Who's got the GDT? - Pelicans at Wolves GDT

[Wolvesfan21]

I guess I have to repeat myself again. I'm not saying we should trade Ant just for the sake of getting rid of him. But if Dallas called and wanted Ant for Luka, hell yes I'm making that trade. If the Wizards get the number 1 pick and they want to trade us #1, Bill Sarr, and Bilal Coulibaly, yes I'm making that trade. I don't want to close my eyes to something that could make us better.

I think Wemby is the only guy who projects to have a higher ceiling in 3-5 years by most. I would consider Wemby but no other player in the NBA or draft for Ant. Wembys a freak who will probably be a perennial DPOY (if he can stay healthy) while also being near elite on offense. Thats just a tough combo to beat. I could be talked into that. Otherwise forget Luka or anyone else.

[Coolbreeze44]

I guess I have to repeat myself again. I'm not saying we should trade Ant just for the sake of getting rid of him. But if Dallas called and wanted Ant for Luka, hell yes I'm making that trade. If the Wizards get the number 1 pick and they want to trade us #1, Bill Sarr, and Bilal Coulibaly, yes I'm making that trade. I don't want to close my eyes to something that could make us better.

I think Wemby is the only guy who projects to have a higher ceiling in 3-5 years by most. I would consider Wemby but no other player in the NBA or draft for Ant. Wembys a freak who will probably be a perennial DPOY (if he can stay healthy) while also being near elite on offense. Thats just a tough combo to beat. I could be talked into that. Otherwise forget Luka or anyone else.

Just remember this team loses games at home when they are overwhelming favorites. The biggest reason? On and off-court leadership. If a Jordan, Magic, or Bird led team had this happen to them once, that would be the end of it. Not the Wolves though, we go right back to thinking there is nothing wrong and the fans follow suit.

[60WinTim]

I guess I have to repeat myself again. I'm not saying we should trade Ant just for the sake of getting rid of him. But if Dallas called and wanted Ant for Luka, hell yes I'm making that trade. If the Wizards get the number 1 pick and they want to trade us #1, Bill Sarr, and Bilal Coulibaly, yes I'm making that trade. I don't want to close my eyes to something that could make us better.

I think Wemby is the only guy who projects to have a higher ceiling in 3-5 years by most. I would consider Wemby but no other player in the NBA or draft for Ant. Wembys a freak who will probably be a perennial DPOY (if he can stay healthy) while also being near elite on offense. Thats just a tough combo to beat. I could be talked into that. Otherwise forget Luka or anyone else.

Just remember this team loses games at home when they are overwhelming favorites. The biggest reason? On and off-court leadership. If a Jordan, Magic, or Bird led team had this happen to them once, that would be the end of it. Not the Wolves though, we go right back to thinking there is nothing wrong and the fans follow suit.

I gotta say, Cool. I think you need to embrace your "it's a process" mantra. ANT is 23 years old. You and I are not close enough to the situation to know if ANT is on a super-star path. But it sure seems premature to abandon ANT so early in his career.

[Coolbreeze44]

I think Wemby is the only guy who projects to have a higher ceiling in 3-5 years by most. I would consider Wemby but no other player in the NBA or draft for Ant. Wembys a freak who will probably be a perennial DPOY (if he can stay healthy) while also being near elite on offense. Thats just a tough combo to beat. I could be talked into that. Otherwise forget Luka or anyone else.

Just remember this team loses games at home when they are overwhelming favorites. The biggest reason? On and off-court leadership. If a Jordan, Magic, or Bird led team had this happen to them once, that would be the end of it. Not the Wolves though, we go right back to thinking there is nothing wrong and the fans follow suit.

I gotta say, Cool. I think you need to embrace your "it's a process" mantra. ANT is 23 years old. You and I are not close enough to the situation to know if ANT is on a super-star path. But it sure seems premature to abandon ANT so early in his career.

Just because I don't think he's a top 5 player in the league, doesn't mean I'm abandoning him. I hope he goes on to dominate the league as much as anyone. I'm just taking an objective viewpoint.

[Wolvesfan21]

I guess I have to repeat myself again. I'm not saying we should trade Ant just for the sake of getting rid of him. But if Dallas called and wanted Ant for Luka, hell yes I'm making that trade. If the Wizards get the number 1 pick and they want to trade us #1, Bill Sarr, and Bilal Coulibaly, yes I'm making that trade. I don't want to close my eyes to something that could make us better.

I think Wemby is the only guy who projects to have a higher ceiling in 3-5 years by most. I would consider Wemby but no other player in the NBA or draft for Ant. Wembys a freak who will probably be a perennial DPOY (if he can stay healthy) while also being near elite on offense. Thats just a tough combo to beat. I could be talked into that. Otherwise forget Luka or anyone else.

Just remember this team loses games at home when they are overwhelming favorites. The biggest reason? On and off-court leadership. If a Jordan, Magic, or Bird led team had this happen to them once, that would be the end of it. Not the Wolves though, we go right back to thinking there is nothing wrong and the fans follow suit.

Do the regular season games really matter though? To us they do, but in the grand scheme they are pretty meaningless. Playoffs count. If you want to rip Ant for being tired in the Dallas series then sure. He underperformed. Maybe it was off the court issues, maybe not. We don't know.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Well, Jaden’s biggest problem was picking up 2 early fouls, getting himself yanked…

Yeah. But I bet Scottie Pippen did that once or twice, too.

[AbeVigodaLive]

I'm usually the one who bristles at "yeah, but he's only xx years old" takes.

But, Edwards is only 23 years old. Much more importantly though, he hasn't come close to a plateau. He's improved every season... and even IN seasons. As long as that trend continues... I'm excited to have Anthony Edwards in Minnesota.

We all realize he's not a top 5 player. And honestly, not a top 10 player in many ways.

That's ok. For only the 2nd time in 36 years, this franchise has a player with a CHANCE to be a top 5 or top 3 player or whatever. History tells us that Edwards will come back with a new element to his game to make him a better player.



[Note: I think we've discussed it before. But Edwards would be have been such a good match with Garnett. Almost eerie how well they would complement each other.]

[FNG]

Ant has been one of the elite 3 pt shooters this year

Everywhere else has not been great

In restricted area: 61% -- 47th out of 51 players w 230+ att

In paint, non-RA: 40.1% -- 39th out of 41 players with 200+ att

In mid-range: 36.2%, 52nd out of 52 of players with 100+ att

-per Jace Frederick

This team is only going as far as Ant takes them, and the above numbers are discouraging. And I would add to this that the eye test tells me he isn't as good a defender as he was last year either (I don't know what the numbers say, but Dane and Kyle say they support the eye test). We need him to be at least a top 10 player for us to be a contender, and I don't believe anyone can make that case right now. I guess I would say he is nearly a top 10 player when it's not crunch time, but no better than a lower quartile player when the game is on the line...and that's quite meaningful, especially in the playoffs. And Finchie has to take some of the blame for this. Can Ant develop into a good clutch player? Sure, he's only 23, and already is showing signs of better decision making as this season has gone on...and I'll continue to hope that he does, because his upside is enormous. But I have to admit I would feel a lot better about this 2024-5 squad if our best player was someone more reliable in the clutch like SGA or Luke (or a handful of other players). But Ant is our guy, so we have to hope for improvement.

[WildWolf2813]

I'm usually the one who bristles at "yeah, but he's only xx years old" takes.

But, Edwards is only 23 years old. Much more importantly though, he hasn't come close to a plateau. He's improved every season... and even IN seasons. As long as that trend continues... I'm excited to have Anthony Edwards in Minnesota.

We all realize he's not a top 5 player. And honestly, not a top 10 player in many ways.

That's ok. For only the 2nd time in 36 years, this franchise has a player with a CHANCE to be a top 5 or top 3 player or whatever. History tells us that Edwards will come back with a new element to his game to make him a better player.



[Note: I think we've discussed it before. But Edwards would be have been such a good match with Garnett. Almost eerie how well they would complement each other.]

So far in his career, Ant is one of those guys who passes the eye test but has never been a darling of the advanced metrics community.