every rumor that comes up. What they both said over and over again and Thibs has said its about team. Its about sacrificing for the team. That sounds like Rubio to me. All he wants to do is win and there are a number of people that have said Rubio loves it here. He wants to be here. I feel there is a good chance they go in with both guys and feel great about it.

Listening to Layden talk about two-way players it hit me that I wondered if Flip would have made this same pick. We will never know and its complete speculation, but we all know Flip loved PG types and was also a guy that talked about size and athletic ability to be able to defend multiple positions which Thibs mentioned about Dunn. It feels like in some way Layden and Thibs are continuing Flip's legacy. I'm sure its not going to be exactly what Flip would do but that did come to my mind. Of course according to Lip's info Ryan was also in on the draft so that's obviously part of Flip right there. Its hard to believe it hasn't even been a year yet since he passed away.

I think this is a great question - whether Flip would have made the same pick. Of course, this is all speculation, but Flip was such an important part of establishing what we have that it is fun to think about. He may have felt more emotional connection to Rubio and to Lavine, so he may have been more reluctant to draft their potential replacement - but your comments about 2way players and about PGs makes a lot of sense. I think he would have made the same choice.