Wiggins by Month

[AbeVigodaLive]

Just imagine the furor if he was getting only 14 minutes per night from the get-go. Taylor is a businessman... would there even be 5,000 fans in the arena? Yes, Wiggins is one of the better players so he gets 30+ minutes. My contention was that the Wolves wouldn't have much choice either way. They had to play Wiggins big minutes if they wanted to keep The Promise of Hope alive in the Twin Cities.

Right now, that's all we have. Go Andrew Wiggins.

Wiggins playing 25 minutes vs. 30+ is not a marketing strategy or improving the fan base. It's merit based playing time. Is Wiggins awesome right now and the best player in the world? Nope. But this is a crappy, injury filled team right now and Wiggins is one of their best options - that's why he plays. LaVine is also a #1 pick and an exciting guy fans want to see. But he doesn't get as many minutes as Wiggins because he hasn't been as effective. And that's even with him being one of only two PGs right now.

I'm not disagreeing with you about Wiggins being deserving of 30+ minutes per night right now.

I'm simply saying that if he was only getting 15 mpg no matter how poorly he was playing... this situation would be a lot worse. The Wolves had no choice but to play him this season if they wanted to pull off The Promise of Hope campaign.

Right now, he's the reason why The Promise of Hope is still working.

[mjs34]

If he was playing poorly, giving him more minutes would be accomplishing the opposite. It would be shooting "The Promise of Hope" in the foot by exposing him.

[AbeVigodaLive]

If he was playing poorly, giving him more minutes would be accomplishing the opposite. It would be shooting "The Promise of Hope" in the foot by exposing him.

Not necessarily. You can always sell "he needs time, so we're giving him action." To say he's not even good enough to see the court but we're asking all of you to believe in us... after we keep telling you he's our future and when you know of him as one of the most touted prospects since LeBron James... that's dangerous.

Wiggins was going to get decent time no matter what this season. Right now, he's earning it more often than not. That's good. And, it's the primary reason why people are still interested in the team.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Q, it seems like other than Wiggins and Bazz, our whole team has fallen in love with that shot. How about Flip put in the 5% of his offense that doesn't have our guys running away from the basket for long two's.

Wiggins settles for that shot a lot too. Not sure why you excluded him from that.

[TheGrey08]

I don't think you trade Martin unless you get a long-term piece back like a first round pick. Otherwise trading him for any backup that isn't a young guy who could become a starter with more development time or a second round pick is a bad trade in my opinion. We can cut Bud's minutes and roll with Martin/Bazz/Wiggins at the wings. First round pick or young guy who could develop into a starter would be my limit. Anything less and it isn't worth it in my opinion.

Wow. Khans and I actually agree here. Maybe we'll see more of this in 2015.

Agree, but I also don't want to see Martin getting 35 min or anything close to that either.

[TheGrey08]

Wiggins playing 25 minutes vs. 30+ is not a marketing strategy or improving the fan base. It's merit based playing time. Is Wiggins awesome right now and the best player in the world? Nope. But this is a crappy, injury filled team right now and Wiggins is one of their best options - that's why he plays. LaVine is also a #1 pick and an exciting guy fans want to see. But he doesn't get as many minutes as Wiggins because he hasn't been as effective. And that's even with him being one of only two PGs right now.

He's also going against a vet PG who was brought in this year. If Mo was 5+ years younger and making the mistakes he's made I bet Lavine would get a little more run, but Mo is the old trust vet unfortunately.

I really do worry how a healthy Martin effects the development of LaVine. I hope we can figure out a way to move him for a promising young big. I would love to see us Josh Smith have a hot couple months and us trade Martin for Terrence Jones and fillers (Jason Terry).

I'm with you on this Bleed. I would love to see LaVine at SG with Rubio running the point.

Agreed on both and Lavine is definitely going to get run at SG with Rubio based on Flip's comments.

[Carlos Danger]

Ugh, the D-League is a perfectly viable alternative for LaVine to get playing time and develop. Plenty of other teams utilize this venue for developing young talent that are "stuck" behind veterans. Look at how effective Corey Joseph has been this season after getting very few minutes with the Spurs in his first couple of years, but plenty of reps in the D-League. Jeremy Lamb with OKC is another example.

LaVine has fallen in love with that pull-up contested long 2-point shot. It's probably the worst shot in basketball. Defenses love, love, love it when opposing players take that shot. It's great that LaVine has that in his arsenal, as certainly there are times when the shot clock is winding down that it will come in handy. But he's made it his bread and butter. Driving to the hoop needs to be his focus. Perhaps he can develop that part of his game in the D-League.

I think each situation is different. We've won 5 and lost 26. Playing LaVine to see what we have isn't going to kill our playoff hopes. I'm not sure what advantage there would be to LaVine going to the D-league at this point. I would think it would be far better for him to be with the team so he:

* Gets instruction from our coaches
* Practices and plays with our players
* Keeps getting experience running our offense/defense
* Gets experience playing against NBA players

While LaVine hasn't been great as a PG so far, I think the experience has been very good for him. He looks a little more comfortable out there and I believe he will look even better when he can play off the ball with a guy like Rubio.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Carlos, Certainly right now it makes sense for LaVine to be in the rotation. But once Rubio and Martin get back, then what? That would be a good time to put him down in the D-League. We don't have to trade anyone and he can still develop through that route.

(by they way, if Troy Daniels keeps up what he did last night - including what appeared to be some nice hustle on defense - than we may have yet another guard that deserves playing time ahead of LaVine).

[TheGrey08]

Carlos, Certainly right now it makes sense for LaVine to be in the rotation. But once Rubio and Martin get back, then what? That would be a good time to put him down in the D-League. We don't have to trade anyone and he can still develop through that route.

(by they way, if Troy Daniels keeps up what he did last night - including what appeared to be some nice hustle on defense - than we may have yet another guard that deserves playing time ahead of LaVine).

Early in the season or if injuries to Rubio & Martin hadn't happened then that might make sense. As it stands now, I don't see how D league would help him at all and might even hinder things. Carlos made some good points and I agree with him that Lavine should stay with the team. Plus we need chemistry building and sending him hurts that.

Flip has made comments about Lavine playing with Rubio on the court. He's going to get some run at SG. If anything, unload Mo after Rubio is fully back. I'd have no problem running with Rubio/Lavine/Daniels the rest of the season. Martin doesn't really need more than 25 min either.

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

Grey, the team needs three point guards, so Mo isn't going anywhere and he will be Rubio's primary backup once Ricky returns to the starting lineup. We absolutely do not want Troy Daniels running PG for us, so that leaves LaVine as our 3rd string "emergency" PG.

I suppose it would be tough to be sent down there after all the PT he's received in the big leagues, But again, other players in the past have toggled between the D-league and NBA within a season and it's worked out fine.