Shams just reported the Hornets are discussing a Lamelo trade with multiple teams

[AussieWolf3]

The PF position doesn't really exist anymore, so not sure what all the hand-wringing is over on that front. Julius Randle is an anachronism. It's one of the reasons why he was traded.

Most teams have what I'd call a big wing as their PF. I mean, Jason Tatum has been Boston's starting PF for years. He's 6'8" and about 215 lbs. Is Tobias Harris overpowering his matchups? He averaged 5 rebounds a game this past season. How about Julian Champagnie!?

I agree that after trading Randle and Reid, we definitely need more forward depth. But that doesn't have to be a big-bodied traditional PF, especially with Rudy at Center and Jaden also providing some weakside rim protection.

One route is to go get a wing defender that can start at the other forward position next to Jaden and takes on the main POA assignments. I have no clue who that is, but I'm not too worried about Jaden somehow being overmatched by other PFs. Heck, Ant can guard a lot of PFs and Jaden may be assigned to the secondary wing or guard.

That's what I've been saying too!! It boggles my mind that Jaden can't play as 4 to some people.

Based on your comments tho, you seem less convinced of Ayo playing small forward, yes?

[guest81]

I just want to ask a legit question… is NAW actually a better all around player than Lamelo? Look at the offensive stats from last year, and besides assists, NAW smoked him, and that’s not even considering defense.

Lamelo is loud and flashy, but his shooting percentages are mediocre at best and he’s not a winning player.

A non playoff team was happy to get rid of him lol. I’m hearing that this was a move to keep Ant happy, but wow, TC. Quit doing stupid things and you won’t be in a position where you have to make desperate moves and mortgage the teams future.

Terrible. I don’t even like the way this guy plays .

I think it's fair to say that they've played two roles. What would NAW look like if he had to be the main guy on a team? Probably much worse if we're being honest

[BeenLurkin]

The PF position doesn't really exist anymore, so not sure what all the hand-wringing is over on that front. Julius Randle is an anachronism. It's one of the reasons why he was traded.

Most teams have what I'd call a big wing as their PF. I mean, Jason Tatum has been Boston's starting PF for years. He's 6'8" and about 215 lbs. Is Tobias Harris overpowering his matchups? He averaged 5 rebounds a game this past season. How about Julian Champagnie!?

I agree that after trading Randle and Reid, we definitely need more forward depth. But that doesn't have to be a big-bodied traditional PF, especially with Rudy at Center and Jaden also providing some weakside rim protection.

One route is to go get a wing defender that can start at the other forward position next to Jaden and takes on the main POA assignments. I have no clue who that is, but I'm not too worried about Jaden somehow being overmatched by other PFs. Heck, Ant can guard a lot of PFs and Jaden may be assigned to the secondary wing or guard.

That's what I've been saying too!! It boggles my mind that Jaden can't play as 4 to some people.

Based on your comments tho, you seem less convinced of Ayo playing small forward, yes?

Yeah a fun exercise is to look through the west and see what PF starter your afraid will cook Jaden.

[Q-is-here]

The PF position doesn't really exist anymore, so not sure what all the hand-wringing is over on that front. Julius Randle is an anachronism. It's one of the reasons why he was traded.

Most teams have what I'd call a big wing as their PF. I mean, Jason Tatum has been Boston's starting PF for years. He's 6'8" and about 215 lbs. Is Tobias Harris overpowering his matchups? He averaged 5 rebounds a game this past season. How about Julian Champagnie!?

I agree that after trading Randle and Reid, we definitely need more forward depth. But that doesn't have to be a big-bodied traditional PF, especially with Rudy at Center and Jaden also providing some weakside rim protection.

One route is to go get a wing defender that can start at the other forward position next to Jaden and takes on the main POA assignments. I have no clue who that is, but I'm not too worried about Jaden somehow being overmatched by other PFs. Heck, Ant can guard a lot of PFs and Jaden may be assigned to the secondary wing or guard.

That's what I've been saying too!! It boggles my mind that Jaden can't play as 4 to some people.

Based on your comments tho, you seem less convinced of Ayo playing small forward, yes?

Yeah, not sure that's ideal, but I do wonder if Ayo is told his main purpose in life is to be our #1 wing/guard defender and hit open 3s then may be he's the guy. But he's probably ideally suited to be our 3rd guard that can sub for either Ant or Ball and play significant minutes.

Another less-than-ideal option, but I wouldn't rule it out, is to start Clark, with him taking on the main POA assignment. He'd be almost a token starter like Lu Dort was for OKC, playing well under 30 MPG. He's an outstanding cutter, but not a great shooter. Just not sure if Ant/Jaden/Ball is enough to offset Rudy and Clark offensively.

[BeenLurkin]

The PF position doesn't really exist anymore, so not sure what all the hand-wringing is over on that front. Julius Randle is an anachronism. It's one of the reasons why he was traded.

Most teams have what I'd call a big wing as their PF. I mean, Jason Tatum has been Boston's starting PF for years. He's 6'8" and about 215 lbs. Is Tobias Harris overpowering his matchups? He averaged 5 rebounds a game this past season. How about Julian Champagnie!?

I agree that after trading Randle and Reid, we definitely need more forward depth. But that doesn't have to be a big-bodied traditional PF, especially with Rudy at Center and Jaden also providing some weakside rim protection.

One route is to go get a wing defender that can start at the other forward position next to Jaden and takes on the main POA assignments. I have no clue who that is, but I'm not too worried about Jaden somehow being overmatched by other PFs. Heck, Ant can guard a lot of PFs and Jaden may be assigned to the secondary wing or guard.

That's what I've been saying too!! It boggles my mind that Jaden can't play as 4 to some people.

Based on your comments tho, you seem less convinced of Ayo playing small forward, yes?

Yeah a fun exercise is to look through the west and see what PF starter your afraid will cook Jaden.

Quick look through the west, 6 or 7 teams…but the rest he would have a distinct advantage over. Dillon brooks is listed as the suns PF. Deni Avdija…Keegan Murray…so many teams are small.

The other side of the coin teams like Dallas with Gafford and company…or LeBron in La? Zion obviously match up nightmare.

[Jester1534]

I just want to ask a legit question… is NAW actually a better all around player than Lamelo? Look at the offensive stats from last year, and besides assists, NAW smoked him, and that’s not even considering defense.

Lamelo is loud and flashy, but his shooting percentages are mediocre at best and he’s not a winning player.

A non playoff team was happy to get rid of him lol. I’m hearing that this was a move to keep Ant happy, but wow, TC. Quit doing stupid things and you won’t be in a position where you have to make desperate moves and mortgage the teams future.

Terrible. I don’t even like the way this guy plays .

What wrong with making Ant happy.

Also NAW just like Naz super inconsistent in playoffs

Now you could say hey Lamelo hasn't sniff the playoffs Jester… well i liked to see what he can do in them because I've seen what the other two can do the last 3 years.

Also the whole point of Rudy trade was to get Ant playoff experience so when its time for the ready for the 2nd wave of his timberwolves career going into his prime hes ready to become the man.

The 2nd wave his here we have a roster of all 26 year olds locked up for three years. Your only as good as your best players i will say it again of Ant doesn't become a top 3 player in the league all this doesn't matter anyway. Hopefully with Lamelo this allows Ant to take that next step.

[BeenLurkin]

If Lamelo recent season improvement coincided with kon kneupple and a better supporting cast then we can’t really judge a pass first creator for bad team results if his team sucks. What sorta expected assist stats does Lamelo have seasonally? Averaging 8 or so assists a game is what you need next to Ant.

[Wolvesfan21]

Wow, the big surprise to me is that it was NAZ and not Rudy. I don't have a problem with the price we paid, but I have a problem with a couple side effects to this deal. First, I do NOT agree that Ant and Melo are a good compliment to each other. They both need the ball in their hands and their is only one Ball (no pun intended). I don't think Ant will be happy playing almost exclusively off ball. (pun intended) And the second problem is guess who are POA defender still is? I thought we were going to get a defensive minded guard so Jaden could play off ball defense, maximizing not only his defensive skills but aiding his offensive output.

I don't think this is going to work. Why is Rudy still on the team? Who is going to play PF? Are there still more moves forthcoming?

Thats the point of this. Both players are elite with the ball in their hands, so now you as a defense better not double Ant. Because in a rotation scramble mode Melo will either dagger you with a 3 or make a quick smart play to get a great look.

Ants superpower was always being limited because of the constant doubles, was he not doubled the most in the NBA again last year? IDK, probably close at least % wise. Now the offense will open up for him much more and if not, go ahead and double Ant. Melo will cook you. In prior years, we had a hard time converting off of those doubles. Now we got the weaponry to counter it.

I agree with WolvesFan on this. But I also agree it’s dicey to move forward without any physicality up front. We have to find a way with our limited moveable assets to get a physical, rebounding PF onto the roster and into our rotation.

The rebounding is a concern of mine too and what if Rudy gets hurt or Joan isn't ready to play? While I feel great now about our backcourt, we are thin at the 4/5 spots.

I do imagine we will flip one or more of our guards / wings for a forward still.

[Wolvesfan21]

The PF position doesn't really exist anymore, so not sure what all the hand-wringing is over on that front. Julius Randle is an anachronism. It's one of the reasons why he was traded.

Most teams have what I'd call a big wing as their PF. I mean, Jason Tatum has been Boston's starting PF for years. He's 6'8" and about 215 lbs. Is Tobias Harris overpowering his matchups? He averaged 5 rebounds a game this past season. How about Julian Champagnie!?

I agree that after trading Randle and Reid, we definitely need more forward depth. But that doesn't have to be a big-bodied traditional PF, especially with Rudy at Center and Jaden also providing some weakside rim protection.

One route is to go get a wing defender that can start at the other forward position next to Jaden and takes on the main POA assignments. I have no clue who that is, but I'm not too worried about Jaden somehow being overmatched by other PFs. Heck, Ant can guard a lot of PFs and Jaden may be assigned to the secondary wing or guard.

That's what I've been saying too!! It boggles my mind that Jaden can't play as 4 to some people.

Based on your comments tho, you seem less convinced of Ayo playing small forward, yes?

Jaden can for sure play the 4, I'm more concerned about the depth. We can't afford any injury at all from either Jaden, Rudy or Joan and we have to count on Joan to be pretty good. So in that sense, I think we at least go for more depth. Most likely not a good starter but wouldn't rule that our either.

Jaden can even play some small ball 5, but I would like to see some better depth behind him and Rudy. Insurance at the least.

[AussieWolf3]

The PF position doesn't really exist anymore, so not sure what all the hand-wringing is over on that front. Julius Randle is an anachronism. It's one of the reasons why he was traded.

Most teams have what I'd call a big wing as their PF. I mean, Jason Tatum has been Boston's starting PF for years. He's 6'8" and about 215 lbs. Is Tobias Harris overpowering his matchups? He averaged 5 rebounds a game this past season. How about Julian Champagnie!?

I agree that after trading Randle and Reid, we definitely need more forward depth. But that doesn't have to be a big-bodied traditional PF, especially with Rudy at Center and Jaden also providing some weakside rim protection.

One route is to go get a wing defender that can start at the other forward position next to Jaden and takes on the main POA assignments. I have no clue who that is, but I'm not too worried about Jaden somehow being overmatched by other PFs. Heck, Ant can guard a lot of PFs and Jaden may be assigned to the secondary wing or guard.

That's what I've been saying too!! It boggles my mind that Jaden can't play as 4 to some people.

Based on your comments tho, you seem less convinced of Ayo playing small forward, yes?

Jaden can for sure play the 4, I'm more concerned about the depth. We can't afford any injury at all from either Jaden, Rudy or Joan and we have to count on Joan to be pretty good. So in that sense, I think we at least go for more depth. Most likely not a good starter but wouldn't rule that our either.

Jaden can even play some small ball 5, but I would like to see some better depth behind him and Rudy. Insurance at the least.

Completely agree