Former Wolves Thread

[Monster]

Just as we all predicted, Jaylen Nowell outscored Kyrie Irving 19-10 (8 for 14 shooting) to lead Memphis to a 16-point win in Dallas .

Basically he has had 2 good games and one bad one where he missed all 6 of his shots which brings down his overall shooting percentages for the season. Maybe he will learn how to be a bench scorer from Derrick Rose.

Meanwhile let’s talk about Wolves summer league legend Jacob Gilyard. Did you forget he even played for them? That’s fair it was only 5 games and less than 50 total minutes and the numbers weren’t good. It looks like he has had a nice season for Memphis this year and I thought he was solid in the game against the Wolves.

[kekgeek]

Culver wins G League player of the week. Averaging 33 and 8. Good for him

[Carlos Danger]

Culver wins G League player of the week. Averaging 33 and 8. Good for him

Wow. He's not even 25 yet. Crazy. The G League is such a great addition to the game. Hopefully it leads to him earning another shot down the road.

[Carlos Danger]

Two nuggets to share:

1.) Nathan Knight was released:
https://www.si.com/fannation/nba/fastbr ... ht-tuesday

2.) Andrew Wiggins was benched:
https://warriorswire.usatoday.com/2023/ ... suns-loss/

I thought Knight was a very good end of bench player (cheap and productive when used).

Regarding Wiggins...he's been back sliding since his All Star season and is currently a sizable negative VORP (-0.8).

[FNG]

Two nuggets to share:

1.) Nathan Knight was released:
https://www.si.com/fannation/nba/fastbr ... ht-tuesday

2.) Andrew Wiggins was benched:
https://warriorswire.usatoday.com/2023/ ... suns-loss/

I thought Knight was a very good end of bench player (cheap and productive when used).

Regarding Wiggins...he's been back sliding since his All Star season and is currently a sizable negative VORP (-0.8).

Carlos, I learn a lot about the NBA players by watching them pre-game, at halftime and on the bench (unfortunately not this year, as I haven't been able to go to any games), and I can tell you that Nathan Knight was never a serious NBA player. He looked like an excellent prospect coming out of college, but he looked to me like the poster boy for the "just happy to be here" club. He was generally a clown who seemed to have no interest in working on his game. Teams will continue to take a flyer on him because he is a big guy with some talent, but ultimately they will learn what the TWolves and Celtics learned about him.

But Wiggins...man, what a disastrous season. Except for some impressive rebounding numbers, his numbers across the board are nothing short of terrible...48% TS% and more turnovers than assists, for example, not to mention the negative VORP. But he's still only 26 years old, and unlike Knight, has proven that he can be at least a serviceable NBA player. I look for him to bounce back on whatever team he ends up with after the Warriors elect to clean house.

[Q-is-here]

Two nuggets to share:

1.) Nathan Knight was released:
https://www.si.com/fannation/nba/fastbr ... ht-tuesday

2.) Andrew Wiggins was benched:
https://warriorswire.usatoday.com/2023/ ... suns-loss/

I thought Knight was a very good end of bench player (cheap and productive when used).

Regarding Wiggins...he's been back sliding since his All Star season and is currently a sizable negative VORP (-0.8).

Carlos, I learn a lot about the NBA players by watching them pre-game, at halftime and on the bench (unfortunately not this year, as I haven't been able to go to any games), and I can tell you that Nathan Knight was never a serious NBA player. He looked like an excellent prospect coming out of college, but he looked to me like the poster boy for the "just happy to be here" club. He was generally a clown who seemed to have no interest in working on his game. Teams will continue to take a flyer on him because he is a big guy with some talent, but ultimately they will learn what the TWolves and Celtics learned about him.

But Wiggins...man, what a disastrous season. Except for some impressive rebounding numbers, his numbers across the board are nothing short of terrible...48% TS% and more turnovers than assists, for example, not to mention the negative VORP. But he's still only 26 years old, and unlike Knight, has proven that he can be at least a serviceable NBA player. I look for him to bounce back on whatever team he ends up with after the Warriors elect to clean house.

Wiggins is 28 and still has a few years left on what now looks like a bloated contract. Someone might take a chance on him if they feel they can wake him up out of his slumber, but they better have the kind of culture and coach that can bring the best out of him. I think he could eventually be a very useful bench piece to a contending team in the Jeff Green mold, but that's hard to pull off on his current contract.

[Carlos Danger]

Looks like this guy keeps getting himself in trouble....

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/395 ... nce-charge

[Carlos Danger]

I like to keep track of the guys we let loose. Not that I root against them, but I do hope the Wolves make the right decisions on who to keep and who to not keep. Here's the guys we moved on from that played minutes last season:

1. Bryn Forbes. Out of basketball (also arrested for assaulting his porn girlfriend)
2. Nathan Knight. Currently on a two way contract with Celtics
3. AJ Lawson. Currently on a two way contract with Mavericks
4. Jaylen Nowell. Currently a Free Agent from what I see but sort of confirms Wolves made right call
5. Taurean Prince. Was starting for LA Lakers, but sat out last game with knee soreness.
6. Austin Rivers. Appears to be a Free Agent.
7. DLO. Starting PG for LA Lakers. Will be interesting to monitor that team with DLO/Prince starting.
8. Matt Ryan. Signed a two way contract with Pelicans

So there you have it. Of the eight guys:
* Three guys are out of the league (Forbes, Nowell and Rivers)
* Three guys are on two way deals (Knight, Lawson, Ryan)
* Two guys are starting (DLO and Prince)

To me, the only surprise in Nowell who played a lot of minutes for us last year including the playoffs. The rest of the guys were and still are bottom of the roster guys with the exception of DLO/Prince. I guess it's a bit of a surprise to see both of them starting, but we'll see how that plays out long term as it wouldn't shock me if one or both are eventually moved to bench.

Overall, I don't see any regrets from the guys we moved on from. I was a Nowell fan, but I'm sure glad they didn't over pay to keep him. I do think he'll get another shot somewhere eventually.

I'm quoting myself from the start of the season to update all the guys we dropped from last year's team. I'll show their YTD VORP which probably won't change much with the season running down. Did we drop any big producers? Let's recap (anything in parenthesis means negative):

1. Bryn Forbes. 0.0 VORP. Did not play this season.
2. Nathan Knight. 0.0 VORP. Didn't log a minute in the NBA this season. Waived by Celtics in Dec.
3. AJ Lawson. (0.1) VORP. Logged 252 minutes with Mavericks
4. Jaylen Nowell. (0.2) VORP. Logged 156 minutes with the Griz. Currently a Free Agent again.
5. Taurean Prince. (0.4) VORP. Mostly starting for LA Lakers. Advanced stats are not his friend.
6. Austin Rivers. 0.0 VORP. Did not play this season.
7. DLO. 1.7 VORP. Starting PG for LA Lakers. .
8. Matt Ryan. 0.0 VORP. Logged 363 minutes with Pelicans

So there you have it. Everyone we let go was a zero or negative VORP with the exception of DLO. Nobody on the list is making us feel any regrets. DLO is have an OK year - not great, but he is an asset. But we obviously don't regret the trade considering our success with Conley and NAW (plus picks).

[Carlos Danger]

I didn't realize Nowell was back in the big leagues. Looks like he played well so far (albeit for the terrible Pistons)

https://www.si.com/college/washington/N ... th-Pistons