Unresolved Issues

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

No matter how you slice it, we need to add another rotation-ready big man into the mix. Neither of those guys can be counted upon, even if they are on the roster come training camp. Otherwise, we're left with Towns, Dieng, and Payne. This is why guys like Horford, Milsap, Aldrich, Noel, and Favors keep coming up in trade or FA proposals.

No love for Belly?!? I am expecting him to win a spot in the rotation!

Buy yeah, that still leaves Payne as your 4th big. Say hi to Noah!

Had to be an oversight by Q, because his play at the end of last year (which was remindful of his Euro play) shows he belongs in the rotation, if not the starting PF. Here are his numbers in the 18 MPG he played after the all star break:

PPG: 7.4
RPG: 4.4
APG: 1.5
FG%: 57
3P%: 48
FT%: 88

That adds up to 15-9-3 on a per 36 basis. Those are outstanding statistics, and as some of us have pointed out, Belly's high BB IQ shows up in areas other than the box score. He can rebound, shoot with great range, put the ball on the floor and pass like a guard...and since he doesn't have a burning desire to score, he leaves plenty of shots for your young guys. He's had his transitional season, and I'm looking for big things from Belly this year.

I also think Thibs will fins a way to turn Payne's length and athleticism into a big man he can use when necessary.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

No matter how you slice it, we need to add another rotation-ready big man into the mix. Neither of those guys can be counted upon, even if they are on the roster come training camp. Otherwise, we're left with Towns, Dieng, and Payne. This is why guys like Horford, Milsap, Aldrich, Noel, and Favors keep coming up in trade or FA proposals.

No love for Belly?!? I am expecting him to win a spot in the rotation!

Buy yeah, that still leaves Payne as your 4th big. Say hi to Noah!

Had to be an oversight by Q, because his play at the end of last year (which was remindful of his Euro play) shows he belongs in the rotation, if not the starting PF. Here are his numbers in the 18 MPG he played after the all star break:

PPG: 7.4
RPG: 4.4
APG: 1.5
FG%: 57
3P%: 48
FT%: 88

That adds up to 15-9-3 on a per 36 basis. Those are outstanding statistics, and as some of us have pointed out, Belly's high BB IQ shows up in areas other than the box score. He can rebound, shoot with great range, put the ball on the floor and pass like a guard...and since he doesn't have a burning desire to score, he leaves plenty of shots for your young guys. He's had his transitional season, and I'm looking for big things from Belly this year.

I also think Thibs will fins a way to turn Payne's length and athleticism into a big man he can use when necessary.

Yeah, I totally forgot about Bjelly. His post all-star numbers are even better than I thought.

Not sure he can start based on defensive issues....

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

No matter how you slice it, we need to add another rotation-ready big man into the mix. Neither of those guys can be counted upon, even if they are on the roster come training camp. Otherwise, we're left with Towns, Dieng, and Payne. This is why guys like Horford, Milsap, Aldrich, Noel, and Favors keep coming up in trade or FA proposals.

No love for Belly?!? I am expecting him to win a spot in the rotation!

Buy yeah, that still leaves Payne as your 4th big. Say hi to Noah!

Had to be an oversight by Q, because his play at the end of last year (which was remindful of his Euro play) shows he belongs in the rotation, if not the starting PF. Here are his numbers in the 18 MPG he played after the all star break:

PPG: 7.4
RPG: 4.4
APG: 1.5
FG%: 57
3P%: 48
FT%: 88

That adds up to 15-9-3 on a per 36 basis. Those are outstanding statistics, and as some of us have pointed out, Belly's high BB IQ shows up in areas other than the box score. He can rebound, shoot with great range, put the ball on the floor and pass like a guard...and since he doesn't have a burning desire to score, he leaves plenty of shots for your young guys. He's had his transitional season, and I'm looking for big things from Belly this year.

I also think Thibs will fins a way to turn Payne's length and athleticism into a big man he can use when necessary.

Yeah, I totally forgot about Bjelly. His post all-star numbers are even better than I thought.

Not sure he can start based on defensive issues....

I was surprised at those stats too, Q...especially for a guy who made his reputation as a guy who contributes beyond the box score (hockey assists, screening, etc.). In all fairness, it's a very small sample size since his injury cut down his availability after the break, but many of us thought he looked like a different player the last month of the season.

I'd like some discussion about his defense, including some statistical measures, because I wonder whether he is so limited that he can't be a starter. My observations were that he had relatively quick feet for a guy as big as he is, and that he seemed to be at least an adequate one-on-one defender both on the perimeter and close to the basket. However, I also would notice him out of position sometimes in almost a Bazz-like manner, and thought his rotations were as bad as anyone on the team. And of course there was the fouls issue. But what do others think? I guess my thought is that if Thibs were able to being in a solid defensive SF like Deng, allowing him to start Wig at SG, that might allow us to give significant minutes at PF to Belly. I would prefer starting halves with KG like last year if he is healthy, but absent that, I think I would prefer starting Belly and allowing Gorgui to back up both KAT and Belly at the 4 and 5.

[Monster]

I think even if you are high on Bjelica (which I am) you still need a more legit big that is able to play as something nearer a true center. Towns, Dieng, Bjelica are only guys on the roster you can have some sort of reasonable expectation of playing legit minutes for this team going into next season. One way or another you need more.

On Bjelica's defensive rotations. Like other players early on he was quite frankly terrific. Aside from Sam going away from the old vet defensive guys I think he League was figuring out what the Wolves were doing on that end. At different point in the season Bjelica seemed stuck in no man's land not knowing whether to be aggressive or hang back especially on pick and roll play. He seems more like he just wasn't sure what he was supposed to do instead of closer to the blind cluelessness of a guy like Bazz.

To me the bottom line is he isn't a great athlete but moves well and has a lot of length as a PF so there is enough physical attributes there. In addition despite him not being a big strong guy there is a little bit of a nasty to him that I like. I don't see him as the answer of anything but I do think he is a piece to the solution.

[TeamRicky [enjin:6648771]]

I might try to research this later, but I could have sworn the Wolves had some sort of injury protection on Pek, such as only a partial guarantee in the final year, or something like that.

The Wolves could also use the stretch provision on a buyout of his contract. Than my prophetic additions of Dunn, Noah, Dieng and Crawford can come true... :)

The stretch provision would be bad to use. I'd rather take the cap hit sooner while we have cap space and our young guys are on rookie deals.

[Lipoli390]

Not sure I see Belly as our starting PF, but I wouldn't totally blow off the idea. I still like Dieng as our starting PF next to Towns. That's two long, mobile bigs with good chemistry together and lots of remaining upside.

For those who have written both off as starting PFs on the Wolves, I'll remind you that we don't need all-stars or top tier players at every position. We have three potential all-star caliber players among our starters in KAT, Wiggins and LaVine. You can't realistically expect more than that. Typically, the other two positions on a championship contender would be occupied by solid role players. Yet, Ricky is more than a solid role player. So I think there's way too much being made of the Wolves' starting PF position.

Let's strengthen our bench up front by signing Cole Aldrich and sign a FA 3-point shooter to bolster our perimeter shooting off the bench. The draft will give us the chance to strengthen our backcourt or frontcourt. The draft will give us various options -- (1) strengthen our perimeter shooting/backcourt with Murray or Hield; (2) strengthen our defense/backcourt with Dunn; (3) strengthen our PF or C position with Sabonis or Poeltl.

Dieng put up very solid numbers last season and continues to show a steep upward trajectory in his game. Belly looked terrific late last season as he appeared to finally be adjusting to the speed of the NBA game. Imagine what we can see from him next season with a full season of NBA ball under his belt and the coaching of Thibs. If Thibs and his coaching staff can make something out of Payne, that's a bonus.

We need depth and 3-point shooting. We can make that happen through free agency and the draft without spending too much or disrupting our chemistry and young core's development. That's the smart way to proceed.

[Lipoli390]

I might try to research this later, but I could have sworn the Wolves had some sort of injury protection on Pek, such as only a partial guarantee in the final year, or something like that.

The Wolves could also use the stretch provision on a buyout of his contract. Than my prophetic additions of Dunn, Noah, Dieng and Crawford can come true... :)

The stretch provision would be bad to use. I'd rather take the cap hit sooner while we have cap space and our young guys are on rookie deals.

I think you meant add Deng, not Dieng. :). There is no way we'll add both Deng and Noah. I could see us adding one or the other. Although I'm against doing either, I think there's at least a 50-50 shot we end up with one of the other and I'd be OK with that. Crawford would be a great acquisition. Dunn would be a good pick although I'm still leaning towards Hield.

[thedoper]

I can't imagine a good scenario where we are depending on Belly as our starting 4. He improved vastly in the last 20 games, but that doesn't make up for the other 60 where he looked like he had no place in the NBA. Even his improvement still made him look like a solid role player. I don't see a starter there in any way. Although Gorgui continues to impress me, I am not sure he has the footwork to be an effective defender at that position either. The smartest thing we could do is to get a vet in that position and give them the role of defense and rebounding first. I think Noah does that, I think Horford does that. I like the idea of Sabonis, Bender, or Maker to potentially fill that role on the team in the future. But a vet now is the way to go as I see it.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

I think Bjelica's development will be key for us, but I don't think he's a starter. Gorgui's better, although it would be great to get somebody even better than Gorgui.

I'm interested in Noah or Deng as a possibility. I know Noah's injuries are a concern, but if he could return somewhat to form, he'd be a great player and, given his defense and passing, a great fit with our other guys. Deng's versatility speaks for itself. If we took Deng, we'd probably want to drop one of our 4s (Payne, Rudez) and get a traditional, big-bodied backup center. A rotation of Noah or Deng/Towns/Gorgui/Bjelica/(and Rudez or Payne and random big bodied backup center) would be pretty good. Thibs' relationship with both guys would also probably make it more likely they would come here, maybe even on a decent deal.

Also, given the draft this year, it makes sense to add a big in free agency and get one of the guards in the draft (Hield/Dunn/Murray). To me, the decision between these three seems to be the key decision coming up for the team. I don't expect us to trade down. If Bender fell to us, I think I'd still take one of the guards. Too many question marks with Bender. Right now, I'd lean to take these three in this order (Hield-3 point shooting potential star/Dunn-versatile and athletic, obvious NBA talent/Murray-scoring, instincts, and potential).