I wonder about gradings sometimes especially when you play for a great defense. Tyus in Memphis was probably pretty good. I don't know about his Washingtons numbers but I bet they weren't as good, as a guess. Like when you are on a good to great defensive team it's probably easier to play good to great defense, likewise the other way. Hard to play good to great defense when the team sucks.Monster wrote: ↑Wed Jul 31, 2024 7:16 amYep I agree Tyus isn't a guy that's is gonna get you buckets that was the point I was making too.Wolvesfan21 wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2024 7:47 pmIs Tyus really a bucket getter? Sure he can score but it's relatively a low bar. I'm a Tyus fan too, but I don't see him as a long term starter really on a championship team. His defense is also an issue as he's small and not very quick, not that Dillys isn't small either. Both would be, will be, picked on in the playoffs more then likely.Monster wrote: ↑Sun Jul 28, 2024 12:25 pm
The Wolves are 17 million over the 2nd apron so I believe that even if they signed Conley to just the vet min and didn't trade up and draft Dillingham they wouldn't have been able to offer Tyus any more money. In addition if they don't trade up to draft Dillingham they probably draft someone at #37 and don't dump Moore's contract which isn't a big chunk of money over a vet min but that would be more towards keeping them there. The only way to get Tyus for more money than the vet min was a sign and trade. In addition it was pretty clear the Wolves would have drafted some sort of PG prospect. They may not have been so eager to play that guy right away as Dillingham. In that case maybe they end up signing Morris back and possibly for more than the vet min. Speaking of Morris he went to the Suns likely partly due to having a chance to be a starter. Now he is likely gonna be a backup again. Kinda sucks for him.
I'll add this...while I love Tyus Jones and getting him for nothing would have been a heck of an outcome I'm not sure he would have been the answer long term at PG either. The Wolves did need another bucket getter. Could they have found that somewhere else other than trading up for Dillingham? Yes that's possible (nobody here thought Tyus was gonna sign for the vet min) but there is risk in not making a move sooner rather than later. If I was running a team I know one of the issues I would have is being too willing to wait and see what happens. I would probably get some great deals in FA but I may miss out on some good opportunities for higher quality players sometimes. Connelly basically went all in on Dillingham. If he turns out to be the player they hope he is (even if it's not right away) then it will be a genius move. We will see.
I'm kind of looking at Dilly as a boom or bust type of player each night. He might light it up with scoring and assists off the bench, he could also give up a bunch on defense. Lets hope he can at least be passable on defense by mid season. But the long term upside for sure goes to Dilly. He's got All Star offensive potential.
Defensively Tyus has graded out as a good defender much of his career. He is a pretty strong guy too. Just because you are small doesn't mean you can't be a good defender. Fred Van Vliet is an excellent defender and he is smaller than Tyus. Pat Beverly isn't a big guy at all and was a heck of a defensive guard for quite a while. I wouldn't be worried about defense if Tyus was the starting PG...assuming father time didn't affect him on D which I don't think is a huge concern he doesn't rely on wild athletic abilities on either end.
For fun I looked up some stuff on Pat Beverly when he was younger. Video and pics from when he was in HS is arms look like twigs. He wasn't a big strong looking guy in college either from what I can tell. Even early pics of him playing for Houston he wasn't a big looking dude and he was into his mid 24 by then. Sure he has a 6'7" wingspan which helps but that was a guy that played a lot as a SG. Physical characteristics are obviously better to have than not but it's not everything. Beverly is obviously more of the exception to the rule as is FVV but it also shows there shouldn't be an excuse for a guy not to be able to play D just because they are small. Some guys just have a knack on that end just like some guys are simply better on offense.
There are also players that end up transforming themselves into top defenders that was somewhat unexpected. Dennis Smith Jr came in as a guy with offensive upside and now his calling card is defense. McDaniels wasn't considered a high level defender in college and that's his thing now. NAW's is an excellent defender. There are a number of guys that went from top scorers in college to carving out a long NBA career because they played D. Sure some of that is some of those guy don't/didn't have to do much on offense but still.
I think that a rising tide may raise Dillys ability or will to simply play defense. Watching his college games he was a turnstile. Just no resistence at the point of attack. Like you said, some guys become good defenders. I highly doubt that will be his calling card, probably a 1/100 odds he is better defensively then on offense. I just hope he is passable. I saw some grading that he was in the one percentile of defenders in the draft, meaning the worst out of 100.
