Q-is-here wrote: ↑Sun Dec 07, 2025 6:33 pm
One guy that deserves props along with notice from Wolves fans is Zach Edey. Memphis is 6-4 since he came back from injury and he has anchored an elite defense when he is on the floor.
Rocco Zikarsky is a looooooong ways from being ready for regular NBA action, but Edey goes to show that knowing how to use one's length and size can make a huge difference even if slow and unathletic otherwise.
Yeah, Edey is a force for them. But I think not having Ja on the court might be helping them just as much if not more. NBA GMs have to be noticing how much better the Griz are playing since Ja got "hurt".
I've talked about it a bunch on here, but small high-usage guards are such a risky asset. It's not that they can't be really effective regular season players, but they have to be so elite offensively to make up for what happens on the other side. Ja has fallen off offensively so now he is an abject liability - and that's before we get into the attitudinal stuff!
I've seen criticisms of the Timberwolves' approach with Dillingham - that they are trying to mold him into something that he's not. That may be true, but the alternative may be worse because it's easy to get seduced by a scoring guard and overpay them, only to see them flail in the playoffs (e.g. Darius Garland, Trae Young, Kemba Walker).
60WinTim wrote: ↑Wed Dec 10, 2025 11:50 am
The Mav's Lively is having season-ending foot surgery. If I squint I wonder if Joan could provide some Lively-like action for the Wolves...
On another note, I've seen Kyrie's name tossed around as a potential Wolves target...
And I'll wrap up with "don't sleep on Bones". He could be the juice we need!
I would suppose that Bones will be in Dilly's rotation spot next game. I'll be scratching my head if he isn't.
60WinTim wrote: ↑Wed Dec 10, 2025 11:50 am
The Mav's Lively is having season-ending foot surgery. If I squint I wonder if Joan could provide some Lively-like action for the Wolves...
On another note, I've seen Kyrie's name tossed around as a potential Wolves target...
And I'll wrap up with "don't sleep on Bones". He could be the juice we need!
I would suppose that Bones will be in Dilly's rotation spot next game. I'll be scratching my head if he isn't.
It makes sense for them to give Bones a shot. I am 95% positive this change from Dilly to Bones was done in consultation and with the approval of Connelly. It gives the front office a few weeks now to assess Bones in a more regular role. That will in turn inform the front office on how hard the pursue a trade to upgrade the bench, having "tried out" all of the internal options.
I've always been a Bones skeptic but he can't possibly be worse than Dillingham at the moment. That by itself is an upgrade. The real question is whether he's an upgrade to Conley so that he can eventually absorb 100% of the backup PG minutes and be part of a legit playoff rotation. That's where my skepticism kicks in, but I hope I'm wrong!
1. Bones Hyland offers more for this team than Rob Dillingham this season.
2. Context. Rob Dillingham has regressed statistically from an entirely underwhelming rookie season. Even worse, I think the eye test looks worse. Case in point... watch how often he makes a nothing pass away from the hoop. Passing the ball (with numbers) backwards from the top of the key to Naz Reid nearly 30 feet from the hoop does nothing. Dillingham has too often dropped the ball off to someone else in a less favorable position and then they end up trying to score vs. a set defense.
Dillingham is the young athletic point guard! In theory, those are the situations where he should be thriving.
3. Bones is a career 40% shooter without playmaking or defensive chops. I consider him Troy Hudson-esque. It should be noted that I HATED watching Troy Hudson play "PG" even during his career-best season with the Wolves. To be fair, the current Wolves have Anthony Edwards, so Bones can be more of a heat check shooter off the bench.
4. Unfortunately, Conley has looked rough. He's lost his floater game almost entirely. He's like league-worst bad near the rim. And even his three-point markmanship has been a mixed bag with some unsightly bad misses in recent games. Add in that young athletic guards can really get up on him and stall out the offense...
... well, maybe Bones' relative bounce and mercurial scoring could be the best option (when he's on).
BloopOracle wrote: ↑Thu Dec 11, 2025 8:19 pm
So....this board's (including myself) pre draft Derick Queen takes are aging like milk lol
You can say that again. He was one of the few bigs I would not have touched…
He's very talented offensively, but I question whether he ever becomes a serviceable defender. It's tough to build around a Center that is weak defensively. Can you imagine if Naz was our starting Center instead of Rudy? Shudder...
