Wolves Second Unit

[Lipoli390]

A big reason for the Wolves success last season was the team’s depth. I don’t think there’s another team in the League that had a second unit as good as Naz, NAW and Slo Mo. We were a bit weak at the PG position off the bench with JMac, Milton and Morris who was a shadow of his former self. I liked what we saw from Luka Garza, but his minutes were pretty limited.

Slo Mo’s departure is a significant loss. But I see next season’s bench being better than last season’s, at least by the end of next season. I expect Naz will be even better based on his age and improvement trajectory to date. NAW is at a point in his career development where he will also likely improve at least a little. Slo Mo is gone, but enter Joe Ingles - a 40% 3-point shooter with an equally high basketball IQ. Add to that an infusion of young talent in Dilly and TSJ. Maybe Minott, Miller or Clark takes a big leap heading into next season.

Imagine the following second unit: Naz, NAW, Dilly, TSJ and Luka Garza. Or maybe Ingles slots in there instead of TSJ or NAW depending on the situation and matchups. Maybe Minott instead of TSJ. Not bad. And probably fun to watch. Of course, we’ll likely never see all those players together as Finch will limit the rotation and rotate bench guys in with starters. But that’s a pretty impressive bench.

[kekgeek]

I actually think Dozier is more likely to get minutes instead of Minott. The underrated thing we lost with Slow Mo is a "big" wing defender. The Wolves really don't have beef on the wings anymore and I could see Dozier playing spot minutes in that role based on matchup (I hope TSJ takes those minutes).

Bench should be solid, offensively they should be better, defensively I am expecting a step back.

[Monster]

When it comes to the PG off the bench it was almost like a tale of 2 seasons. Earlier in the year it was a massive problem which was discussed here a ton and rightfully so. Anderson in his usual role was turning the ball over at a gross rate for him, Milton really struggled and McLaughlin didn't get many with 19 minutes his first 2 months I don't remember if he was healthy that whole time. It's not hard to see why he may be looking at other opportunities. Once it hit 2024 (including a little more run in December) he started to get minutes he was plenty effective. After being acquired Morris wasn't looking awesome out there but he was still somewhat effective especially hitting his 3's. His defense was better than I expected. Kyle Anderson after a rough start was one of the best in terms of assist/turnover guys in the league for the last few months. Naw also played reasonably well in that role probably better than earlier in the season.

So what at one point was a big problem was sort of a strength. That was less so in the playoffs although some of the guys that made it a strength were rarely called upon which is something to question. When he did play Morris did struggle shooting the 3 which is one of the biggest strengths he has as a player.

This year we swapped out Anderson for Ingles which I think is pretty even in terms of playmaking. Ingles can play as a PG also. The only downgrade there is that Anderson is a guy that is more likely to play more minutes if needed every night. Probably one of the things that increased Anderson's value this year a bit was how healthy he was. Wolves replaced Shake with Dillingham...and one of the actual backup PGs Morris or McLaughlin. The question most are asking is are the Wolves going to add another guy to replace McLaughlin as a real 3rd PG guy? I'm higher on Dozier than a lot of folks and I believe he can play some as a PG. Obviously if you play him as a PG he is likely going to give you a legit defensive asset there which is worth considering. However it still leaves the Wolves with basically Conley and Ingles as proven high level passing offense running guys. It seems to me that Dillingham did more in that regard in college than I think he gets credit for but it's usually a hard spot to do as a rookie especially if called on for more than bench minutes. Edwards taking a step forward in these areas helps but it's also nice when he doesn't have to do everything. The off-season is't over yet so there could still be a move made.

There are a lot of of unknowns for this bench which is a bit scary. There are also some guys with upside and talent. Connelly is taking a gamble summer league will have some signs to see if that will pay off.

[FNG]

The second unit is a mystery right now, and I think it may be substantially different the second half of the season compared to the first. I listened to an interview with Tom Crean on Barreiro yesterday. Crean coached against both Rob and TJ, and had a lot of positive comments to say about both. Bur he also said that he didn't expect them to be part of the rotation right away. (Note that TC and Finchie have both said that both rookies will play this season, but they didn't say when). On the other hand Jaylen Clark has the advantage of watching NBA basketball (and practices) for a full season, and while he hasn't played, that might make him a little more NBA-ready than our other rookies. Plus Finchie loves defense, and Clark was widely considered the best perimeter defender in the draft- able to defend 1-3 with a smothering defense. For that reason and based on Crean's comments, I think Clark may get more rotation minutes early in the season than Rob and TJ. I also think Finchie will be eager to give Ingles 15-20 minutes to get his 40% 3-point shooting into the rotation.

So, we know who the starting 5 will be, so the issue is who will be the top 4 reserves assuming Finchie will favor a 9-man rotation. I think it will be Naz, NAW, Ingles and Clark at the start of the season. None of those 4 is a natural PG, so we'll have to see if Finchie employs Clark as a PG, or if he prefers NAW backing up Conley like we saw in the playoffs. While I think those 9 will be the primary rotation players early in the season, Finchie is going to want to see the two rookies contribute a lot by the end of season. So he will be watching them closely in practice and SL, and look for opportunities to give them low-leverage minutes right from the start.

What do I want? Well, I want to be pleasantly surprised by Rob and TJ right from the start, and I want Clark to show the same kind of motor and defensive disruption he showed in college. But I think our expectations need to be realistic. Rob is only 19, very small, and comes in with a reputation of not being an adequate defender. TJ was a dominant player his senior year, but we can't lose sight of the fact he was playing against guys who were sometimes 4-5 years younger...playing against guys his same age and older is going to be a challenge for him at first. And Clark needs to show that he can make a jump shot, or he is going to be as much of a liability on the offensive side of the ball as Rob is on defense. So, I'm comfortable with NAW, Joe and Naz off the bench right from the start, and will be hoping for the other three to develop quickly.

[rapsuperstar31]

I think we will keep one of Rudy or Kat in at all times again. Naz comes in Rudy comes out, Kat comes out Rudy comes back in. Clark will start in the G League, Shannon might as well.
2nd unit will be
Dillingham
NAW
Ingles or Shannon
Naz
Kat/Rudy

We may go small ball on occasion with Shannon playing the 4, maybe Garza or Miller but I'm not going to pencil them in just yet.

[Lipoli390]

The second unit is a mystery right now, and I think it may be substantially different the second half of the season compared to the first. I listened to an interview with Tom Crean on Barreiro yesterday. Crean coached against both Rob and TJ, and had a lot of positive comments to say about both. Bur he also said that he didn't expect them to be part of the rotation right away. (Note that TC and Finchie have both said that both rookies will play this season, but they didn't say when). On the other hand Jaylen Clark has the advantage of watching NBA basketball (and practices) for a full season, and while he hasn't played, that might make him a little more NBA-ready than our other rookies. Plus Finchie loves defense, and Clark was widely considered the best perimeter defender in the draft- able to defend 1-3 with a smothering defense. For that reason and based on Crean's comments, I think Clark may get more rotation minutes early in the season than Rob and TJ. I also think Finchie will be eager to give Ingles 15-20 minutes to get his 40% 3-point shooting into the rotation.

So, we know who the starting 5 will be, so the issue is who will be the top 4 reserves assuming Finchie will favor a 9-man rotation. I think it will be Naz, NAW, Ingles and Clark at the start of the season. None of those 4 is a natural PG, so we'll have to see if Finchie employs Clark as a PG, or if he prefers NAW backing up Conley like we saw in the playoffs. While I think those 9 will be the primary rotation players early in the season, Finchie is going to want to see the two rookies contribute a lot by the end of season. So he will be watching them closely in practice and SL, and look for opportunities to give them low-leverage minutes right from the start.

What do I want? Well, I want to be pleasantly surprised by Rob and TJ right from the start, and I want Clark to show the same kind of motor and defensive disruption he showed in college. But I think our expectations need to be realistic. Rob is only 19, very small, and comes in with a reputation of not being an adequate defender. TJ was a dominant player his senior year, but we can't lose sight of the fact he was playing against guys who were sometimes 4-5 years younger...playing against guys his same age and older is going to be a challenge for him at first. And Clark needs to show that he can make a jump shot, or he is going to be as much of a liability on the offensive side of the ball as Rob is on defense. So, I'm comfortable with NAW, Joe and Naz off the bench right from the start, and will be hoping for the other three to develop quickly.

Good analysis, FNG. I think you’re spot on about the rotation looking different later in the season than it looks initially. I also agree the only sure rotation guys off the bench early season will be Naz, NAW, and Ingles.

I think Dilly will be unplayable the first half of the season if not longer. He wasn’t just a bad defender in college. He was terrible. Coming in as a 19 year old at 165 lbs with a track record of poor defense and an unimpressive finishing percentage at the rim, I see a guy we’ll have to wait on. I still love his upside, but I think we have a real backup PG problem this season.

[Phenom]

Devonte Graham should be hitting the market after the Spurs traded him to Charlotte. He is expected to be waived. Could be an option here.

[Monster]

Right now I predict Dillingham will play more in November than Clark will play all season. Clark is also coming off a significant injury. It helps that he isn't going to be on the floor for his offense which takes longer to find coming off a big injury but still plenty of guys take time to get back to themselves after a significant injury. We saw that a couple times with Rubio. Clark will get a number of games in Iowa he hasn't played an official basketball game in well over a year.

TSJ is likely ahead of Clark at this point because his defense isn't too far behind Clark and his offense is likely much better plus he is bigger. If Dillingham isn't playing much...that's a bad sign unless someone is really ballin in front of him. We have seen the Wolves continue to feed minutes to guys they slated to have a significant role at guard including Nowell and Shake Milton. Hopefully Dilly succeeds and the fact that he was a top 10 draft pick does seem to make it more likely. Let's also remember he averaged almost 4 assists a game at UK in less than 24 mins. He isn't some scoring guy we hope can maybe pass.

[TheFuture]

Devonte Graham should be hitting the market after the Spurs traded him to Charlotte. He is expected to be waived. Could be an option here.

Yeah, Graham would be pretty good insurance as a backup PG. Sat on the bench in SA all year and never complained. So if Dillingham proves he can handle the backup duties, then I doubt he'd cause a rift.

Another guy out there that will probably get a longer-term deal, but worth keeping an eye on is Haywood Highsmith. 6'6 220 with a 7 foot wingspan. If other places fill up and he'd want to play on the vet. minimum until next offseason then I'd be all over it.

[Lipoli390]

Right now I predict Dillingham will play more in November than Clark will play all season. Clark is also coming off a significant injury. It helps that he isn't going to be on the floor for his offense which takes longer to find coming off a big injury but still plenty of guys take time to get back to themselves after a significant injury. We saw that a couple times with Rubio. Clark will get a number of games in Iowa he hasn't played an official basketball game in well over a year.

TSJ is likely ahead of Clark at this point because his defense isn't too far behind Clark and his offense is likely much better plus he is bigger. If Dillingham isn't playing much...that's a bad sign unless someone is really ballin in front of him. We have seen the Wolves continue to feed minutes to guys they slated to have a significant role at guard including Nowell and Shake Milton. Hopefully Dilly succeeds and the fact that he was a top 10 draft pick does seem to make it more likely. Let's also remember he averaged almost 4 assists a game at UK in less than 24 mins. He isn't some scoring guy we hope can maybe pass.

I think you’re probably right Monster. TC has been pretty clear that, until Dilly proves unworthy, they’ll feel compelled to play him after moving so aggressively all the weight to #8 to get him. Great point about the precedent of playing Shake and Newton until they just couldn’t play them anymore.