Around the League - '24-25 Season

[Monster]

Aaron Gordon agrees to a 4 year 133 million extension with the nuggets. I wonder if that’s the kind of money Randle will expect or will he be pushing for significantly more.

[Q-is-here]

Aaron Gordon agrees to a 4 year 133 million extension with the nuggets. I wonder if that’s the kind of money Randle will expect or will he be pushing for significantly more.

The whole Randle situation is quite fascinating.

There are two schools of thought in terms of what's in his and his agent's best interest. One is to be the Knicks version of Randle, which is the clear cut #2 option behind Ant that gets his 35 MPG and 18-20 shots per night. The problem is that is probably not in the best interest of the Wolves, who have enough talent that the shot and minutes distribution after Ant should be spread around more, especially with the reigning 6th man of the year playing the same position as Randle!

The other is to try to assimilate into the Wolves and sacrifice his shots and minutes for the greater goal of another deep playoff run. That might even mean sitting during crunch time occasionally and doing so without complaint. This may mean he averages closer to 30 MPG and 15-16 shots.

One would think the latter scenario would hurt his value in the open market, but I'm not so sure. No GM worth his salt thinks Julius Randle is a guy you can build around and is deserving of a massive deal. He's sort of stuck in that DeMar DeRozan archetype - can use a lot of possessions and score a bunch of points, but simply can't move the needle much on his own as a #1 guy.

That brings me back to Aaron Gordon. Would Randle be better off being a super duper role player that, yes, can get you 25 points when you really need it, but more importantly figures out ways to contribute to a deep playoff run through doing other things really well - defense, play making, rebounding, screen setting, etc.). That in turn may yield him a bigger contract than simply being the high usage/scoring version of Julius Randle.

[Monster]

Aaron Gordon agrees to a 4 year 133 million extension with the nuggets. I wonder if that’s the kind of money Randle will expect or will he be pushing for significantly more.

The whole Randle situation is quite fascinating.

There are two schools of thought in terms of what's in his and his agent's best interest. One is to be the Knicks version of Randle, which is the clear cut #2 option behind Ant that gets his 35 MPG and 18-20 shots per night. The problem is that is probably not in the best interest of the Wolves, who have enough talent that the shot and minutes distribution after Ant should be spread around more, especially with the reigning 6th man of the year playing the same position as Randle!

The other is to try to assimilate into the Wolves and sacrifice his shots and minutes for the greater goal of another deep playoff run. That might even mean sitting during crunch time occasionally and doing so without complaint. This may mean he averages closer to 30 MPG and 15-16 shots.

One would think the latter scenario would hurt his value in the open market, but I'm not so sure. No GM worth his salt thinks Julius Randle is a guy you can build around and is deserving of a massive deal. He's sort of stuck in that DeMar DeRozan archetype - can use a lot of possessions and score a bunch of points, but simply can't move the needle much on his own as a #1 guy.

That brings me back to Aaron Gordon. Would Randle be better off being a super duper role player that, yes, can get you 25 points when you really need it, but more importantly figures out ways to contribute to a deep playoff run through doing other things really well - defense, play making, rebounding, screen setting, etc.). That in turn may yield him a bigger contract than simply being the high usage/scoring version of Julius Randle.

Yeah it's interesting. Randle said he is all about winning. I think another question is how much is he capable of being more of a do some of those other things that Aaron Gordon does? I think he has some of the same playmaking but I haven't watched enough to know about the other stuff. Randle is a good rebounder and that is an important skill.

That's what brings me back to Russell. To some extent he sacrificed numbers his last season with the Wolves and did the things on offense that most here on this board asked of him. That got him traded and a decent contract from the Lakers. Of course what hurt his contract with the Lakers (or other potential teams) was how he performed in the playoffs. Some argued he got more from the Lakers than he would have anywhere else. I think that's quite possibly true. He has performed well in the regular season and that does matter. Postseason play is one of the concerns about Randle too.

Fortunately the Wolves don't have to make a decision on Randle until they have more data to go off of. It is interesting to see what some other guys get. Like you said Gordon doesn't exactly have that thrilling statistial star power but he has a ton of value and has been getting paid fairly well for it.

[Q-is-here]

Aaron Gordon agrees to a 4 year 133 million extension with the nuggets. I wonder if that’s the kind of money Randle will expect or will he be pushing for significantly more.

The whole Randle situation is quite fascinating.

There are two schools of thought in terms of what's in his and his agent's best interest. One is to be the Knicks version of Randle, which is the clear cut #2 option behind Ant that gets his 35 MPG and 18-20 shots per night. The problem is that is probably not in the best interest of the Wolves, who have enough talent that the shot and minutes distribution after Ant should be spread around more, especially with the reigning 6th man of the year playing the same position as Randle!

The other is to try to assimilate into the Wolves and sacrifice his shots and minutes for the greater goal of another deep playoff run. That might even mean sitting during crunch time occasionally and doing so without complaint. This may mean he averages closer to 30 MPG and 15-16 shots.

One would think the latter scenario would hurt his value in the open market, but I'm not so sure. No GM worth his salt thinks Julius Randle is a guy you can build around and is deserving of a massive deal. He's sort of stuck in that DeMar DeRozan archetype - can use a lot of possessions and score a bunch of points, but simply can't move the needle much on his own as a #1 guy.

That brings me back to Aaron Gordon. Would Randle be better off being a super duper role player that, yes, can get you 25 points when you really need it, but more importantly figures out ways to contribute to a deep playoff run through doing other things really well - defense, play making, rebounding, screen setting, etc.). That in turn may yield him a bigger contract than simply being the high usage/scoring version of Julius Randle.

Yeah it's interesting. Randle said he is all about winning. I think another question is how much is he capable of being more of a do some of those other things that Aaron Gordon does? I think he has some of the same playmaking but I haven't watched enough to know about the other stuff. Randle is a good rebounder and that is an important skill.

That's what brings me back to Russell. To some extent he sacrificed numbers his last season with the Wolves and did the things on offense that most here on this board asked of him. That got him traded and a decent contract from the Lakers. Of course what hurt his contract with the Lakers (or other potential teams) was how he performed in the playoffs. Some argued he got more from the Lakers than he would have anywhere else. I think that's quite possibly true. He has performed well in the regular season and that does matter. Postseason play is one of the concerns about Randle too.

Fortunately the Wolves don't have to make a decision on Randle until they have more data to go off of. It is interesting to see what some other guys get. Like you said Gordon doesn't exactly have that thrilling statistial star power but he has a ton of value and has been getting paid fairly well for it.

Well, I don't think Randle can or should try to morph into Aaron Gordon, but I do think if he has less responsibility as a high usage scorer, he may be able to expend more energy on other things. That could make him more valuable to us than a 25 PPG version and that in turn may actually make him more valuable in the open market.

[Q-is-here]

KAT and the Knicks got off to a pretty bad start against the team they were supposedly built to beat. Holy 3-point parade!

[Lipoli390]

The whole Randle situation is quite fascinating.

There are two schools of thought in terms of what's in his and his agent's best interest. One is to be the Knicks version of Randle, which is the clear cut #2 option behind Ant that gets his 35 MPG and 18-20 shots per night. The problem is that is probably not in the best interest of the Wolves, who have enough talent that the shot and minutes distribution after Ant should be spread around more, especially with the reigning 6th man of the year playing the same position as Randle!

The other is to try to assimilate into the Wolves and sacrifice his shots and minutes for the greater goal of another deep playoff run. That might even mean sitting during crunch time occasionally and doing so without complaint. This may mean he averages closer to 30 MPG and 15-16 shots.

One would think the latter scenario would hurt his value in the open market, but I'm not so sure. No GM worth his salt thinks Julius Randle is a guy you can build around and is deserving of a massive deal. He's sort of stuck in that DeMar DeRozan archetype - can use a lot of possessions and score a bunch of points, but simply can't move the needle much on his own as a #1 guy.

That brings me back to Aaron Gordon. Would Randle be better off being a super duper role player that, yes, can get you 25 points when you really need it, but more importantly figures out ways to contribute to a deep playoff run through doing other things really well - defense, play making, rebounding, screen setting, etc.). That in turn may yield him a bigger contract than simply being the high usage/scoring version of Julius Randle.

Yeah it's interesting. Randle said he is all about winning. I think another question is how much is he capable of being more of a do some of those other things that Aaron Gordon does? I think he has some of the same playmaking but I haven't watched enough to know about the other stuff. Randle is a good rebounder and that is an important skill.

That's what brings me back to Russell. To some extent he sacrificed numbers his last season with the Wolves and did the things on offense that most here on this board asked of him. That got him traded and a decent contract from the Lakers. Of course what hurt his contract with the Lakers (or other potential teams) was how he performed in the playoffs. Some argued he got more from the Lakers than he would have anywhere else. I think that's quite possibly true. He has performed well in the regular season and that does matter. Postseason play is one of the concerns about Randle too.

Fortunately the Wolves don't have to make a decision on Randle until they have more data to go off of. It is interesting to see what some other guys get. Like you said Gordon doesn't exactly have that thrilling statistial star power but he has a ton of value and has been getting paid fairly well for it.

Well, I don't think Randle can or should try to morph into Aaron Gordon, but I do think if he has less responsibility as a high usage scorer, he may be able to expend more energy on other things. That could make him more valuable to us than a 25 PPG version and that in turn may actually make him more valuable in the open market.

Good analysis, guys. I’ve used Draymond Green as a model of sorts for how to best use Randle. Aaron Gordon might be a better comparison, but neither one is close to perfect. Bottom line is that the best thing for the Wolves is to have Randle function more as a role player (as Monster said) - a rebounder, facilitator and enforcer. It may or may not work, but what won’t work it seems to me is having Randle play the role he played with the Knicks as a 20+ per game scorer. The way he gets his points doesn’t fit this Wolves team. I also worry about his defense. He’s not a vertical defender and I’m not sure how quick or agile he is to effectively guard modern PFs.

[Q-is-here]

Yeah it's interesting. Randle said he is all about winning. I think another question is how much is he capable of being more of a do some of those other things that Aaron Gordon does? I think he has some of the same playmaking but I haven't watched enough to know about the other stuff. Randle is a good rebounder and that is an important skill.

That's what brings me back to Russell. To some extent he sacrificed numbers his last season with the Wolves and did the things on offense that most here on this board asked of him. That got him traded and a decent contract from the Lakers. Of course what hurt his contract with the Lakers (or other potential teams) was how he performed in the playoffs. Some argued he got more from the Lakers than he would have anywhere else. I think that's quite possibly true. He has performed well in the regular season and that does matter. Postseason play is one of the concerns about Randle too.

Fortunately the Wolves don't have to make a decision on Randle until they have more data to go off of. It is interesting to see what some other guys get. Like you said Gordon doesn't exactly have that thrilling statistial star power but he has a ton of value and has been getting paid fairly well for it.

Well, I don't think Randle can or should try to morph into Aaron Gordon, but I do think if he has less responsibility as a high usage scorer, he may be able to expend more energy on other things. That could make him more valuable to us than a 25 PPG version and that in turn may actually make him more valuable in the open market.

Good analysis, guys. I’ve used Draymond Green as a model of sorts for how to best use Randle. Aaron Gordon might be a better comparison, but neither one is close to perfect. Bottom line is that the best thing for the Wolves is to have Randle function more as a role player (as Monster said) - a rebounder, facilitator and enforcer. It may or may not work, but what won’t work it seems to me is having Randle play the role he played with the Knicks as a 20+ per game scorer. The way he gets his points doesn’t fit this Wolves team. I also worry about his defense. He’s not a vertical defender and I’m not sure how quick or agile he is to effectively guard modern PFs.

Lip!

We need to give Randle a bit of time to acclimate and shake the rust off. We'll see how things progress throughout the season, but it may indeed turn out that he's a bad fit.

[FNG]

It was quite clear last year that the lack of a true PG was killing the Suns' chances. Now with Tyus Jones in the starting lineup, they are true contenders in the West. Not surprising to see Tyus with 8 assists and no turnovers last night...he has landed in an ideal spot with all those shooters around him.

[kekgeek]

Dejaunte Murray fractured his hand

[FNG]

Dejaunte Murray fractured his hand

Yeah, Zach hit his hand on a jump shot (or did he fall on his hand...tough to tell from the video). It's his left though, so even though he is said to be out for an expended time, it might be quicker because it's not his shooting hand.