Early Season evaluation: Thad Young

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Overview - When Thad was brought to Minnesota in a trade with the Sixers it was done with the intention of mixing solid veteran players with our stockpile of young guys. Thad would start along with Pekovic, Rubio, and Brewer, making Wiggins the only 1st or 2nd year guy in the starting lineup. Boy, how things changed quickly....

Offense - Thad has struggled big-time on offense, posting by far his career-worst TS% of 47%. That is horrific for a power forward. Before we get into why he's doing so poorly, let's start with the strengths he's historically shown over the years.

Thad is a 'tweener forward that has mostly played PF throughout his career. His decent first step and nifty left-handed touch around the rim has allowed him take advantage of defenders that are bigger, yet slower, than him. Thad also has a decent mid-range jumper. Starting last season, he began trying to stretch his range out beyond the 3-point arc, with mixed results (made 90 3-pointers, but only shot 31%). He actually began the year shooting the ball pretty well from the 3-point line, but ever since he came back from his bereavement leave, he has struggled mightily to hit the long ball.

Thad's best years came as a 6th/7th man off the bench in Philly, where he tends to have more favorable matchups given his size. I still think this is his ideal role, but given our youth and inexperience at PF, it's understandable why Flip inserted him into the starting lineup.

Once Rubio, then Martin, and then Pek went down, Young became one of our top two options offensively. What this means usually is that he sets a pick for the PG (typically LaVine), floats out to the top of the key, receives the pass back from LaVine, and then isolates against his man. The result is a lot more misses than makes, as he's literally having to do all the work himself. And keep in mind he is doing this against the top PFs in the NBA and mostly in the Western Conference. He has 3 dunks this year. That's right, 3. That is way off his pace in past years and it is indicative of how few easy looks he gets going to the basket.

Young is also averaging a career low in offensive rebounds per 36 minutes, once again indicating the difficult matchups night in and night out. He's simply overmatched against most opposing starting PFs.

As a passer, Young is decent (2 assists per 36 minutes), but not great. Normally when he decides to put his head down and drive to the hoop, he's trying to go all the way, rarely kicking it out or finding someone for an easy bucket. On the other hand, he isn't a ball-stopper and seems to be good at swinging the ball and giving it up when the shot or drive isn't available for him.

Defense - Young is a versatile defender that can switch onto smaller players and keep up with them. Against bigger players, he gives it his best effort, as he's no weakling, but there is only so much he can do against someone like a Zach Randolph.

His best attribute defensively is his ability to get steals without gambling too much (1.8 per 36 minutes). That along with his ability to switch onto smaller players allows the Wolves to occasionally create some havoc when they have Brewer, Wiggins, and Young out there switching and playing the passing lanes. When Rubio comes back it could get kinda fun at times.

Due to his lack of great length, Young is not a factor in terms of protecting the rim. I would love to see him step in and take more charges, as he seems to have the quickness to be able to do this more often.

His worst attribute defensively is rebounding, as he averages only 3.7 DRB per 36 minutes. To put that into perspective, Ricky Rubio has a career average of 3.9 DRBs per 36 minutes. It's simply an unacceptable number, but here again, look at who he is up against night in and night out.

Summary - I liked the Thad trade and really like him as a person. Unfortunately, he is flat out overmatched on a team that lacks elite players at any other position. We are expecting way more from him than he can deliver. On a better team, with a more narrowly defined role, I am positive he could be a very good asset. Frankly, I wouldn't be opposed to starting Adrien and then bringing Thad off the bench. He may actually be a better compliment to Shabazz, in that they can reverse roles on offense (Thad more on the perimeter, Shabazz more on the interor). Let Adrien bang with the big boys and give some hard fouls, then bring Thad off the bench along with Shabazz.

[bleedspeed]

Another great post. I love the format and content you put into these.

I would love to see Adrien start the game and play the first few minutes and set a phyical tone and let Young work a little more against second teams. I really think Young not being a good screener or PNR player has been his biggest limiter in the current team.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Yeah Q, these are good reports. Some here have mentioned Thad won't stay if he's relegated to a bench role. I hope that's not true. If he can't start here, then he can't start anywhere else. Hoping AB can have a stronger 2nd half and solidify the starting PF spot for next year with Thad and Bazz being our 6th and 7th guys.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Yeah Q, these are good reports. Some here have mentioned Thad won't stay if he's relegated to a bench role. I hope that's not true. If he can't start here, then he can't start anywhere else. Hoping AB can have a stronger 2nd half and solidify the starting PF spot for next year with Thad and Bazz being our 6th and 7th guys.

But there's a HUGE difference in taking a bench role for one of the worst teams in the league with only unproven guys behind him vs. one of the best... or even for a playoff team.

[BizarroJerry [enjin:6592520]]

Yeah Q, these are good reports. Some here have mentioned Thad won't stay if he's relegated to a bench role. I hope that's not true. If he can't start here, then he can't start anywhere else. Hoping AB can have a stronger 2nd half and solidify the starting PF spot for next year with Thad and Bazz being our 6th and 7th guys.

But there's a HUGE difference in taking a bench role for one of the worst teams in the league with only unproven guys behind him vs. one of the best... or even for a playoff team.

Agreed Abe. But I hope he realizes he would get much more playing time here and can somehow envision this team's potential (I'm having a hard time myself but I'm trying)