I agree Drew. In my opinion, he is basically a better version of Austin Rivers - low usage defensive guard that can hit some 3's and make some plays off the bounce. Should be our 8th or 9th man next season and in the regular season rotation.
I’ll add my one cent to the bring back NAW sentiment. I liked him coming out of college. I soured on him after he came to the NBA. I’ve gone back and forth on him since he arrive in Minnesota. But after watching him since he’s been here, especially down the stretch and in the playoffs, I’m convinced the Wolves should retain him. There’s no doubt he’s a really good on-ball defender. He’s also a high IQ player on both sides of the ball. He’s a very good ballhandler with a pretty good knack for dribble drive scoring even though he’s not particularly athletic. I like that he can play both guard positions. And again, I love his defense. His perimeter shot comes and goes, but he can be very good from behind the arc in stretches. If he can develop into a consistent three-point shooter, which is possible at his age, he will be a terrific 3 and D rotation player for the Wolves.
The Wolves should sign him to a multi-year deal. I think he likes it here and sees a significant opportunity for himself with this team. So I think the Wolves can sign him to something like a 3-year deal at $4 million per year ($12M total). I’d do that deal if I were TC.
How many times have we wished for this over the years? After a gazillion tries, we may have finally found someone like this in Jaden McDaniels and he still has runway to grow further. But man, have we struggled more than any franchise in the NBA to find or develop these types of players, which makes me think NAW's 3-pointer will probably start to go down hill if he signs with us!
Another way to think of NAW is Josh Okogie with more value added on offense. Idk if NAW is as good of a defender as Okogie but the likelihood of him hitting a 3 is simply much higher. Okogie turned in his first season shooting over 30% from 3 this year. NAW has had one season he has shot under 34% from and that was 31% which is better than every year of Okogie’s career until this season. In addition NAW can actually play as a combo guard.
One thing it will be interesting to see if he is brought back is that NAW drastically cut down his TOs as a Wolf. His assists were down too but the Turnovers went down drastically and he still had some playmaking/PG duties. Okogie is a better rebounder but NAW has been more of a threat to score in his career too although it’s been more inefficient than Okogie.
That’s a good way to look at it, Monster. A more efficient Okogie sounds pretty good to me. Ill at that although Okogie is a better rebounder, NAW is a much better ball-handler and higher IQ player. NAW can play some PG.
I’ll add my one cent to the bring back NAW sentiment. I liked him coming out of college. I soured on him after he came to the NBA. I’ve gone back and forth on him since he arrive in Minnesota. But after watching him since he’s been here, especially down the stretch and in the playoffs, I’m convinced the Wolves should retain him. There’s no doubt he’s a really good on-ball defender. He’s also a high IQ player on both sides of the ball. He’s a very good ballhandler with a pretty good knack for dribble drive scoring even though he’s not particularly athletic. I like that he can play both guard positions. And again, I love his defense. His perimeter shot comes and goes, but he can be very good from behind the arc in stretches. If he can develop into a consistent three-point shooter, which is possible at his age, he will be a terrific 3 and D rotation player for the Wolves.
The Wolves should sign him to a multi-year deal. I think he likes it here and sees a significant opportunity for himself with this team. So I think the Wolves can sign him to something like a 3-year deal at $4 million per year ($12M total). I’d do that deal if I were TC.
How many times have we wished for this over the years? After a gazillion tries, we may have finally found someone like this in Jaden McDaniels and he still has runway to grow further. But man, have we struggled more than any franchise in the NBA to find or develop these types of players, which makes me think NAW's 3-pointer will probably start to go down hill if he signs with us!
Another way to think of NAW is Josh Okogie with more value added on offense. Idk if NAW is as good of a defender as Okogie but the likelihood of him hitting a 3 is simply much higher. Okogie turned in his first season shooting over 30% from 3 this year. NAW has had one season he has shot under 34% from and that was 31% which is better than every year of Okogie’s career until this season. In addition NAW can actually play as a combo guard.
One thing it will be interesting to see if he is brought back is that NAW drastically cut down his TOs as a Wolf. His assists were down too but the Turnovers went down drastically and he still had some playmaking/PG duties. Okogie is a better rebounder but NAW has been more of a threat to score in his career too although it’s been more inefficient than Okogie.
Okogie is actually a great comp for NAW. I thought NAW was much younger, but he's only one day younger than Okogie. I wouldn't necessarily say NAW is more inefficient than Okogie. NAW's effective Field Goal Percentage is 48.1% vs Okogie's 46.3% as NAW makes more threes. Now, as for True Shooting Percentage, Okogie gets edge because he goes to the line a lot more than NAW.
How many times have we wished for this over the years? After a gazillion tries, we may have finally found someone like this in Jaden McDaniels and he still has runway to grow further. But man, have we struggled more than any franchise in the NBA to find or develop these types of players, which makes me think NAW's 3-pointer will probably start to go down hill if he signs with us!
Another way to think of NAW is Josh Okogie with more value added on offense. Idk if NAW is as good of a defender as Okogie but the likelihood of him hitting a 3 is simply much higher. Okogie turned in his first season shooting over 30% from 3 this year. NAW has had one season he has shot under 34% from and that was 31% which is better than every year of Okogie’s career until this season. In addition NAW can actually play as a combo guard.
One thing it will be interesting to see if he is brought back is that NAW drastically cut down his TOs as a Wolf. His assists were down too but the Turnovers went down drastically and he still had some playmaking/PG duties. Okogie is a better rebounder but NAW has been more of a threat to score in his career too although it’s been more inefficient than Okogie.
Okogie is actually a great comp for NAW. I thought NAW was much younger, but he's only one day younger than Okogie. I wouldn't necessarily say NAW is more inefficient than Okogie. NAW's effective Field Goal Percentage is 48.1% vs Okogie's 46.3% as NAW makes more threes. Now, as for True Shooting Percentage, Okogie gets edge because he goes to the line a lot more than NAW.
They are comparable in that both are role players and somewhat offensively limited, but NAW has way more guard-skills and Okogie is more of a SF/PF type....closer to Jae Crowder without the 3-point shot.
Speaking of Jae Crowder....could he be a fit for us? Probably should start another thread on potential offseason targets that don't involve a KAT or Rudy trade.
I think a somewhat realistic comp to hope for interns of what NAW could become is a Bruce Brown type guy although they are different in their shot profile. Brown has become good shooting from 2 and NAW is much more of a volume 3 point guy. Brown is a valuable guy that defends multiple positions while being able to play minutes at PG. I believe Brown is sort of Denver’s version of what the Wolves had this year in Anderson in terms of versatile impact on both ends of the ball. It feels like that’s almost a lot to hope for but also doesn’t feel completely out of the realm of possibly.
Meanwhile Bruce brown has a player option for a little over 6 million. I wonder what he will be able to get on the open market.
Love how many guys on our team play defense with this kind of intensity too.
Anybody else notice how our defensive rating is so good at home? The fans are really letting our guys hear it on defense, and it seems like it's motivating them even more. Love that too.
He has been pretty valuable this season. It’s interesting how much he is utilized as a PG. will he be a guy that breaks down a defense regularly and make tons of plays in that way? No but he does what is needed plus he can make 3’s and play excellent defense and guard 1-3.
You bring up an excellent point about the defensive perimeter players. Troy brown is at the very least solid on that end plus he is a big plus on the boards when he is in there. The Wolves are a team that has a bunch of guys that play hard and are not small. Earlier in this thread I mentioned Josh Okogie. Connelly spent very little money in FA on NAW and Brown. Okogie is likely a better defender than Brown but Brown is a better shooter and has more size. I saw Brown as the guy kinda replacing Prince and so far that looks solid too. He is a better defender way better rebounder and offensively in limited minutes he has actually been Better than Prince this season but Prince will probably heat up from 3 for the season. Being able to add these types of function players is a big deal.
Carlos is right. We should have a thread about this guy!
Seriously, I love watching him play. I've always love high-energy defensive guys. Really crucial to have on-ball defenders like this too, especially in the playoffs.
SameOldNudityDrew wrote: ↑Tue Mar 19, 2024 2:45 pm
Carlos is right. We should have a thread about this guy!
Seriously, I love watching him play. I've always love high-energy defensive guys. Really crucial to have on-ball defenders like this too, especially in the playoffs.
Whoopsie! I'm going to have to go through and re-read this one tonight. Hopefully I didn't write anything that looks too foolish back then. He just seems to be getting better as this year progresses. Sometimes it's all about "fit" and his game fits our team perfectly.
