Internal Front Court Prospects

[FNG]

I'm not suggesting that Trey Lyles is gonna be a super awesome starter or whatever but it could be a 2nd year in a row Connelly signed a cheap familiar face that ends up being a worthwhile contributor. Last season it was signing/resigning Bones to a partially guaranteed deal which nobody here was particularly Thrilled with. The Wolves needed some depth at PG and Bones ended up having a career year in the regular season. Lyles isn't some fringy guy he is a guy that played some solid NBA basketball for a number of seasons. I read one article from a couple years ago that his former head coach praised him for various aspects of his game including doing the right stuff on defense. That coach just won a championship with the Knicks. It's gotta suck to be a Kings fan.

Monster, I agree with your take. Lyles was a sneaky good pickup by TC. Sneaky good? Q put together a terrific list of possible PF pickups, and Trey didn't even make the list...TC does it again, doing something good that nobody could have predicted!

I agree that he's not going to be super awesome, but lining up next to the other 4 starters, he doesn't have to be...just rebound, guard, and hit the wide open three-pointer, all which he can do at an adequate level without being a star. He doesn't seem to be in the conversation to start at PF probably because he isn't one of our best five players, and Finchy seems to like starting his 5 best. But he makes the most sense to me. He allows Jaden and Ayo to settle into their best roles...starting SF and high scoring 6th man, respectively. But I wouldn't be surprised to see TC pull another rabbit out of his hat to bring in an even better option at PF.

I literally forgot about Lyles since he was out of the NBA last year. Phenom actually brought him up in the Forward Options thread, so to his credit, he sniffed him out well before the Wolves ultimately signed him. I made the mistake of not adding him to the list after Phenom mentioned his name.

Has it ever occurred to anyone that Jaden may actually do more for the defense as a 4 than as a 3? It's purely hypothetical, but we seem to act like him not being the main POA defender (and he still would be against some match ups) means he's somehow neutered defensively. It may actually be the opposite of that!

I viewed your updated PF list as a work of art in terms of completeness and didn't know Phenom had mentioned Lyles...just goes to prove how TC will always surprise us!

You may be right about Jaden at the 4...I hope so, because it seems most of the analysts are defaulting to this. And it may work out. My concern continues to be that a forward duo of Jaden and Ayo might be the weakest rebounding duo in the Association.

[Q-is-here]

Monster, I agree with your take. Lyles was a sneaky good pickup by TC. Sneaky good? Q put together a terrific list of possible PF pickups, and Trey didn't even make the list...TC does it again, doing something good that nobody could have predicted!

I agree that he's not going to be super awesome, but lining up next to the other 4 starters, he doesn't have to be...just rebound, guard, and hit the wide open three-pointer, all which he can do at an adequate level without being a star. He doesn't seem to be in the conversation to start at PF probably because he isn't one of our best five players, and Finchy seems to like starting his 5 best. But he makes the most sense to me. He allows Jaden and Ayo to settle into their best roles...starting SF and high scoring 6th man, respectively. But I wouldn't be surprised to see TC pull another rabbit out of his hat to bring in an even better option at PF.

I literally forgot about Lyles since he was out of the NBA last year. Phenom actually brought him up in the Forward Options thread, so to his credit, he sniffed him out well before the Wolves ultimately signed him. I made the mistake of not adding him to the list after Phenom mentioned his name.

Has it ever occurred to anyone that Jaden may actually do more for the defense as a 4 than as a 3? It's purely hypothetical, but we seem to act like him not being the main POA defender (and he still would be against some match ups) means he's somehow neutered defensively. It may actually be the opposite of that!

I viewed your updated PF list as a work of art in terms of completeness and didn't know Phenom had mentioned Lyles...just goes to prove how TC will always surprise us!

You may be right about Jaden at the 4...I hope so, because it seems most of the analysts are defaulting to this. And it may work out. My concern continues to be that a forward duo of Jaden and Ayo might be the weakest rebounding duo in the Association.

You seem to have very fixed ideas about things that you can't seem to shake FNG....

First off, why on earth would the smaller Ayo be the other forward when Ant is bigger than him? It makes no sense. Ant would be the SF if we were to assign labels here, not Ayo. That doesn't necessarily negate your concern about defensive rebounding but it's such an odd thing to call Ayo the SF when he's literally the shortest guy we'd have on the court!

And why do you assume Ayo would start? May be he would or may be Finch would go with one of the defensive wings (like Clark or Green) instead. We don't know.

[FNG]

I literally forgot about Lyles since he was out of the NBA last year. Phenom actually brought him up in the Forward Options thread, so to his credit, he sniffed him out well before the Wolves ultimately signed him. I made the mistake of not adding him to the list after Phenom mentioned his name.

Has it ever occurred to anyone that Jaden may actually do more for the defense as a 4 than as a 3? It's purely hypothetical, but we seem to act like him not being the main POA defender (and he still would be against some match ups) means he's somehow neutered defensively. It may actually be the opposite of that!

I viewed your updated PF list as a work of art in terms of completeness and didn't know Phenom had mentioned Lyles...just goes to prove how TC will always surprise us!

You may be right about Jaden at the 4...I hope so, because it seems most of the analysts are defaulting to this. And it may work out. My concern continues to be that a forward duo of Jaden and Ayo might be the weakest rebounding duo in the Association.

You seem to have very fixed ideas about things that you can't seem to shake FNG....

First off, why on earth would the smaller Ayo be the other forward when Ant is bigger than him? It makes no sense. Ant would be the SF if we were to assign labels here, not Ayo. That doesn't necessarily negate your concern about defensive rebounding but it's such an odd thing to call Ayo the SF when he's literally the shortest guy we'd have on the court!

And why do you assume Ayo would start? May be he would or may be Finch would go with one of the defensive wings (like Clark or Green) instead. We don't know.

Yeah, I've heard a couple podcasters mention Clark as a possible starter...could happen, although I would still prefer a true PF like Lyles. Ant's rebounding stats are not too bad for a SG, but I think we can agree that he is simply terrible about blocking out. Ball is a terrific rebounder, so that will help. Nothing frustrates me more though than when we give up multiple offensive rebounds extending possessions, and I will have concerns about that happening if we don't throw out a starting lineup with a real PF. I guess we'll get some clarity in preseason.

[Q-is-here]

I viewed your updated PF list as a work of art in terms of completeness and didn't know Phenom had mentioned Lyles...just goes to prove how TC will always surprise us!

You may be right about Jaden at the 4...I hope so, because it seems most of the analysts are defaulting to this. And it may work out. My concern continues to be that a forward duo of Jaden and Ayo might be the weakest rebounding duo in the Association.

You seem to have very fixed ideas about things that you can't seem to shake FNG....

First off, why on earth would the smaller Ayo be the other forward when Ant is bigger than him? It makes no sense. Ant would be the SF if we were to assign labels here, not Ayo. That doesn't necessarily negate your concern about defensive rebounding but it's such an odd thing to call Ayo the SF when he's literally the shortest guy we'd have on the court!

And why do you assume Ayo would start? May be he would or may be Finch would go with one of the defensive wings (like Clark or Green) instead. We don't know.

Yeah, I've heard a couple podcasters mention Clark as a possible starter...could happen, although I would still prefer a true PF like Lyles. Ant's rebounding stats are not too bad for a SG, but I think we can agree that he is simply terrible about blocking out. Ball is a terrific rebounder, so that will help. Nothing frustrates me more though than when we give up multiple offensive rebounds extending possessions, and I will have concerns about that happening if we don't throw out a starting lineup with a real PF. I guess we'll get some clarity in preseason.

It's a valid concern but that has to be weighed against other factors. A guy like Trey may help us on the defensive glass but then may hurt us in other ways. The point is there are always tradeoffs when you try to solve one problem with a sub-optimal player like Lyles, who has never been anything more than a backup PF his entire career.

[AussieWolf3]

You seem to have very fixed ideas about things that you can't seem to shake FNG....

First off, why on earth would the smaller Ayo be the other forward when Ant is bigger than him? It makes no sense. Ant would be the SF if we were to assign labels here, not Ayo. That doesn't necessarily negate your concern about defensive rebounding but it's such an odd thing to call Ayo the SF when he's literally the shortest guy we'd have on the court!

And why do you assume Ayo would start? May be he would or may be Finch would go with one of the defensive wings (like Clark or Green) instead. We don't know.

Yeah, I've heard a couple podcasters mention Clark as a possible starter...could happen, although I would still prefer a true PF like Lyles. Ant's rebounding stats are not too bad for a SG, but I think we can agree that he is simply terrible about blocking out. Ball is a terrific rebounder, so that will help. Nothing frustrates me more though than when we give up multiple offensive rebounds extending possessions, and I will have concerns about that happening if we don't throw out a starting lineup with a real PF. I guess we'll get some clarity in preseason.

It's a valid concern but that has to be weighed against other factors. A guy like Trey may help us on the defensive glass but then may hurt us in other ways. The point is there are always tradeoffs when you try to solve one problem with a sub-optimal player like Lyles, who has never been anything more than a backup PF his entire career.

This is a really important point Q. The general conversation about this saga has been rather frustrating, especially hearing from folks in the basketball world making jokes about how the Wolves are gonna have to start Trey Lyles or could have enticed Harrison Barnes with an opportunity to start!

If the Wolves were to start Green, for example they would be as tall or taller at every position besides center than the Spurs. They would match up very closely size wise with the Thunder as well (seriously does everyone just ignore that Chet is their starting PF).

Many people correctly assert that weight is a factor, but this is another area where there are trade offs and height and length ---when used well--- can make up the difference or allow you to win in other ways. Few players have the perfect cross section of prototype Ht/WT and skill. It's ok if not every position has a prototype player.

I also want to echo your sentiment that Jaden will likely have a higher defensive impact as a PF. You still have to replace him with a competent POA defender, but Jaden's highest ceiling invariably lies with him defending off ball ---- while still being a switchable demon out to the perimeter. Obviously this requires projection, and there are risk and caveats, but I believe it to be a smart bet.

Last I just want to point out that 1, Jaden has actually developed into a good rebounder and boxes out well he is just rarely near the basket and 2, Randle is and was a terrible rebounder for his position. Last I looked I think he was something like 35th percentile for defensive rebounds. Naz hasn't been a great rebounder for his career either but he did make major improvements there last year.

Point being, I don't think they lost as much rebounding as has been suggested, but I'll concede that it is still a concern of mine.